WHAT THE MOST PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE DO BEFORE BED

SLEEP IS YOUR BODY'S MOST IMPORTANT PROGRAM. WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY YOU SHOULD HACK IT.

Breaking news: When you're asleep, you're still alive--and you'll probably be alive the next day. So it follows that your circadian style will dictate whether you greet the day like Michael Phelps or a drunk (or, possibly, a drunk Michael Phelps, but we'll leave that for later). If you treat sleep as a stopgap measure between your daily grind and Netflix binges, you're doing it wrong.

Sleep is a problem to be solved, a question to be answered, a cake to be had and eaten, too. While this post won't solve your somnambulating, we can at least help you get a handle on what's going on in bed, so you're not--ahem--asleep at the wheel.

Debunking the bed

As Leo Widrich notes on Buffer, a lot of what we "know" about sleep comes from hearsay, advice your mom told you back in the day and blog posts you clicked on when you were bleary-eyed at work. Let's clear those cobwebs.

First of all, Widrich notes, we don't all need eight hours. It's not a universal rule. He quotes sleep psychiatrist Daniel Kripke--who won't bullshit you--who says that people who sleep from 6.5 to 7.5 hours a night are the longest lived, most productive, and happier than others. And assuming everyone should sleep the same length is like saying everybody should have the same shoe size.

No one can do your sleep for you. While experts inform us that we need to take our sleeping patterns into our own hands (and pillows). Optimal sleep--for optimal productivity--is intensely individual; so do some experiments on yourself. Track what happens when you change your sleep routine. Tinker with 15 minutes earlier to bed or to rise. Flirt with a daily nap. Recognize that your mileage may vary--so track the mileage.

• Nap hard: Realizing that his productivity dipped at 3 p.m., Widrich decided to place a nap right then. And as ASAP Science will tell you, don't sleep more than 20 minutes or you'll fail at degrogging. And like anything else at work, there's an educational component: You need to get buy-in from your boss before you can snooze at work.
• Ritualize it: Make going to bed your little personal ceremony. Give yourself time to read or journal, get any brightly lit screens away from you. That way your mind can tell your body that it's time to rest--and you'll soon sleep like a baby.
• Wear yourself out: As awesome infographics note, elite athletes sleep a staggering amount--evidencing that intense activity leads to intense rest. So if you couple vigorous physical activity with vigorous mental activity, you'll do well at sleeping well.

What do you do each night to ensure you get the best shut-eye--and have you found it makes a big difference to your work the next day? Tell us about it in the comments. 

From Fast Company

9 Things Successful People Do When Working From Home

Working from home can be fantastic, or it can be fraught with peril. Here's 

how to make it work better for you.

I wrote the first draft of this column before 8 a.m. on a Sunday, working in my pajamas at the standing desk in my home office.

A new study says I have good company in that kind of work flexibility, and not just among entrepreneurs and those who work for themselves. Nearly one-third of full-time employees do most of their work in homes, coffee shops, and other remote places, according to the Flex+Strategy Group report.

After extensive study, here are the best ways I've learned to make this arrangement work. 

1. Reclaim your commuting time.

Commuting sucks, and one big advantage of working from home is that you no longer have to deal with it regularly. But it's crucial to reclaim the time you used to devote to travel for something productive. For example, maybe use the first 30 minutes of your day to answer emails you didn't get to the day before and the last half hour to set long-term strategic goals and specific objectives for the next day.

2. Design your space.

You've heard this one before, but it's crucial. Carve out a dedicated space that you only use for work. Preferably, you need natural light and a door, so that you can separate your work from your home life when the workday is done. (Moreover, creating a separate and exclusive space can be necessary if you want to take a tax deduction for a home office.)

3. Project professionalism.

Some people advise dressing as if you were still working in someone else's office. I think that's unnecessary, and maybe even a bit crazy, but you do need to come across as professional and reliable when dealing with clients. Here's an example: If you're doing video calls, consider having a clean dedicated area for them, or at least hanging a backdrop so people aren't distracted by home-office clutter.

4. Track your savings.

Following on the first three items, it helps to track how much you save as a result of working from home. Commuting costs alone can be substantial. Then consider the reduced costs of meals, now that you don't have to rely on take-out lunches and $2.50 cups of coffee, throw in your lower dry-cleaning bills, and the savings add up quickly.

