Stay on Your Game

So you finally got your new business up and running with all the phone services and other communication devices. There have been so many articles about the benefits of keeping your employees fit and healthy that point to better mind performance. Even if your business does not have the fancy gym or spas, you can still help keep your staff on the top of their game. Meetings are going to happen so why not make them better. The next time you have to have a meeting, take it out of the building and do a walking meeting. It is good for your body and mind because it will inspire creativity and your employees will be happier for the fresh air. As far as exercise goes, take the stairs and never the elevator. It is a great way to get your blood pumping if you are pressed for time. The desk that you are using now isn't exactly helping. Many people will opt for standing desk but the fact is that we were not made for standing either. There needs to be some combination of the two.

Playtime

Do you have playtime? What does it mean to you? I remember having recess in grade school and it was a time when we could play and run around and decompress. Why in the world do adults don't get a recess? Playing is one of the best ways to release stress and get those creative juices going. When we let go of stress and worries for some time, we are able to come up with better solutions to the problems that we face. Playtime doesn't always have to be with physical activity but it gets to be a grey area when it come to gaming applications. Your best bet is to go outside. I think more companies should invest in things like that for their employees. There are already special rooms where people can take quick naps or meditate. What if there was an adult sized playground? It would come equipped with swings and monkey bars and anything else you want. I would definitely go for a 30 minute break on the swings.

Learn to Program

We live in the twenty first century and computer literacy is on the level of being able to read. A liberal education is designed to give the students flexibility and creativity for problem solving. On a fundamental level, learning to program is learning a new system for ordering ideas. It conditions one’s mind to approach problems creatively in the same way that calculus and philosophy build one’s intellectual arsenal for a wide range of challenges that have nothing whatsoever to do with line integrals or metaphysics. More importantly, we live in a digital age where we need to be able to use technology its full potential. Learning the different subjects that have nothing to do with software development will actually make you better at it. Many higher education institutions claim that they offer a broad spectrum of the humanities and sciences but the truth is that there are ways to get around it and the colleges need to do better if they are going to compete in the world market.

Improving Self Confidence

We all that little voice in our heads that keeps telling us that we are not worthy and not good enough. Do not listen to that voice because it carries no merit and needs to be shut up. The first thing you could do is give yourself a pep talk. This has to be out loud and you should tell yourself that you can nail that software development presentation and that you are going to be awesome. This is also where you just say no to negative thoughts, they are not helping you at all. Get a sheet of paper and make three lists. Start jotting down 10 of your strengths, 10 of your achievements, and 10 things you admire about yourself. This can serve as a great reminder of why you are unstoppable. Studies have shown that taking the time out of your day to help others can greatly increase your happiness. Helping those who are down on their luck allows you to realize just how good you have it. Another way you can increase your confidence is by learning a new skill such as web development. That will be useful in an job market.

Protecting Your Company When Employees Bring Their Own Devices

With your employees handing sensitive data and documents over cloud services, there are some things you can do to prevent any leaks or other disasters. The first thing you should do is train your employees. Cluelessness could be your downfall because most employees will not take the time and effort to get in only to bring themselves down. Come up with guidelines -- and distribute them -- for how your business’s data and e-mail are used on employee devices. The goal is to encourage workers to exercise caution. Since most of them will be using their smartphones to access emails and documents, all of the employees should have mobile device management software which allows the remote control of a mobile device. It can be locked remotely or the data could even be wiped. It can also set up firewalls and encryption. Do you have any other advice for employees using their own device?

Mother's Day Conundrum

This is the 21st century so why in the world are we still acting like it is the dark ages about reproduction? There have been countless articles about workplace equality and that woman are still not getting equal pay for equal work. News flash, women rarely get the equal work to begin with. They are seen as lesser, whether consciously or unconsciously. In some cases, a uterus on legs. What if a woman decides that she does not want to have children? Is there something wrong with her? That is how society portrays them. Once again, let me point out that we live in 2015 where there are mobile applications, cloud services, and smart gadgets and yet half of the population's worth seems to be based on their biology. I bet the transgender community has these bigots really confused. In a lot of cases, this sort of separation starts in grade schools where girls are not even encouraged to study math and the sciences, and this will continue all the way through grad school. You can still be a complete person without children. What do you guys think?

Taking Productivity to the Next Level

As human beings we are bound to struggle with procrastination at one point or another. You might also be one of those that has tried everything in the book and every hack that has been suggested. The list is endless, ranging from mobile applications to locking yourself in a room but here are a couple more that might be more towards the helpful side of things. One of the things that you can try is to write down an object and the time frame in which you wish to have it completed, and be reasonable. Then just set your alarm and have at it. That way you make a game of it and don't have to waste time looking at the clock or your phone every five minutes. If you are traveling, one of the secrets that I found is to be the last person to board the plane. Get there really early, sit down, and get to work. You can work while it take the 30 minutes to board instead of just standing around waiting with everyone else. Lastly, get to know your habits and where you are wasting the most time. It will give you the bigger picture so that you will be able to approach the problem better.

