THESE ARE THE 8 BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME, ACCORDING TO BILL GATES

When asked what advice he had for young people who want to make a positive impact on this world as part of a recent Reddit AMA (ask me anything) recently, Bill Gates's first suggestion was, "Read a lot." 

He's certainly taken his own advice. The billionaire entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist and super reader is constantly doling out book recommendations on his blog. 

Out of the dozens and dozens of titles he's mentioned over the years, which are his absolute favorites? In the course of the AMA Gates answers that too, naming eight diverse titles that he considers among his top books of all time. 

1. Grand Transitions by Vaclav Smil 

When Gates reviewed this book back in 2019, he called it "masterpiece" from "one of my favorite thinkers." While he cautioned the book is "not for everyone" and that "long sections read like a textbook or engineering manual," he also insisted that Smil's examination of the growth of just about everything, from dinosaurs to the number of transistors on a computer chip, is nothing short of brilliant. "Nobody sees the big picture with as wide an aperture as Vaclav Smil," Gates concluded. 

2. How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil 

Another title from the Czech-Canadian professor and Gates's favorite author, this one is apparently a light read compared to Smil's other more technical tomes. The book "represents the highly readable distillation of this lifetime of scholarship," according to The Wall Street Journal. It offers readers an overview of exactly how our material world, from concrete to fertilizer, is made. 

3. The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker 

"Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined stands out as one of the most important books I've read--not just this year, but ever," wrote Gates back in 2012. Apparently his opinion hasn't changed in a decade. 

Gates also had good things to say about Enlightenment Now, the follow-up book from the Harvard professor arguing that, despite appearances to the contrary, our world is not only growing less violent, but also more rational, prosperous, and all around better. If you're looking for a ray of sunshine amid the current gloom, maybe pick up one of these titles. 

4. The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

In his AMA, Gates says he's just finished this book by a First Amendment expert and social psychologist about the increasing unwillingness to engage with difficult ideas on college campuses, declaring it "good." A lot of critics seem to have agreed. 

The authors "do a great job of showing how 'safetyism' is cramping young minds. Students are treated like candles, which can be extinguished by a puff of wind," wrote Edward Luce in the Financial Times, concluding, "their book is excellent. Liberal parents, in particular, should read it."

5. Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

This topical book by the well-known journalist and political analyst is also deemed "good" by Gates. The deeply researched book looks into what's driving Americans' division into highly partisan political camps.

"Reading Why We're Polarized is like having a conversation with a brilliant, extremely persuasive friend who has read everything and who is armed with scores of studies that he's able to distill into accessible bites," claims Amy Chua in Foreign Affairs. 

6. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Gates admits he reads a lot more nonfiction than fiction, but that doesn't mean he isn't profoundly moved by a novel now and again. In fact, he includes three on his best books ever list. In his 2019 review of this one about a Russian count sentenced to 30 years of house arrest in a hotel by the Bolsheviks, he confesses the novel brought him to tears. 

"A Gentleman in Moscow is an amazing story because it manages to be a little bit of everything. There's fantastical romance, politics, espionage, parenthood, and poetry," he writes, suggesting it not just for students of Russian history but for everyone who likes a great story well told.  

7. The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal

I have to confess I'm not entirely sure about this one, as Gates says only "Heart" is one of his favorites and there are a lot of books out there with the word "Heart" in the title. But I think it's a fair bet that he's referring to this novel about the untimely death of a young man and his family's decision to donate his heart because Gates wrote a rave review about it several years back. 

"It's poetry disguised as a novel," Gates said of the book at the time, noting, "At times I found myself reading more slowly than usual, simply because the way she describes things is so beautiful," He adds that the book forced him to face the depth of the grief of parents who have lost a child he encounters in the course of his philanthropic work. 

8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 

This Pulitzer-prize winning novel follows the story of a German soldier and a blind French girl whose lives collide during World War II. Critics used words like mesmerizing, exquisite, stunning, soulful, and hauntingly beautiful to describe it. Gates apparently also fell under the novel's spell, as it was the last book on his list of all-time favorites. 