5. Expand your circle.

Working at home can become isolating, unless you make an effort to build your network and maintain relationships. This might be easier in a major metropolitan area with lots of networking opportunities and industry meetings. However even if you have to travel and use lots of virtual tools--LinkedIn is a great place to start--maintaining your network should be on your to-do list every day.

6. Delegate all that you can.

When I wrote recently about delegating things to assistants, I was truly surprised by the blowback. Regardless, this is crucial, especially if you work from home, because it's easy to fall prey to the illusion that you have unlimited time, and can now do everything yourself. However, if you have a business worth doing, you can--and should--delegate things like managing your calendar, doing initial research, and handling household chores. (Yes, this can apply to child care, as well.)

7. Manage your distractions.

Talk about easier said than done, but another danger in working from home is that it's so easy not to work. (Thankfully, they're no longer televising Olympic hockey games in the middle of the workday. I'll have to work something out for the World Cup.) One winning strategy is simply to accept that you'll never be 100 percent productive. That makes it easier to be in control of your "mind-wandering" time at work, and keep it under control.

8. Own your day.

If you find yourself working earlier, take time for yourself and your family later. (Personally, I have ghostwriting clients all over the world, and it's a lot easier to do the occasional 4 a.m. overseas Skype call from my home office.) At the same time, it's great to do errands during low-demand hours. Don't fight the crowds at the mall on a Saturday. Instead, discover the tranquility of 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday.

9. Own your week.

If you liked the idea of owning your day, just wait until you own your week. If you've wondered how many more runs you could get in on the ski slopes on a Wednesday (or whatever it is you like to do for fun), or how much easier and cheaper it would be to travel during times when fewer people are able, the answer is: a lot. In fact, the only drawback is that friends and family probably don't have the same flexibility. Once you get to the point where you own the week, however, you'll find yourself longing a lot less for the weekend.

From Inc. Magazine

21 Resources to Make You a Better Entrepreneur

It’s all too easy for entrepreneurs to keep their noses down, focusing on the day-to-day grind. Heck, Michael Gerber made his millions speaking to this fact of working in a business rather than on it. But coming up for air once in a while can net major benefits, especially when it comes to expanding your knowledge and skills.

Here are 21 places you should be looking to learn new things about your industry, as well as different facets of running a business.

Blogs. You’ve gotta love blogs. They provide really insightful information most of the time, without charging a dime. You can learn everything from how to use social media, marketing your business, to the latest news in your industry.

Not every blog is awesome, so when you find one that delivers real value, bookmark it or add it to your RSS feed. Here are a few picks you might find useful:

1. Search Engine Land: One of the reasons I love contributing here is the diversity of entrepreneur-related content, as well as insightful, breaking news and analysis regarding search-engine marketing.

2. Small Business Trends: Aimed directly at small-business owners, this blog covers company spotlights and hands-on how-to advice.

3. Social Media Examiner: If it’s possible to do on social media, there’s already a blog post about it here. Useful if you’re doing your own marketing.

MOOCs. No, it’s not a derogatory term. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses, which are free to take. Universities all over the globe offer online courses on every imaginable topic, including business. Try these sites to start:

4. Coursera: It offers more than 700 courses, including those on data analysis and mobile-cloud computing.

5. Udemy: Learn about Bitcoin, business strategy or 15,998 other topics.

6. MOOC List: Comprehensive list of all available MOOC courses across multiple platforms.

Whitepapers and ebooks. Looking for a little more knowledge than a blog post can provide? Whitepapers and ebooks go in-depth on a topic and can be consumed quickly. Some are free (just expect to have to provide your email address to access them), while others are pretty affordable.

7. QuickSprout: Here you'll find personal expertise from world-renowned marketing expert and extremely successful entrepreneur, Neil Patel.

8. HubSpot: The company’s giveaways might be more popular than their marketing software. Current offerings include ebooks on Facebook marketing, SEO and content marketing.

9. Kindle Unlimited: If you’re an avid reader, Amazon’s new service can help you digest more digital books without paying full price.

Webinars. Everyone learns differently. If you like videos and interacting with your teachers, look for online webinars, both live and recorded, as valuable teaching tools. Again, some of these will be free, but the real value will be found in the ones that charge even a nominal fee.

10. Google Hangouts: Search for whatever you want to learn more about and join a Hangout on Air. The Hangouts are recorded and posted to YouTube, in case you miss the live stream.

11. BizLaunch: This company hosts regular free webinars for entrepreneurs on topics such as email marketing, SEO and social media.

