Underline app – remember more from the books you read

What is the Underline app and how it can help you remember more from the books you read? 

A big part of what makes you the person you are today is your memory. Memory is a brain function that protects your brain from information overload, a risk we run daily now, in the digital age. Your memory acts as a filter and keeps you sane and a functioning human being. It’s the reason why we forget.

source: intelalearning.wordpress.com

The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve hypothesizes the decline of memory retention in time. This curve shows how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.

If you are an avid reader, wouldn’t you like to remember more?

How does the forgetting curve change when you practise repeating it?

As you can see in the graphic below, repeating the newly-learned information is the best way to increase memory retention.

Underline helps you remember more from the books you read

Underline is a book-to-text scanning app. With the Underline app, you can make the most of reading.

What technology is Underline based on?

Underline is based on Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. The team developing Underline has improved this technology to help users scan a book to read digitally, fast and easy.

Underline app features

Here’s what can you do with Underline:

1. Scan text

Take highlights from physical books by taking a photo of your desired page or paragraph and have Underline extract the text.

2. Sync Underline with your Kindle

Sync Underline with your Kindle and all your highlights will become organized and searchable.

3. Save highlights/ideas

Save highlights and ideas from print, digital or audiobooks in one place.

4. Create and share your highlights on social media

Why share other people’s quotes and smart ideas when you can share yours? Underline helps you create and share cool photos from your highlights with your friends on social media.

5. Find and read book summaries

Explore the Underline community to discover and read book notes and summaries from real people.

6. Write summaries

You can also use Underline as a summary writing app. It’s easy to remember books if you write summaries.

7. Take notes by voice

Underline also works as a voice-to-text book writer. Just talk and the app transforms your voice notes into text. If you are the kind of writer who doesn’t need much editing or is more comfortable talking than writing, this app is for you.

8. Read books offline

If you don’t have time to read your chosen book, scan its pages, save the images and read them whenever it’s convenient for you or when you are offline.

Benefits of using Underline

When was the last time you took notes? It was probably in your student years when you employed the old pen-to-paper technique.

It worked great then, but now you read your book while commuting, on a train or the subway. As much as you would like to, taking notes by pen while holding the book in one hand and the bar with the other is just impossible (you are not expecting to grow a third arm anytime soon, are you?).

Underline solves this problem by allowing you to take notes anywhere, with your smartphone.

• Easy to use – the app uses your smartphone’s camera, you don’t need anything else;
• Convenient – you can take notes anywhere;
• Saves time – if you are pressed for time, you can read book summaries. Underline is a great resource of free book summaries;
• Remember more – go over your notes and highlights to fight the forgetting curve;
• Learn better – writing down your notes is the best way to learn;
• Save it now, read it later – Read your chosen book whenever it’s convenient for you.

Join the Conversation

We’d love to hear what you have to say.

Get in touch with us on our LinkedIn Group, Facebook Group or Twitter.

Source: getunderline.com

A New Year, A New Me – 7 Effective Steps To Achieve Growth in 2019

Picture your favorite tree. In order to grow tall and develop a rich and lush canopy, the tree needs strong roots.

It’s the same for your business. Your business’s development and ultimate success are linked to your own personal growth.

Growth is the conscious pursuit of expanding self-awareness, knowledge and improving personal skills.

Here are 7 effective steps to achieve growth in 2019:

1. Monitor your self-talk

According to Psychology Today, your self-talk combines your conscious thoughts with your unconscious beliefs and biases. It’s an effective way for your brain to interpret and process your daily experiences.

Acknowledge your self-talk and monitor it: what does it tell you?

Do you tell yourself you can’t do something, that you’re stupid, ugly or that you’re not good enough?

If you do, know you have a negative self-talk and you need to work on yourself to change it.

Is your negative self-talk self-grown or is it something that has been told to you repeatedly while growing up? If the latter is true, your negative and deprecating self-talk is not really yours so why carry someone else’s emotional problems? Let go! Seek professional support to help you get rid of your emotional burden.