CONTINUAL LEARNING MODE

Change Your Mindset
What is the difference between people in the bottom 80 percent and people in the top 20 percent? Simple. People in the top 20 percent have a different mind-set from people in the bottom 80 percent. Not only do the words they use have different meanings, but their thinking styles are different as well.

Top people are in continual learning mode. They are curious, interested, and eager to absorb new knowledge. They are hungry to learn. They read, listen to audio programs, attend seminars, and ask questions of people who know more than they do. They are great listeners. They take notes during every seminar and conversation.

Income and Information Go Together
The people in the top 20 percent see that there is a direct link between new information and increased income. They never stop improving. They know that one of the best time–management tools in the world is to get better at what you do. Geoffrey Colvin, author of the bestselling book Talent Is Overrated, refers to this as "deliberate practice."

The people who get ahead faster than others are those who deliberately invest the time and put in the hard word to learn and practice new, essential skills that can help them advance up the ladder of their careers. They never stop learning and growing. Their entire focus is to push to the front.

The Only Real Difference
In its simplest terms, the difference between people at the bottom of the ladder and people at the top is practical knowledge and skill. The people who are ahead today, and getting further ahead, are those who have the knowledge and skill that they require to excel in their fields. They continually add to that knowledge and skill.

Just as money grows with compound interest, knowledge and skills also grow through compounding. Each bet of valuable information that you learn makes your mind like Velcro, enabling you to recognize and hook onto other pieces of information that can help you do your job even better than before.

MEET THE 20 MOST PURPOSE-DRIVEN BRANDS OF 2022

It can seem hard to quantify a company's purpose--but not impossible. 

The 2022 Purpose Power Index is here, and it points to the 100 most purpose-driven companies at work in the U.S. today. The index is published by marketing and advertising agency StrawberryFrog and first-party data company Dynata and is the result of a survey of the U.S. general population, which looked at more than 200 companies across 50 industries. The index measures a few different elements of each company: Commitments to a purpose beyond profit, to improving lives, and to creating a better society and world, not just for shareholders. This is the third year that the Purpose Power Index has ranked companies according to these attributes. 

The top companies that made this year's Power Purpose 100 will likely sound familiar: The eco-friendly cleaning company Seventh Generation, owned by Unilever, once again took home the first spot, after taking home the top prize last year. The charitably oriented shoe company Toms also came in second place for the second year in a row. Toms's placement on this list is something of a surprise, given that its visionary founder Blake Mycoskie lost control of the business and was forced to sell to creditors in 2019. 

Compared to previous indexes, this year's top 20 includes more mainstream, billion-dollar businesses. This year, 10 companies are new to the top 20 spots on the Purpose Power Index, including Pfizer, Patagonia, and Zoom.

A company's sense of purpose isn't just important for altruistic reasons; as Dynata CEO Gary S. Laben noted while announcing the 2022 Purpose Power during Inc.'s Purpose Power Summit 2022 livestream event on Tuesday, a sense of purpose creates an economic benefits, too. Dynata's audience modeling tool found that 85 million U.S. consumers are motivated by company purpose to buy goods and services--and 149 million would choose to boycott a company based on its socio-political stance on issues. And not only that: A sense of purpose can also help a company to attract and retain talent, Scott Goodson, CEO and founder of StrawberryFrog wrote on Inc.com in February.

It's clear that U.S. audiences care about where companies stand--and these are the top 20 that they see making a real difference.

1. Seventh Generation

2. Toms

3. Zoom

4. Allbirds

5. AbbVie

6. Burt's Bees

7. Wegmans

8. USAA

9. Tesla

10. REI

11. Google

12. UnitedHealth Group

13. Pfizer

14. LG

15. Clorox

16. General Electric

17. Patagonia

18. Panera Bread

19. Toyota

20. Roche

HOW TO HELP AN EMPLOYEE WHO STRUGGLES WITH TIME MANAGEMENT

The tell-tale signs are there: Tasks done at the last minute, completed late, or even forgotten. Tardiness at meetings. No response to e-mails or replies at weird times, like 2 a.m. And more explanation of why items aren’t done than action to finish them.