12. SCORE: Here you'll find excellent information on the basics, such as how to start a nonprofit or negotiate a commercial lease.

Twitter chats. If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat, you’ll be surprised how quickly they go by and how much you can learn. But don’t worry if you can’t take it all in in real time. You can always scroll back through the participating tweets (designated with a specific hashtag) and take notes later.

13. #SmallBizChat: Held each Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, this chat covers the gamut of topics relevant to small-business owners.

14. #BlogChat: One of the largest Twitter chats, this one has an impressive lineup of social media, content marketing and small-business experts Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.

15. #B2BChat: Learn from business-to-business experts and network on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.

LinkedIn groups. Another spot on social media that can provide plenty of fodder for your brain are LinkedIn groups. There’s one on every topic under the sun, so sign up for a few and start ingesting.

16. On Startups: Run by Dharmesh Shah of HubSpot, this group provides insightful articles from entrepreneurs.

17. Sales Best Practices: Beef up your sales skills by joining this group, filled with sales pros and business owners.

18. Succeed: Small Business Network, Powered by Staples: This group includes a nice mix of entrepreneurs with different sized businesses.

Videos. If you prefer video to written content, you’ve got plenty of educational content to watch on various video distribution channels.

19. YouTube: It’s not just for cute cat videos! YouTube offers channels such as Small Business Television Network and Small Business Building with how-to content.

20. Videolla: An up-and-comer, this site offers really specific advice, such as “how to pitch to investors in under two minutes.”

21. Justin.tv: With more than 10,000 live channels going on at a given moment, you’re sure to find business content you can use.

While I listed general small-business and entrepreneur resources, you can also look for Twitter chats, ebooks and webinars in your own industry. Look for industry associations and organizations that may offer free or for-a-fee educational content.

Don’t get overwhelmed with so many options, though. Put the resources you want to explore on your calendar, assess two or three a month, then dedicate time to really dive in and see what’s there. While it will require some time investment, you’ll be rewarded with knowledge.

From Entrepreneur

5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand (and Why You Need One)

People want to do business with other people, not with companies. Putting

 a strong personal brand on the frontline of your sales process can dramatically

improve conversion rates.

Your company's brand is one of the most important factors for its eventual success. It's the culmination of your company's identity, packaged and presented in a way that's pleasing, familiar, and attractive to your prospective and recurring customers.

However, companies and organizations aren't alone in the need for solid branding. Personal branding, the art of building a unique brand around yourself as an individual, is just as important. Just as so with a traditional brand, personal branding requires you to find a signature image, a unique voice, and a recognizable standard that your readers, fans, and customers can grow to recognize.

Personal branding is becoming increasingly important because modern audiences tend to trust people more than corporations. Audiences are used to seeing advertising everywhere, and tend to believe corporations and organizations take actions and speak with only sales in mind. Personal branding allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust and interaction, usually through social media.

Furthermore, people want to do business with other people, not with companies. Putting a strong personal brand on the frontline of your sales process can dramatically improve conversion rates.

Whether you use your personal brand to consult, freelance, or drive more traffic and trust to your company, it's vitally important to establish one to stay competitive.

Step 1: Determine your area of expertise.

Before you can establish or develop your expertise, you have to decide what you want to be known for. The world of personal branding is flooded with competing entrepreneurs, so it isn't enough to choose a general field like "marketing" or "human resources." Instead, it's best to develop yourself in a very specific niche. With a niche focus, you'll have more opportunities to prove you know what you're talking about, and while your potential audience might be slightly smaller, it will also be that much more relevant. Specificity is a trade of volume for significance.

Step 2: Start writing and publishing.

Once you know your area of focus, it's time to start building your reputation, and the best way to do that is to show off your expertise. Content marketing is the best way to build a brand and reputation online; when people look for information, they tend to go back to sources that were helpful to them. If you can become a trusted source of information through your content, over time you'll become collectively known as the expert of your specific field. It's best to start your own blog and update it on a regular (at least weekly) basis, but it's also a good idea to start guest blogging on other reputable blogs.

Step 3: Flesh out your social media profiles.

If content is the fuel for your personal brand, social media is the engine. Take the time to flesh out the details of your social media profiles, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and make sure they're consistently in line with your personal brand standards. Post updates regularly (at least once a day for Facebook and LinkedIn, at least a few times a day for Twitter), and don't be afraid to re-post your older content for your new followers.

Step 4: Speak at events and develop case studies.