Learn more about negative self-talk and how to improve your life:

Self-Awareness: 5 Tactics To Improve It

2. Improve your discipline by adopting a No. Excuses. Mindset

I’m tired…I don’t have any money… I’m too old to start a business of my own… It’s too cold outside to go running… I’m not ready…

Have you ever told yourself any of the above or something along the lines? Although you’ve set yourself on the path for achieving your goal, you find yourself making excuses for not doing the work you need to do.

Excuses are exits signs off the freeway of life. Every time you make an excuse you basically stop where you’re going and you’ve delayed that vision, that destination that you so anxiously wanted to get to. When you’re making excuses you’re exiting from your dream.

Johh Maxwell

Why do we make excuses?

The main reason is fear. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of changing our lives, fear of making mistakes while inertia and complacency get the better of us.

Do you want to stop making excuses?

Here’s one single argument that will surely drive you right back: regrets. Having regrets of not doing everything you could have done to reach your full potential is painful and emotionally tormenting.

This is the conclusion latest research has revealed: people regret not being all they could have been.

We have one life. Stop making excuses. Or else you will spend your twilight years feeling regret for not becoming the person you know you could have become if only you had tried.

[bctt tweet=”Growth takes time. It’s all on you. You may have people around you supporting your pursuit of growth, but you will do all the work.” username=”brand_minds”]

3. Read the right books. Educate yourself.

Once you have decided the area on which you need to grow (whether it’s improving your communication skills, soft skills, develop a particular ability or nurture your talent), make a list of all the books that can help you reach your goal.

The most successful entrepreneurs didn’t wait for school classes to teach them, they were self-taught. Elon Musk, Jan Koum and Stewart Butterfield learned how to program by reading books and manuals on the subject. All three of them are now running billion dollar tech companies.

[bctt tweet=”Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong. N. R. Narayana Murthy” username=”brand_minds”]

4. Exercise self-awareness

What is self-awareness? Search for an answer to this question on Google and you get 453 million results. It’s a huge number which shows high interest for this subject.

Here’s another interesting number: a 2011 report estimated that there are 8.7 million species on Earth. Out of which only eight have self-awareness. These species are: humans, bonobos, orangutans, dolphins, orcas, some elephants, magpies and trained pigeons.

You would think self-awareness is a common ability among humans, the most intelligent species on Earth. Actually as dr Tasha Eurich has discovered, self-awareness is on short supply.

Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist and executive coach, with a 15-year professional experience witnessing the power of self-awareness in leadership. Dr. Eurich found a surprising discrepancy between believing to be self-aware and actually being self-aware: even though most people believe they are self-aware, only 10-15% of the people we studied actually fit the criteria.

To achieve growth in the area of your choosing, you need first to know and understand your own self.

Self-awareness gives us power. We might not always like what we see, but there’s a comfort in knowing ourselves. There’s a ton of research showing that people who are self-aware are more fulfilled, they have stronger relationships, they’re more creative, they’re more confident and better communicators. They’re less likely to lie, cheat and steal; they perform better at work and they’re more promotable. And they’re more effective leaders with more profitable companies.

Dr. Tasha Eurich

Listen to Dr. Eurich talking about how you can increase your self-awareness with one simple fix:

5. Learn to set goals correctly

In his book, The Motivation Myth, author Jeff Haden shows that motivation is not the secret ingredient of success. In fact motivation is a result of the process which leads to success, not the cause. The path to success is not paved with motivation, but with goals. Only not everyone knows how to set goals correctly.

Here is how to set goals in order to achieve growth successfully according to Jeff Haden via his article:

• Make your goal tangible, specific and easily measurable;
• Make your goal meaningful to you, not to others;
• Make your goal a positive goal;
• Focus on the daily process.

[bctt tweet=”Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together. James Cash Penney” username=”brand_minds”]

6. Discover mentors online and connect with them offline

[bctt tweet=”If you ask any successful businessperson, they will always (say they) have had a great mentor at some point along the road. Sir Richard Branson” username=”brand_minds”]

We grow faster and become successful when we receive support and guidance from a more experienced person. Sometimes we cannot find the answer to our questions in books so a mentorship is the best solution.