You’ve got a direct report struggling with time management. As a manager, it can be challenging to know how to address the issue. On the one hand, you need them to get things done, and your natural tendency can be to respond in obvious annoyance at the lack of follow through or even to consider writing them up. On the other hand, you want to develop your team members. You may have truly brilliant individuals who you know have the potential to be exceptional contributors if they could only figure out how to use their time effectively.

As a time management coach, I talk with people who struggle in this area every day. I know how their brains work, and I help them to move into a place of higher levels of productivity.

If you’re a manager unsure of how to help, here are some practical steps you can take to improve the situation, starting today.

Acknowledge your own emotions.

If you’ve been managing this person for a long time, you’ve likely experienced a broad range of emotions ranging from mild irritation to outright infuriation. Your feelings will vary depending on how severe the issues have been, the stakes involved, your personality, your expectations, and your stress levels.

Before you give feedback to your employee, acknowledge your own emotions. Write out anything you might be thinking or feeling in a free-flow manner. Do not share your raw thoughts (via email or otherwise) with your colleague. This exercise is so you can become aware of your own internal state.

Process what you’re feeling on your own or with a trusted person and honestly assess why you’re so upset. Is it a lack of control? Fear? Embarrassment? Stress?

This process helps you to release pent up negative emotions before you give feedback so that you’re not overly harsh with your direct report and do more harm than good.

Assess your part.

Your direct report may very well have poor time management. But you might want to consider whether you also have poor time management skills and in which ways, if any, you’re contributing to the problem.

If you send over assignments last minute, don’t give clear direction, refuse to set priorities, have no follow-up system, or forget to give feedback, then your actions could be playing a role in the situation. If you also expect your employees to be constantly available through email, chat, or other channels, so they can’t set boundaries to complete focused work, you’re also partially at fault for the struggles they face.

By identifying these issues in advance of the feedback conversation, you can go in acknowledging where you could also have done better.

Pinpoint the stress.

Earlier this year, I had a situation I found very stressful with an outside contractor. There was a large project that I needed them to complete, and they were very delayed. One day as I was thinking about it, I realized that within the larger project, there were just a couple of distinct items that mattered most. Once those were done, my stress would dramatically decrease, and the other parts could take more time.

By clarifying my most important needs, I felt much less stressed and could communicate what I needed to get back most urgently, even if the whole project wasn’t done.

Take the time to think through exactly what’s causing issues for you with your direct report’s lack of time management: Do you not have what you need for important update meetings or presentations? Are you experiencing stress from them asking you to review things last minute? Are their actions costing you time or money? Do you feel anxious when there’s not good communication on status? Once you know this, it will help focus your feedback discussions.

Communicate what you need.

Once you know exactly what’s bothering you, calmly communicate exactly what you need, when you need it, and why you need it. You can also ask them what they need from you to help them be successful.

Although you may feel tempted to unload all of your frustration on your direct report about the stress they’ve caused you and the issues they’ve had, a harsh approach will typically backfire. They’ll be so overwhelmed by your anger and shut down or become defensive and stonewall. Take deep breathes, and try to remember that they likely mean well but simply struggle in this area.

Help at the start.

In some situations, simply giving feedback about what you need or want can improve the situation. But in others, you’ll need to do more to help things move forward.

To get your direct report started, consider taking these actions with them:

• Work with them to prioritize the work
• Brainstorm the direction to take
• Talk through the smaller parts
• Set up intermediate milestones
• Do some of the work with them in a meeting
• Team them up with colleagues
• Request daily updates on what they planned to do and what they’ve accomplished

Structuring the situation so that they can get and keep momentum can make a world of difference.

