One great thing about a brand-new year is that it’s the perfect time to adopt new habits that improve our productivity, work, and personal lives.

A surprising productivity secret among top CEOs, according to Forbes, is that Friday holds the key to an efficient work week. “My biggest secret for a productive Monday is what I do on Friday,” said Jon Rush, founder of C7 Device Recycle.
Recently a PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics story described steps we can take on Friday afternoons that prepare us for the most productive Mondays. The work you accomplish doesn’t have to be substantial, said the story, which quotes productivity expert Laura Vanderkam.

Vanderkam says a few minutes of planning, whether for a presentation or meeting on Monday, can lead to a better outcome or performance while also putting your mind at ease when you finally do leave the office. You’ll likely end up completing more than you set out to do anyway.

“If you want to write a novel, commit to writing 100 words a day,” she says. “You’ll probably do more, since 100 words is nothing, but that low expectation gets you to your computer even on days when you don’t want to be there. If you’re able to get a head start on a task you’re dreading, you’ll not only be in a better place come Monday; you’ll have a more relaxing weekend, to boot.”

Take these five simple steps on Fridays to prepare for the upcoming work week:
1. Create a Monday morning “hit list.” Include the first things that need to be accomplished, whether it’s an email you want to send or a phone call you need to make. Knowing what you want to knock out on Monday before you even sit down at your desk will help you get more done.

2. Review any loose ends. Take stock of what was left unfinished on your to-do list from the past week. Wrap up anything you can complete in two minutes.

3. Reflect on any task that fell through the cracks this week.  Alex Cavoulacos, CEO of The Muse, recommends the 1-3-5 method: “On any given day, assume that you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things, and five small things,” Cavoulacos told the website Quartz at Work. Re-tool your goals for the following week, taking special care to bring forward those objectives that got waylaid last week.

4. Think about next week’s meetings. Are you ready for them? Set a timer for five minutes and take the smallest preparatory steps. You may be so engaged that you keep going.

5. Unplug. Refraining from checking email on Saturday and Sunday is integral to your sanity for next week, leaving you better rested for the busy Monday ahead. If you make this Friday commitment to your sanity and well-being, you’ll be better rested, more relaxed, and more able to hit the ground running on Monday.

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study shows that when workers are treated as partners by their bosses, their satisfaction is equivalent to doubling their income.

A fundamental shift is taking place in the workplace, with leaders working as partner-bosses rather than heavy-handedly dominating and controlling their employees.

As reported in the Washington Post, the study shows that “people with boss-supervisors exhibit a much more significant drop in life satisfaction between their early 20s and mid-40s” as opposed to people working with partner-bosses. 

Forgive me, and I don’t mean to sound superior, but for me partner leadership has come naturally as I’ve worked over several decades with interns, reporters, and creative teams. Perhaps because I hailed from the ranks of working reporters, I remembered the best ways bosses motivated me – and the bosses who never tried.

Once I was promoted to editor positions, I endeavored to see the value in everyone, mentor their opportunities for career growth, and insulate them from office politics so they could perform at the highest levels. I strived to form personal connections so that I functioned as a working leader rather than an absentee one. As much as possible, I wanted my direct reports to work independently and make their own decisions.

By attempting to improve employees’ lives, partner-bosses are the most successful motivational and inspirational leaders.

In contrast, I’ve worked for several nightmare bosses during my career who have squelched creativity, seized control as micro-managers, offered murky or little guidance and feedback, and showed no regard for their employees’ career growth or job satisfaction.

Their lack of support and selfish rather than servant leadership affected not only me but every staff member. Work satisfaction was non-existent and employee morale plummeted, yet our bosses were rewarded with bigger salaries, fancy offices, and other perks.

In some workplaces, the top leadership employs fear as a supervisory tactic. In others, the disconnect between leadership and workers is profound.

But in the best, most productive and happiest workplaces, partners – supervisors and employees alike – work together toward a focused common goal. Partner-bosses set a high bar for themselves as they strive for productivity and excellence while concentrating on improving the lives of their employees and helping them feel a part of the company’s success.

I’m often asked about how I pivot from writing a newspaper column to authoring an annual report, or from penning a magazine feature story to developing a marketing brochure.

The real question is, how easy is it to write in the voice of a client? How does a writer switch perspective and tone from objective third person to direct address, and back again, as indicated by the client’s goals?

Asking the right questions
The answer? It’s not difficult at all to adapt your writing style. If you are curious and want to learn from other people, asking the right questions comes easily. The key to the most successful communications tactics begins with the writer asking questions that provoke thoughtful, detailed answers with the client’s goal in mind.