Sir Richard Branson had Sir Freddie Laker, the entrepreneurs who revolutionized the airline industry by offering the first low-cost commercial transatlantic flights to guide him through rough times at Virgin Atlantic. The relationship between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett is well-known and both of them learned from each other. Mark Zuckerberg turned to Steve Jobs for advice on how to build the best team capable of changing the world.

There is a lot of information on how to choose the best mentor for your needs and where to find this mentor. You can also learn how to approach your chosen mentor and how to build a great relationship. You can start looking on LinkedIn or dedicated resources such as micromentor.org or going to industry events and conferences. You may not find your mentor tomorrow, but hang in there, my young padawan! If you are resilient you will find your Yoda.

source: foundr.com

Another way to grow is to become member of a mastermind group.

Napoleon Hill introduced the concept of mastermind groups in his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich. Mastermind groups are peer-to-peer groups whose members support, teach and help each other grow and solve problems. The appropriate mastermind group is very powerful and can take you to the next level.

Here are 5 benefits you can take advantage of when joining a mastermind group:

• High quality experience and knowledge;
• Support and advice provided by the group’s members;
• Collaboration between each of the group’s members;
• Extended network;
• New opportunities for business and for learning;
• No one is alone and we all grow faster with a little help from our peers.

[bctt tweet=”Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher. Oprah Winfrey” username=”brand_minds”]

7. Come to BRAND MINDS 2019 – The Central and Eastern-European Business Summit of the Year

If I were to compare BRAND MINDS to anything it would definitely be a famous rock band concert – packed venue, excellent performance on stage, everyone breathing in unison.

At the 2018 event we had 3000 attendees: professionals, high profile CEOs, media and online personalities. It was a huge experience for everyone attending the business conference. Every speaker gave 120%: they provided knowledge, actionable information, inspiration, laughter and answers to questions.

Ever since the first event six years ago, BRAND MINDS is focused on delivering the best growth experience to its attendees.

BRAND MINDS 2019 is certainly fitting this description. Our speakers are world-renowned experts in their fields: Yuval Noah Harari, Guy Kawasaki, Brene Brown, Robert Cialdini, Grand Cardone and Hitendra Wadhwa.

Make 2019 the year of your growth!

Join the Conversation

We’d love to hear what you have to say.

Get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter.

5 books every marketer should read in 2018

20 years ago marketing was done by getting your business listed in business directories such as Yellow Pages and printing flyers and catalogues of products and services.

In a short period of time, major leaps of technology forced marketers to change the way they were marketing products and services and adapt to the new era of Google-search ranking, social media accounts and chatbots.

Video marketing, inbound marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing. Nowadays there are so many ways of doing marketing that some marketers may feel confused, frustrated or overwhelmed.

Here is our list of 5 books every marketer should read in 2018 to stay updated: 

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, and Stand Out from the Crowd

By Allan Dib

image source: amazon.com

Who is Allan Dib?

Allan Dib is a serial entrepreneur, rebellious marketer and technology expert. He has started, grown and successfully exited multiple businesses in various industries.

His last business was in the hyper-competitive telecommunications industry. It went from startup to four years later being named by Business Review Weekly (BRW) as one of Australia’s fastest growing companies – earning a spot in the BRW Fast 100 list.

Allan is passionate about helping businesses find new and innovative ways to leverage technology and marketing to facilitate rapid business growth. As a highly sought after business coach, consultant and public speaker, he frequently shares his proven strategies and cutting edge tactics with people all over the world.

What you will learn

• How to get new customers, clients or patients and how to make more profit from existing ones;
• Why “big business” style marketing could kill your business and strategies that actually work for small and medium-sized businesses;
• How to close sales without being pushy, needy or obnoxious while turning the tables and offering value to your prospects;
• A simple step-by-step process for creating your own personalised marketing plan that is literally one page;
• How to overcome competitors and make yourself the only logical choice;
• How to get amazing results on a small budget using the secrets of direct response marketing.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon

684 customer reviews

5 stars – 91%

My MBA marketing courses didn’t teach me as clear as this book did. I cannot recommend this book highly enough and have bought 5 copies for my employees. No more random acts of marketing for me…

Hurst

It was almost like the light bulbs were turning on in my brain as I read the pages and performed the exercises. Bam, bam, bam. At the end of the book I had a complete, robust, inexpensive and sustainable marketing plan for my business. In fact, my marketing plan is so complete that I’ve already started implementing it.