Appreciate progress.

When you start noticing movement in the right direction, show appreciation for each step forward. You may feel concerned that giving positive feedback too quickly when they haven’t done everything yet will cause them to slack off. But the opposite is usually true. Positive feedback helps to build their confidence, positivity, and motivation and can propel them toward better and better outcomes.

Your direct report likely knows they have really bad time management and may feel worse about it than you do. Laying into them is counterproductive; increased negative emotions about their work usually causes more delays, not less. Remember that you’re on the same team. Instead of tearing them down, build them up each step of the way.

Get outside support.

Sometimes you’re too close to a situation. No matter how hard you try, you can’t provide objective, calm feedback. Or your direct report may not be able to be honest with you about what’s truly going on, such as wasting hours each day scrolling on their phone or a situation at home that may be distracting them.

In these situations, it can be helpful to connect your employee with outside resources such as time management training, an internal coach, or an external coach who can help them to develop these skills. Someone with experience in helping people overcome these challenges and who is more emotionally distant from the situation can often be more effective than someone with a history of frustration.

As a manager, you can’t force anyone to improve their time management. But your communication and actions can make a huge difference in your direct report’s ability to overcome their struggles and increase their productivity.

by Elizabeth Grace Saunders

FIVE POWERFUL WAYS TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

One of the best ways to grow your small business is to keep in touch with your customers and leads. People see between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements every day, so companies need to work hard to stay relevant in the eyes of their target audience.

Nurturing prospects and reaching out to existing customers can help you build stronger buyer personas, increase sales, and boost engagement across all marketing channels. As your business grows, you’ll need to think about other ways to stay in contact with these people if you want to keep them interested in your brand.

The thing is, there are countless tools and platforms you can use to reach your audience. Many entrepreneurs and business owners feel overwhelmed when faced with this task, and it’s not hard to see why. No one likes making a decision when there are so many ‘wrong choices.’

I will try to simplify the process and share five of the best ways you can stay in touch with your customers. We use all of the advice I’ll present today across our brands and have had tremendous success. I’m confident the same can be true for you too.

Let’s begin!

Send Personalized Emails

Let’s start by talking about a traditional marketing communication channel – email. Over 4 billion people use email, and that number is growing every year. A majority of these people say they prefer to engage with brands through email instead of generalized advertising.

I believe this sentiment has a lot to do with the personalized flexibility that comes with email marketing.

Once you grow your list, you can start separating (also known as segmenting) your leads based on their unique interests, pain points, and even individual traits. You can also track subscribers based on how they behave on your site. So, when subscribers download specific lead magnets, buy a product, or read themed blog posts, they would go to a separate list based on their preferences.

This data can help you communicate in a way that simply isn’t possible on most other marketing platforms.

Social media, for instance, is a great communication channel. But you can’t always get laser-focused information on each person while talking to them.

You can also use information volunteered to you to craft engaging emails. We like asking our subscribers for their birthdays so we can send them a special discount on our products during their birthday month.

Research shows that 4 out of 5 (yes, 80%) people say they want more personalized content, offers, and promotions from brands they love. So, if you’re looking for a way to communicate with your customers, you can’t go wrong with personalized emails.

Respond to Comments

Another way to keep readers interested in your website is to respond to your blog and social media comments. I believe this tip is equally crucial for maximum engagement on both platforms.

When it comes to commenting on blog posts, the name of the game is new user engagement. Over 77% of internet users read blog posts. Similarly, a majority of website visitors are new arrivals. Your goal is to keep as many of these first-time visitors coming back to your site.

You can ask visitors to join your email list or follow your social media channel, but responding to comments is also an extremely effective strategy. If a new visitor liked your blog post enough to share their feedback, you can bet that they will appreciate that you took the time to respond.

On the social media side of things, you’re going to see a lot of comments from people who are current customers or those who have already subscribed to your email list. In this sense, they are not first-time visitors and want to hear a little more from you. Engaging with these users can help build brand loyalty and social proof.