Love Yourself

It might sound a bit egotistical right? Like taking a whole mess of selfies and then using a mobile application to get the color just right. The stigma really needs stop, seriously. Self-love also gives you a safety net to take risks and go after your dreams, because you know that no matter what the outcome, you'll be OK -- your self-worth is not on the line. The most important relationship is the relationship you have with yourself. Because no matter what happens, you will always be with yourself and you cannot just check out. Real self-love is about embracing who you are. Having the courage to show your authentic self to the world without worrying what people will think. At this point the question should not be whether we have souls. It is really a matter of being a soul with a body. The best part of that you do not need to be perfect to be enough. There is no standard that you have to reach to satisfy your friends or family. The only standard that there is or ever will be is that you have to be who you are and no one else. Once you realize those things, you will be well on your way to living life to the absolute fullest.

Our Homes

Did you ever realize just how much our homes and living spaces affect our lives? These days all you hear about is mindfulness and being able to live in the now. There is a slew of mobile applications dedicated for this very purpose. In order to be able to live more consciously, we have to start at home and the design. Our home should be a place where we can nourish our spirits, inspire our minds, and connect to our higher selves and the Divine. Your first job is to understand yourself so that you will be able to create a space that supports you. Secondly, make it beautiful. You should put things around the home that you find beautiful and alluring. When you walk into a room, remember that it is an experience and does not just boil down to the way that it looks. Incorporate all of your senses and understand the feel that you get from the home. Lastly, eliminate stressors. These are the little things that need done around that home that are not urgent and simple such as organizing or fixing something up. There really is no place like home.

Public Speaking Tips

The second worst things about public speaking, other that the actually act of public speaking, is having your audience be completely and utterly bored. You are there to present something in the first place so it must be somewhat important that other people know about it, otherwise you would not be there. It does not matter whether you are presenting on your web development project to your team or unveiling some amazing gadget to the world, the same concepts apply. First, make sure that you make a human connection with the audience. It will make them more engaged and feel like you are talking to them and not at them. As far as the content of your presentation goes, make it simple and use a list. Lists are easy to absorb and remember. Also, do not take yourself too seriously because it will bore your audience and there will be a disconnect. It is ok to crack a couple jokes.

No Backup

What would you do if you realized that there was no internet for the next couple of days? Panic? Hyperventilate? Postulate about how the world is coming to a devastating end with an apocalypse led by zombies? A fiber optic cable was cut by vandals a couple weeks ago in Arizona and left thousands without internet. The infrastructure has some huge vulnerabilities. Because Internet service is largely unregulated by the federal government and the states, decisions about network reliability are left to service providers. Industry analysts say these companies generally do not build alternative routes, or redundancies, unless they believe it is worthwhile financially. This means that most smaller cities and rural areas do not have a backup system if one of the internet routes fails. To be honest, it is to everyone's advantage to have backup. Internet phones are overtaking landlines and they are more cost efficient. The FCC says about half the rural U.S. lacks access to high-speed Internet service. It plans to distribute about $20 billion over the next five years to support rural broadband, but it does not require recipients to build network backup systems against outages. Should there be more regulation at least over the infrastructure?

Great Things About the Cloud

Cloud services can really be the best thing that ever happened to your business. Some of the best aspects about the services is that you can back up and store data there. The data will be automatically backed up so you do not have to worry about losing data anymore. There is usually customer support that comes with the back ups and it all adds up to your business saving money on in-house servers and IT professionals. You can also use the cloud in your business for email. This will enable synchronization for all calendars as well as easy collaboration. The cloud can also be used for web site hosting. This means that you will be spending less on web development because it offers tools to create the site and even templates. The updates and customer services will also be right at your finger tips as well. Cloud services are much more useful for businesses than it was ever imagined. In the long run it will pay for itself because of the increased productivity and efficiency while decreasing the costs of running your business and saving you time.

Keeping Your Business In Check

If you are running a business, there are always going to be great employees and not so great employees. As the owner, you need to be able to make sure that they are really doing what they are being paid to do. One approach is to employee human snoopers. They will pose as customers, come in to the location or call in. Then they will be able to report back to you on how the place is being run. You could also look through your employees files on their desk at least once a month to see if they are really working for the money that you are paying them. Here is a secret that needs to be out: the good employees really resent the employees that do not do their fair share of the work. You can also set up a toll free number for employees to call and leave tips to let management know about the ones that are not doing their job. Lastly, the best way to see what is really going on at your business is to go there, no mobile applications or sophisticated software development required. This is called management by walking around. It is important to see and be seen as well as interact with the people. Do you have any other suggestions?

Take Back That Text

Have you even sent a text that you wished that you could take back? Of course you have, you are human and that is part of the human condition. On the brighter side, technology and communication services have been developed that can help. There is a mobile application called Strings that lets you delete messages from your phone and any phone that you sent it to. The downsides to this apps is that it can prevent the person from receiving the text in the first place and the other phone has to have Strings downloaded as well. Strings isn't the first app that aims to control smartphone screw-ups. Invisible Text lets senders see whether or not the recipient has opened their text yet, and if they haven't, the sender can delete it. Ansa is the "Snapchat of texting," meaning your texts self-destruct after a certain amount of time. Strings say they are different because they let the user control everything from start to finish. Do you use any of these applications?