Don W.

I’ve been in the marketing business as a owner of a small ad agency for 40 years, on the client side as a marketing director and as professor of marketing teaching college. And I say you cannot find a more accurate marketing book to read. And I read at least 2 business books per week.

David Jewell

Beyond Influencer Marketing: Create Connections with Influential People to Build Authority, Grow Your List, and Boost Revenue

By Cloris Kylie

image source: amazon.com

Who is Cloris Kylie?

Cloris Kylie, Marketing MBA, helps you tap into connections with influencers to build authority, grow your list, and boost revenue.

A sought-after influencer marketing specialist and bestselling author of “Beyond Influencer Marketing”, Cloris has been featured on network television, on top-ranked podcasts and YouTube shows, including the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs, “Entrepreneur On Fire.” Cloris’s articles have been published on websites with millions of followers, such as Tiny Buddha, MindBodyGreen, and Addicted2Success.

Cloris has grown a large network of influencers who have played an essential role in the growth of her coaching and consulting business.

What you will learn

By reading this book, you’ll discover how to:

• Avoid common roadblocks to connect with influential people;
• Tap into your network of connections to land your ideal clients;
• Build and nurture long-lasting business relationships;
• Create a solid marketing foundation and become “influencer ready”;
• Assume a winning mindset that leads to measurable success.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon

58 customer reviews

5-star: 98%

This book is a great find, it has a ton of great content and is easy to read filled with engaging content, success stories and case studies from highly successful people. You can tell that this author really knows the subject, this is much more than just a brief overview of the topic, it is a guidebook from an expert.

Sean Sumner

This book is loaded with so much information to help any company, entrepreneur or author by giving concrete steps that can help expand their reach, grow their brand, increase their recognition, increase their email list, which in turn, could grow their income.

Stokes

DO NOT underestimate this book. I have been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and I honestly thought I fully understood what ‘influencer’ marketing was. After reading this book I realized what I knew was just the tip of the iceberg. This is an incredibly well thought out and detailed description of how anyone who is a coach or consultant of any kind can use ‘influencers’ to grow their business exponentially. I was impressed. You will be learning from someone who has “been there, done that”. I will put many of these ideas into practice immediately. This is a great investment and is highly recommended.

Ronald L. Schaffer

Storynomics: Story-Driven Marketing in the Post-Advertising World

By Robert McKee and Tom Gerace

image source: amazon.com

Who is Robert McKee? Who is Tom Gerace?

Robert McKee is the legendary story master whose popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation.

Tom Gerace is a digital marketing expert and CEO of Skyword.

Together they guided big companies such as Samsung, Marriott and IBM to transform their marketing from an ad-centric to story-centric approach.

What you will learn

Based on the worldwide seminar offered by Robert McKee and Tom Gerace — Storynomics translates the lessons of storytelling in business into economic and leadership success.

In Storynomics, the authors map a path for brands seeking to navigate the rapid decline of interrupt advertising, bringing their knowledge to business leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

Drawing from dozens of story-driven strategies and case studies taken from leading B2B and B2C brands, Storynomics demonstrates how original storytelling delivers results that surpass traditional advertising.

How will brands and their customers connect in the future? 

Storynomics provides the answer.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon

19 customer reviews

5 stars: 95%

In Storynomics, Gerace and McKee provide the framework and process to make us all great storytellers. They set the stage for the future of marketing and teach the reader how to chart their own course. Their writing style is engaging and inspiring. Similar books I’ve read conveyed lofty goals and stories of others success but with no way to achieving those goals within your own organisation. It’s clear to the reader both writers have the expertise and proven experience putting these methods to work.

Brian

Before diving into the craft of compelling storytelling, the authors address my inner skeptic by time-traveling to establish how we got here, proving (in multiple ways) the sheer cognitive power of story, and describing what – exactly – a story is NOT. Next comes the good stuff. McKee & Gerace walk us through the eight vital stages of story design. We learn why every element is crucial, what each one can do for an audience, and how to supercharge the individual stages for maximum emotional connection.