Put another way, the best writing begins at the end. If your client’s goal is to generate sales or event attendance, then you will ask questions about the performer, the performance and the venue to help spark interest in the performance. If the client wants to sell widgets, then your questions will center around the products’ usefulness and value.

Beginning with the end in mind keeps you laser-focused on the outcomes your client desires. When you’re tempted to go off on tangents – however interesting they may be – you rein yourself in and hone in once again on the goal.

Incorporating client goals
It isn’t enough to have a list of your client’s top goals and then to develop the proper communications strategies to meet those goals.

First you must get to know your clients. Even if, like me, you work remotely and rarely attend face-to-face meetings, conversing with clients regularly about their work and their lives provides the insight to tailor your writing voice.

In addition, understanding the possible sensitivities that surround your client’s events, products or services is critically important. Know the kind of language to avoid, the proper tone for client communications, and the ways the company handles troubling issues.

Engaging readers
A newspaper column in a specialized publication will speak to readers in much different ways than a glossy corporate brochure. In the same way, the words you choose will be shorter, more concise and more direct in a news story and more formal in a brochure.

The content can be the same even if the presentation looks different. As you write, just as important as knowing the hot buttons to push when generating attendees at a concert is your understanding about the motivations of potential investment partners and the way consumers make choices.

In conclusion
Finding your own voice as the basis for all your communications work is most important of all. Being true to your vision helps avoid burnout and allows you to continue to make progress as a writer. The discipline of writing requires practice and patience and focusing on using your voice to create various publications in different voices is one of the chief ways you will grow into the best writer you can be.

Coping with stress is a never-ending pursuit for many of us as our world becomes more complex and demands on our time are constantly increasing.

Still, mindfulness practices, yoga, and meditation are not the only effective ways to reduce stress from work or personal issues. Learning something new can be a great way to relieve tension while enjoying a positive, enriching activity.

Say you are particularly stressed-out during your company’s downsizing period. Instead of putting your head down, gritting your teeth, and hunkering down for the ride, why not see if you can add a new skill to your toolbox?
Such an activity not only helps relieve stress – it also can make you more attractive to potential employers and even more valuable in your current workplace.

LinkedIn, professional organizations like IABC and PRSA, Khan Academy, and Linda.com are places where you can find inexpensive or even free learning opportunities. UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, iTunes U and community colleges throughout our region offer short-term professional classes to brush up on your skills or learn new ones.
In my first job as a reporter, I became a de facto writing coach for other writers and soon found myself in a new job as a copy editor.

Later, when I was managing editor of a regional monthly boating magazine, I took a rigorous, 12-week Coast Guard Auxiliary class to learn more about safety, engines, rules of the road for sailors, and more. A nice increase in pay soon followed. I also took two years of sailing classes and even though I’ve forgotten most of what I learned, I do remember how cruising Newport Harbor was enriching, enlightening and just plain fun.

Harvard Business Review writers Chen Zhang, Christopher G. Myers, and David M. Mayer studied stress and burnout and found that the usual coping mechanisms like getting away for a vacation or merely hanging in there weren’t as effective in reducing anxiety as learning something new.

In, “To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New,” published in September, they explain they investigated learning as a stress buffer “because learning helps workers build valuable instrumental and psychological resources.”
“Instrumentally, learning brings us new information and knowledge that can be useful for solving near-term stressful problems; it also equips us with new skills and capabilities to address or even prevent future stressors,” they write.

“Psychologically, taking time to reflect on what we know and learn new things helps us develop feelings of competence and self-efficacy (a sense of being capable of achieving goals and doing more),” they say.

“Learning also helps connect us to an underlying purpose of growth and development. This way, we can see ourselves as constantly improving and developing, rather than being stuck with fixed capabilities. These psychological resources enable us to build resilience in the face of stressors.”

So, when you think you just can’t take another pointless meeting or fill out yet another timesheet, think about some ways you can add new skills to your professional repertoire or how you can sink your teeth into a long article in a professional journal. Your boss just might thank you for it.

Striving for happiness is a constant challenge. It becomes nearly impossible when we face big changes at home or work.

Unless we set boundaries, unrelieved anxiety can fester into life-threatening health issues – not to mention problems with our spouses and families.

We’re all stressed out
I neglected the danger signs when my father passed away, my workload increased, and the demands of my job permeated my life. Tension and worry gave way to a major depression. Ultimately, I missed several weeks of work.
When you’re sweating to meet goals and deadlines, long hours are expected, and personal life is diminished. Your focus becomes success at any cost, and work becomes your life. If enough time passes, you begin to think that this is the New Normal.