If you're trying to win the business of your personal brand followers, it's a good idea to work up a few case studies. Work with your past or present clients and co-workers to spin and present a solid narrative. People love real stories more than promises or speculation, so prove what you've done by giving them digestible case studies. You should also consider looking for speaking events in your area, which will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise while connecting with new audiences.

Step 5: Network, network, network.

On social media and in the real world, the key to sparking growth in your personal brand is networking. Engage with other individuals in your field, social influencers who have many connections, and anybody else who could be valuable in helping you spread the word about your expertise. Attend professional networking events to meet influencers in your area, and in the online world, engage in community discussions whenever you can. The more opportunities you have to meet people and talk, the better.

A personal brand is like a garden. Once you lay the groundwork and plant the seeds, you'll be in a great position to eventually reap the benefits. However, it still takes time and dedication to nurture and expand your creation. As you continue to develop your personal brand, stay consistent with your efforts, pay close attention to how your audience responds to your content, and hone your direction until your focus is razor sharp.

From Inc. Magazine

4 Entrepreneurial Cult Classics to Cultivate Success

As a habitual one-hour-a-day reader, I become excited when I find abook that catches my attention. Too many books offer the same old regurgitated advice leaving me to flip to the cover wondering if this is a title I've already read in the past.

Here are four books offering a fresh take on achieving entrepreneurial greatness. They've penetrated the entrepreneurial ranks through word-of-mouth, great content and raving fans. As evidence of their appeal, the titles have collectively drawn more than 1,100 five-star Amazon reviews and the authors have 42,000 followers on Twitter as well as thousands of "friends," "followers" and "likes" on their various Facebook pages.  

These authors have built communities of entrepreneurs who listen intently to their lessons, build businesses by their blueprints and live by the success credos memorialized in their tomes. The following business-lifting titles could be called entrepreneurial “cult classics,” if you will:

1. The Miracle Morning:The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8AM by Hal Elrod, 2012: The premise is simple: Those hitting the snooze button each morning are telling the universe they would rather be unconscious than live out their day. Elrod's book offers a system to start each day since the way people begin each morning speaks to the way they live out their entire day, week, year -- and life. 

2. The 7 Levels of Communication: Go From Relationships to Referrals by Michael Maher, 2010: This book offers salespeople a blueprint for building a network of advocates who will refer them business. It's not about using neurolinguistic programming to entice buyers or digging into a suitcase full of objection-handling techniques.

No, this book offers a blueprint for developing relationships and then turning them into business. It’s a light and entertaining parable built upon a foundation of highly valuable techniques that work when applied to any business.

3. Selling Luxury Homes by Jack Cotton, 2010: Working in real estate is not a prerequisite to loving this book. Those selling anything based on value rather than price will find it worth reading. Cotton has built a lucrative career selling homes to millionaires and billionaires: He offers exceptional advice about how to sell based on value and presents a bird’s-eye view into the minds of ultrawealthy consumers. Putting on a pair of white gloves to pull out luxury-marketing materials may be a bit much, says Cotton, but he also concedes that it might not be for those truly selling luxury.

4. The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime by M.J. DeMarco, 2011. I can’t bear to remove this book from my briefcase even though I’ve read and reread it now several times. DeMarco has a unique take on attaining prosperity, saying most people work their entire lives and never accumulate wealth since their habits keep them on the slow lane when it comes to saving huge sums of money.

His assumption is that it's not possible to attain massive wealth when a person's income is tied to the number of hours worked, as is the case for most individuals. His advice? Separate the number of hours in the day from earning potential to hop over to the millionaire fast lane. 

From Entrepreneur

5 Tips on How to Avoid Losing Your Temper at Work

Have you ever received an email from a client, customer or coworker that was rude, irrational, demanding and unnecessary? Or had an employee make a costly mistake? Your first instinct may have been to react immediately — to angrily hit “reply” or chide your employee in front of the entire office.

Keeping your cool, especially during stressful situations, is one of the most important attributes of a good leader. These five tips will help you keep a clear head and an even temper, no matter how stressful your day.

1. Take a step back. Try to view the situation as a third party. Pretend you’re a representative of yourself and evaluate the problem from a logical point of view. An emotional reaction or angry tirade will almost never solve a dilemma. At best, losing your temper may cause an embarrassing situation and you may need to offer an apology for your behavior. At worst, you’ll intensify the situation and add to the list of consequences. Ask yourself, “Is this something I’ll still be angry about a year from now?” If not, let it go and move on. Many seasoned entrepreneurs will tell you that the things that used to upset them don’t even register on their radar anymore.