Joel Johnson

Highly recommend. I found the book’s approach to a quickly changing world of marketing and advertising enlightening and motivating. The book delves deeply into the mechanics of what makes a compelling story and explores the challenges facing brands as consumers became savvier about avoiding traditional ads. The book features real-world examples of companies that harnessed the power of storytelling to build brand loyalty. I also like the helpful metrics as well as suggestions and guidelines for introducing a storytelling mindset into your business, whether it be a one-person shop (like mine) or a large corporation.

Ann T.

10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results

By Garrett Moon

image source: amazon.com

Who is Garrett Moon?

Garrett Moon is the CEO and Co-Founder at CoSchedule, the web’s most popular marketing calendar. Ranked as the best business tool built by a startup on Entrepreneur.com, CoSchedule helps more than 10,000 marketing teams stay organised in 100+ countries around the world. In 2016, CoSchedule was named one of the top five startups in Tech. Co’s Startup of the Year Competition.

As a thought leader, Garrett has been blogging and speaking about content marketing, social media marketing, and startup business for more than seven years. He’s been featured on sites like Entrepreneur, Forbes, Social Media Examiner, and Content Marketing Institute.

What you will learn

You will learn to overcome a lack of time, struggling to produce content, an inability to engage your audience, and so many more marketing roadblocks.

If you think marketing success belongs only to elite geniuses or those with huge budgets, think again—10x marketers achieve 10x growth regardless of their limitations. This book is about finding the strategic shortcuts to get you to results fast. It’s about short-circuiting the path to jaw-dropping growth. You have to find your own way—and The 10x Marketing Formula is that path.

So, if you’re ready to look like a marketing genius and revolutionise your results (and mindset), you’ve just found your path.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon

17 customer reviews

5-star: 82%

The crux of the book is that you need to start producing content that brings 10x rewards, not 10% rewards. They provide you with a good definition of what that is but they don’t leave you hanging with a definition. There is a fairly straight forward strategy that the book provides you with so that you can start producing great content.

Curtismchale

Until I read this book, growth for my business felt unattainable because of the struggle to stay above the noise. After reading this book, I understand what measurable growth looks like, and I’m seeing real growth in my business. Rather than spending countless hours on social platforms just trying to get clients to notice me, I’m creating more valuable marketing that’s seeing much higher return. I’m spending my time with my family making memories, instead of wasting away in front of a screen.

Haley F. 

I don’t have a lot of extra time for reading, but I MADE time for this book! 10x Marketing Formula provides immense clarity in a niche that’s cluttered with a million “shoulds” and empty promises. It’s thick with actionable advice. Most of the time, I could only get through a few pages at once, because I wouldn’t get far before I’d be inspired to do something right that minute! This is no pie-in-the-sky fluff piece. Garrett makes no illusion of the fact that this is hard, disciplined work. But it’s work with PURPOSE. Following Garrett’s 10x principles has revolutionized the way my team works. It’s helped us focus our priorities and we are on our way to 10x results.

Jill Maldonado

Digital Marketers Sound Off: Tips, Tactics, Tools, and Predictions from 101 Digital Marketing Specialists

By Matt Chiera

image source: amazon.com

Who is Matt Chiera?

Matt Chiera is Founder of Ice Nine Online, a Chicago-based digital agency by day and market research lab by night. Matt is also Digital Director for enterprise advertising agency The Well and former Head of Business Development for award-winning search marketing agency Perfect Search Media. Matt has been managing and executing digital marketing projects for over a decade.

Matt put Digital Marketers Sound Off together because he couldn’t find a resource like it for himself. There are plenty of books out there that share only one person’s insights about digital marketing. Digital Marketers Sound Off is a book where you’ll find 101 digital marketing specialists sharing their favorite tools, tips, tactics, and predictions for the future.