Make life better
Gwen Moran, writing in Inc. Magazine, acknowledges the conundrum. “Into each life, some annoyances, obstacles, and misfortune will fall,” Moran says. “And while some self-help gurus will tell you to simply ditch what’s making you unhappy or holding you back, sometimes, it’s not that easy.”

In her story, “6 Tricks for Surviving Work and Personal Adversity,” Moran quotes Linda Hoopes, author of “Prosilience: Building Your Resilience for a Turbulent World.”

“Everybody has those constraints and situations that we don’t want to be in,” says Hoopes, a licensed clinical social worker and resilience expert. “Sometimes, you’re stuck with them for the time being. But there are things that you can do to make many situations better and cultivate greater resilience, even as you look for long-term solutions or resolutions.”

Small rewards can help
If your situation is long-lasting, it helps to pay special attention to your own comfort and relief.

That doesn’t mean an expensive weekend trip to a fancy spa. Ongoing self-care that helps relieve stress, promotes deep sleep, and offers a respite from your unrelenting pressures is optimal.

Commonly suggested remedies like long, hot baths with scented bubbles, facials, massages, yoga, exercise, and acupuncture really work. Taking an hour to read for pleasure, or sitting on your patio for a few minutes listening to birdsong, playing with your dog, or calling your best friend are small indulgences with big rewards.

Make lists
Break down your responsibilities, list them, and give each a priority. This will not only help keep you organized – it also will force you to focus on the things that matter rather than the self-critical voice in your head.
Is change possible?

Change what you can about your situation, advises Hoopes. “Even within a bad situation, you can make small changes to improve it and turn it into motivation to make bigger changes,” she notes. “You can look for opportunities to learn new skills, even in a job you hate. If you’re managing caretaking responsibilities, you might be able to enlist help from others to get some time for yourself. Think creatively about your situation and how you might be able to make small changes to improve it.”

Track your progress
Moran says one important way to combat job fatigue is to reframe your situation. Instead of complaining about what you cannot change, try listing the ways you have benefitted the company, the professional honors you’ve earned, or the ways you have grown professionally. Seeing yourself more objectively helps when the boss bears down.

When I made the career switch from journalism to public relations, I was apprehensive about working for a public relations agency. I worried about reputation and integrity and how I would perform.

Mostly I worried about tracking 15-minute increments of billable time for every task and assignment. What if I didn’t fulfill client expectations in the budgeted time? What if I was too slow?


Time is Money
It turns out that tracking my time during my six years at a full-service PR agency taught me one of the most valuable workplace lessons: Time is money, just as Benjamin Franklin said.

Today, years later and now an independent consultant, I appreciate that lesson every day. When providing cost estimates to my clients I break down each task according to the time required and quote my price based on those estimates.

Tracking every 15-minute time increment may seem overwhelming or unnecessary, but trust me, it’s a discipline I rely upon every day and a detail my clients appreciate. They pay me to juggle multiple projects, accomplish complicated assignments quickly and accurately, and provide an accounting of where I spend my time.

Even Small Periods of Time are Valuable
Because time is money, even the 10 minutes you spend waiting in a client’s office offers valuable opportunities. I’ve become quite skilled at identifying small tasks that I can squeeze between longer, more complicated assignments.
If you have just a few moments, consider checking one of these things off your list.
1. Create your daily to-do list.
2. Prioritize your tasks.
3. Clean out your purse, desk drawer, or briefcase.
4. Organize emails into folders.
5. Clear the top of your desk.
6. Do 10 reps of an arm or shoulder exercise.
7. Do some deep breathing and a short meditative exercise.

If you have 15 minutes to kill, how about getting these chores done?
1. Think carefully about a work problem for which you need solutions.
2. Take a short walk around the office, or better yet, outside in the fresh air.
3. Call your doctor, chiropractor, or dentist to make that long-postponed appointment.
4. Schedule the gardener to trim trees and shrubbery.
5. Stop by the dry cleaners to pick up or drop off clothing.
6. Phone your mother.

If you have 20-30 minutes, try doing these things:
1. Use this time for creativity – think about new ways to approach your work.
2. Read one of the articles you’ve saved for when you have a few extra minutes.
3. Listen to an audiobook.
4. Eat a healthy snack.
5. Check out online management tools, like Asana or Basecamp.

Whether you have just five minutes between appointments or find yourself with a chunk of unscheduled time, you can be prepared to bang out some chores, errands, and other to-do items. Keep your calendar handy, use your smartphone to check off your progress, and always have a book or article with you to read. You won’t regret living with the adage ‘time is money’ in the forefront of your mind.