2. Be the voice of reason. When someone raises his or her voice to you, take a deep breath and remain calm. Keep your voice steady and speak at a normal pace. Most people will quickly realize they’re the only aggressor in the situation and will bring their voice and their temper back down. Some may even apologize for their outburst. At the same time, be prepared to apologize if you say something you didn't mean to say.

3. Think carefully before you speak. Once something comes out of your mouth, you can’t take it back. Saying hurtful or nasty things can be risky or dangerous to your professional reputation. It can also shatter your credibility. Watch what you say, how you say it, and where you say it. It’s best to confront someone in private, whenever possible.

4. Don’t take it personally. Entrepreneurs care deeply about their business and take extreme pride in their products and services. After all, they created the entire company from the ground up. Because of the emotion tied to your business, you may take negative feedback from customers as a personal attack. Instead, try to put yourself in your customers' shoes. You never know what kind of personal stressors someone may be dealing with on a daily basis. Try to practice patience and understanding and always treat everyone with the same level of respect you’d like to be shown.

5. Walk away. If you find a situation pushes you to your breaking point, step away until you can return with a clear mind. If you’re in the middle of an argument, simply tell the other person that you feel the conversation has gotten out of hand and you’d like to table the conversation for another time. Take time to calm down. Go outside and take a walk or take an hour and go to the gym. A break from the office and physical activity will help you relax. When you return to the problem, your fresh perspective will help you find the best solution.

From Entrepreneur

Even If Your Goals Seem Out of Reach, Stay Motivated With These 6 Strategies

I’ve been working on one project in particular for what seems like forever now -- and I’m growing frustrated. I have nothing to show for my hard work. The project feels as if it has come to a standstill. Day after day, nothing changes, and I find myself wondering, how long can I keep this up without giving up?

Self-doubt has crept in. I know walking away isn’t the answer, but these negative feelings are starting to eat away at my creativity.

Staying motivated is even harder when it comes to challenging projects that seem to drag on and on. That doesn’t mean we should shy away from them, though. Use these tips and strategies to stay focused and on track.

1. Feed your soul. There are a lot of ways to do this. Professionally, I find that the best way to feed my soul is to surround myself with people who are positive and who have my best interests at heart. I need all the support I can muster, and they help lift me up.

If I’m working in a team, I know how much I benefit from relying on them. I keep in touch. I brainstorm with them. I ask for their opinions. More often than not, simply asking a co-worker or someone I respect for their opinion leads me to a solution for a problem that has been vexing me. And it’s so easy to do!

2. Don’t lose sight of the big picture. What's it all about, anyway? Have you forgotten? Most of us do, to one extent or another, because we’re focusing on the daily grind. Do whatever it takes to keep your goal in sight.

Write it down on a huge sticky note and plaster that note to your computer. Find an image that represents your goal and hang it in your line of vision. Thinking about why I’m working so hard always reenergizes me!

3. Ask for help. When something isn’t working, stop and ask your boss, manager or mentor for their advice. Don’t wait too long to ask! When I find myself feeling stuck, I know someone with more experience might be able to shed some light on my problem. Listen, but also ask a lot of questions.

I still call my mentor when I’m stressed out, because he always helps get me back on track. He can see the big picture when I’ve lost it.

4. Get inspired. When I need a little pick-me-up, I read The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. It never fails to remind me of what I am capable of, and how to achieve it. What books or blogs inspire you?

5. Have a hobby. What gives you joy outside of work? If you have trouble answering this question, then you may have a problem. I don’t have many hobbies, but I do have one: I love to garden.

My backyard is my domain. I don’t depend on other people to do it and it’s always available to me. When I’m feeling low or overwhelmed, I work in the dirt. I find it very relaxing. Then I return to my desk a little more light-hearted.

6. Give back. Stop focusing so intently on yourself and your business for a bit. Find a way to help someone else. Donate your time. If I’m losing my magic, this helps without fail.

Staying motivated isn’t easy, especially when the goal you’re working towards seems as far out of reach as ever. Try not to get too down on yourself. Likewise, don’t get too excited when things are going well! Success takes time. There will be stops and starts.

You’ve heard this before, but I’ll say it again: You had better try to enjoy the journey, because, speaking from experience, reaching the top won’t feel as great as you think it will.

From Entrepreneur