What you will learn

• What tools top digital marketers use on a daily basis;
• The single most effective tactic used by digital marketing specialists;
• How digital marketers determine success and failure in their campaigns;
• Tips that will improve your digital marketing immediately;
• The biggest mistakes made by digital marketers and how you can avoid them;
• Predictions for the future of digital marketing and how you can stay ahead of the curve;
• Digital marketing insights spanning many specialisations: Search Engine Optimisation, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, PR, Email Marketing, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon

14 reviews

5 stars: 100%

I was a digital marketing noob before I picked up this book. Now I feel like I could actually get a job doing Social Media Marketing, SEO, Facebook Ads, or one of the other digital marketing specializations in the book. This book was like Digital Marketing 101 with info that I think I could actually use to be successful in the field.

Robert Jenkins

I found this book to be very useful for social media marketing, email marketing and a few other tidbits around getting more people to know you exist. I would love to see new editions with additional contributors, more topics (Instagram specifically…) but this is a fantastic start to laying plans or improving a digital marketing landscape.

Joe Arko

Being in the marketing space myself, I’m always looking for new information and fresh ideas. Wow, does this book hit the ball out of the PARK! Every chapter had me scribbling notes of new ways to grow business. I highly recommend this book to marketers and want-to-be marketers alike. Awesome stuff Matt!

Stevie B.

How To Avoid The Professional Burnout

When one is passionate about their job, when one is a high-achiever, one tends to ignore the fact that they’re working exceptionally long hours, taking on exceedingly heavy workloads and putting enormous pressure on themselves to excel—all of which make them ripe for burnout.

According to psychologytoday.com, burnout is a state of chronic  stress that leads to: physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. In the state of full-fledged burnout, one is no longer able to function effectively on a personal or professional level. However, burnout doesn’t happen overnight, our bodies and minds do give us warnings, and if you know what to look for, you can recognize it before it’s too late. More about the stages of a burnout and its signs one can read here.

But what can we do to avoid reaching this state? According to Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter in their book “The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It”, when burnout occurs, three things happen: you become chronically exhausted, cynical and detached from your work and you feel increasingly ineffective on the job.

An idea would be to try and be more optimistic and make sure you don’t fall on a pessimistic slide, or, if you have the necessary means, just try a vacation. Realistically speaking though, things are not as easy as they seem, hence the problem creeping out on you and making it quite a big issue.

Pay attention to the voice in your head. When it starts describing negative events as permanent, pervasive or personal, correct yourself. By remembering the 3 P’s (permanence, pervasiveness and personal) and flipping the script, Martin Seligman, author of “Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life” says you can make yourself more optimistic over time.

Increase your social activity. Spend time with friends, they will bring a balance into your life. As shown by bakadesuyo.com, when the American Medical Association surveyed top doctors to find out how they avoided burnout, one of the key things mentioned was “sharing issues with family and friends.”

Increase your self-efficiency. Paula Davis-Laack, JD, MAPP, an internationally-published writer who travels the globe as a stress and resilience expert, wrote for Psychology Today that self-efficacy is having the belief in your own ability to accomplish (and exercise control over) personally meaningful  goals and tasks. People who have a stronger level of perceived self-efficacy experience less  stress in challenging situations, and situations in turn become less stressful when people believe they can cope (Albert Bandura, 1989).

Have creative outlets. Burnout interferes with your ability to perform well, increases rigid thinking, and decreases your ability to think accurately, flexibly, and creatively. Even if you aren’t able to flex your creative muscles at work, having some type of creative outlet will keep you engaged and motivated.

Take care of yourself. Make sure you always put yourself first and don’t forget what is important to you and your life. Moreover, pay attention to your health and the outside-work life. Our bodies aren’t machines and one has to remember that things will still be here to be done after taking a much-needed break.

Start saying “no” from time to time. Don’t be afraid to say no. Every “yes” you say adds another thing on your plate and takes more energy away from you.

Get support where you can find it. The number of people who say they have no one with whom they can discuss important matters has nearly tripled in the past two and a half decades. The more depressed or into-work people get, the more they tend not to speak with other people or spend time with others, considering they are always under-time pressure or with a deadline hanging over their head. It’s a state one must make sure he / she doesn’t get stuck into.

According to http://99u.com, to help relieve pressure, schedule daily blocks of downtime to refuel your brain and well-being. It can be anything from meditation to a nap, a walk, or simply turning off the wifi for a while.

Concentrate on positive emotions. Studies show that increasing your diet of positive emotion builds your resilience, creativity  and ability to be solution-focused, things that are in short supply if you feel like you’re burning out. I made it a point to start noticing when people did things well (and told them so), and I tried to stop being so hard on myself. Aim for a ratio of positive emotions to negative emotions of at least 3:1, which is the tipping point to start experiencing increased resilience and happiness (Fredrickson, 2009).

Limit your contact with negative people. Hanging out with negative-minded people who do nothing but complain will only drag down your mood and outlook. If you have to work with a negative person, try to limit the amount of time you have to spend together.

Make friends at work. Having strong ties in the workplace can help reduce monotony and counter the effects of burnout. Having friends to chat and joke with during the day can help relieve stress from an unfulfilling or demanding job, improve your job performance, or simply get you through a rough day.

Take time off. If burnout seems inevitable, try to take a complete break from work. Go on vacation, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence—anything to remove yourself from the situation. Use the time away to recharge your batteries and pursue other burnout recovery steps. Entrepreneurs or freelancers can be especially prone to burnout. Joel Runyon plays “workstation popcorn,” in which he groups tasks by location and then switches, in order to keep work manageable, provide himself frequent breaks, and spend his time efficiently.

Set boundaries. Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to requests on your time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows you to say “yes” to the things that you truly want to do.

Nourish your creative side. Creativity is a powerful antidote to burnout. Try something new, start a fun project, or resume a favorite hobby. Choose activities that have nothing to do with work.

Set aside relaxation time. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response.

Get plenty of sleep. Feeling tired can exacerbate burnout by causing you to think irrationally.

Avoid nicotine. Smoking when you’re feeling stressed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant, leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.

10 Things you might not know about Shed Simove

Sheridan “Shed” Simove is a modern day creative genius. He lives and breathes ideas. Every day of his life dozens of new ideas spring from his astonishingly active mind. The ideas can relate to pretty much anything — TV shows, ranges of sweets, executive toys, greeting cards, money-making schemes — the list is endless. And if an idea hasn’t been done before, then Shed is sure to attempt it.

Here are some details about him you might find interesting:

1.In the book “Ideas Man”, Shed describes how dozens of his ideas came to be, how they succeed or sometimes disastrously fail. Some of Shed’s ideas include a range of adult candies called “Clitoris Allsorts,” a groundbreaking documentary that involved him going undercover as a 16-year-old schoolboy (when he was 30), and the launch of his own currency, the “Ego”.

2. Shed Simove is the creator of the Shinder app, dating app that matches women with the same single man, him. “I thought, if you can’t beat them, maybe create your own competition where you’re the only person in the competition, therefore, you will then by de facto win,” he said for The Verge. “You will win! In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. I thought I would try to create my own pond, so that then I would naturally be the biggest fish.”

3. A unique business model that has worked for Shed multiple times is transforming unconventional concepts into lucrative new ventures which form the basis of his stand-up routines and inspirational speeches. “Shed’s resume reads like it was scripted for a comedy-romance about an accidental but successful entrepreneur. Because his success is very real, the first thing we asked him is what he thinks actually goes into the making of a remarkable entrepreneur,” consider the journalists from businessfundingshow.com.

4. He thinks the emphasis of education should be on exploring, experimenting, falling – so that you know then how to get up and learn from your mistakes. Only after many failures can you ever hope to succeed. The human brain is naturally primed for learning. That’s its massive computational superpower.

5. Simove believes the barriers to starting a new venture – and adventure – are incredibly low now – and really the only barrier I feel is often in our heads.

6. “I certainly work hard on anything I do, even if it’s meant to be humorous or entertaining. Humor to me is very important because it helps us get through life,” he declared for businessfundingshow.com.

7. His formula is not so different from  Richard Reed or  Charlie Mullins. His education in Experimental Psychology combines with a career in Disney World and showbiz into a one-of-a-kind brand of entertainment. While his products may trigger an outburst of laughter in one case or extreme controversy in another, there are active and engaged market segments that he has carefully tapped into.

8. To date, Shed has sold over one million products worldwide and also holds the honor of being the first person to reach the Amazon Top 50 with a blank book – Shed’s masterpiece entitled ‘What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex’​ reached 44 on the chart and has been translated all over the globe… It also achieved a Guinness World Records for ‘Most Pages In Published Book’​.

9. As well as a successful career in television production, Shed has forged a highly innovative merchandising empire – creating novelty gifts, executive toys, best-selling adult sweets, books, greetings cards, and even his own currency. He’s won ‘Gift Of The Year’ twice for two of his creations – a range of birthday candles that spelt “You’re Old” and the smash hit ‘Sound Machine’​.

10. Shed’s inspirational and hugely informative performances showcase his amazing career path, using props and visuals that add to the engaging and exciting stories he tells. Shed has performed his visual and inspirational Motivational Speeches to both entrepreneurs and non business people alike. A cross between Anthony Robbins and Woody Allen, Shed is a truly compelling, uniquely memorable, one-off performer.

10 Things you might not know about Jonas Ridderstrale

Dr. Jonas Ridderstråle, the author behind the bestseller Funky Business in 2000, is one of the worlds most significant and respected business thinkers and speakers.  He is at the forefront of the new generation of management gurus and has been ranked among the top for 11 consecutive years in Thinkers50, the biennial ranking of management thinkers.  As late as 2011 he was ranked number five in Europe, and among the top in the rest of the world.

More things you might not know about him:

1. Jonas has an MBA and a PhD in international business and was recognized as Sweden’s outstanding young academic of the year. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Italian Nobels Colloquia award for “Leadership in Business and Economic Thinking”. Jonas is currently a visiting professor at the internationally acclaimed business school Ashridge in the UK. His research has been published in leading academic journals.

2. His forceful blend of academic rigor, imagination, humor and highly dynamic presentation style has inspired audiences from Moscow to Mumbai and San Francisco to Shanghai. Jonas’ diverse client list includes Fortune 500 companies, major government bodies, sports teams as well as trade unions.

3. Dr. Ridderstråle’s ideas and work have attracted huge media coverage throughout the world. He has appeared on CNN’s “Global Office” in an extended interview exploring the ideas behind his books. Elsewhere, he has been featured in Fortune, Fast Company, Time Magazine, Financial Times, The Times, Stern, Newsweek, Paris Match, and many other publications worldwide.

4. Jonas asks questions that trigger new thoughts and discussions. In our deregulated world, more and more responsibilities rest with the single individual. So, we must all arm ourselves with the knowledge needed to take smart decisions.

5. His intention is that his thoughts should help you give birth to your own unique ideas. That is what will have an impact on the competitiveness of your business and your own career.

6. The title for his second book, Karaoke Capitalism, came out of the frustration that the companies didn’t companies use the golden opportunities of new technologies. “I saw too little innovation from a management and leadership point of view. The criticism we received for these books [both co-written with Kjell Nordström] was, “yes, it’s fun and interesting and written in an appealing way – but how do you actually do it?”, he once declared.

7. Since psychological and social capital are so important, he believes we have to rethink a lot of the basics in management. Most traditional management presumes you can move from envisioning straight to execution, forgetting engagement. It equates great leaders with those who have Eureka moments. But to deliver real change you have to be able to tap into people’s emotional capital too.

8. He believes that him and Kjell Nordström are different on the market, in terms of the examples they use. Instead of examples that would make sense to a traditional CEO, or someone who has spent twenty to twenty-five years in the economics library at a university, they use examples that make sense to people in general.

9. He and his partner have taken more of a horizontal analysis approach where they look at societal changes – such as in art, culture and music – and explore how it interacts with business. “We paint a picture of the broad societal trends, which is not unusual, but then we link those trends to what’s happening within corporations, the field of leadership and management, and the field of strategy,” Jonas said for ideaconnection.com.

10.  He thinks that talent is a little bit more complex as a concept than knowledge, because talent includes more than the intellectual capital that used to make and still makes some organizations competitive. 

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