I suggest responding to every comment you can. Keep your eyes out for opportunities to tease new features, thank customers for supporting your business, or help users with industry-specific problems.

Experiment with Push Alerts

The next strategy I want to talk about today is push alerts. Odds are, you’ve subscribed to get push notifications from a few businesses you enjoy. People are willing to sign up for alerts when they think the company may deliver helpful content or promotions through their messages.

For example, many people subscribe to push alerts on their favorite hobby blog. People like reading about things that interest them, so they want to be alerted when a new piece of content is published.

Similarly, people who buy pet food online like to enable push alerts on their favorite online food store. Why wouldn’t they want to grab a discount on their next order if they already intended to spend their money on pet food?

If you look at the numbers, the open rates parallel this trend. On average, push alerts have an open rate of 28%, which is usually higher than the average business owner’s email open rate or social media post engagement rate.

You should send two primary message types to those who opt-in to your web notifications.

First, use the information from your customer segments to schedule push alerts for each subsection of your audience. In the pet store example we mentioned above, the marketing team could make an alert for cat food and dog food discounts separately based on what each customer last purchased.

You should also send users alerts based on how they behave with your website. So, if someone downloads a lead magnet, you could send them new blog posts that match the content they already showed interest in.

We use push alerts to curve our shopping cart abandonment rate. If a user subscribes to our alerts, adds an item to their cart, but doesn’t check out, we send them a friendly reminder via push notification. We’ve managed to recover a substantial number of lost sales with this communication strategy.

Embrace Omnichannel Customer Service

Businesses across all industries need a robust customer support system if they want to thrive. We can all remember at least one poor online customer service experience that made us say, “I’m never buying from them again!” You never want your audience to feel this way while trying to communicate with your brand.

The best way to master customer support is to take an omnichannel approach. We encourage our customers to use four different methods to reach out to us for assistance.

First, users can send us an email by filling out a simple contact form. This method takes the longest, but it’s essential to have this feature available for people who don’t have time to sit down and have a conversation.

We also allow users to engage with our chatbots and live support agents on our site. The chatbots help customers with common problems, like resetting passwords. Our chatbot can also send users resources by linking to blog posts or FAQ pages on our site.

Our live chat team helps customers and prospects with questions that require additional research or out-of-the-box thinking. Splitting your on-site support in this way helps manage the workload of your live team while ensuring your customers get fast, accurate answers to their questions.

I also recommend building a support system on popular social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Research shows that 76% of U.S. shoppers have bought something they first spotted on a brand social media post.

The thing is, people rarely see an item and go directly to your checkout page. Instead, they may contact your social media support team so they can ask a few questions.

Merge Social Media with Your Website

Speaking of social media, I want to talk about how to merge social accounts with your website. Many people choose to stay in contact with businesses through social media. When you consider that over 4.62 billion people use these websites, this trend makes sense.

If you can link your profiles to your site, there’s an excellent chance you’ll see a surge in engagement and conversations through cross-channel marketing.

One way to accomplish this task is to add social media feeds directly to your online store. There are plugins on the market that allow you to share feeds from YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter on your sidebar or a standalone page.

When someone finds your website for the first time, they can see how you communicate with others by reading your social wall. You can use this strategy to build trust with your audience, which could result in them communicating with your brand using one or more of the methods mentioned above.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t matter how many customers you have right now; robust communication channels are vital to your success. The five general tips I presented today can help you find what works best for your brand.

After adopting one of these strategies, don’t be afraid to experiment with your message, audience segments, and offers. The way you engage with your customers will change over time. If you’re willing to give them the chance to talk to you, you’ll find countless opportunities to grow your business.

ARE YOU A SATISFIER OR MAXIMIZER?

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to have choices or with seeking out the best possible alternative. If ambitious people don’t aspire to make the most of themselves and the world in which they live, “the best.” If you’re a maximizer, you evaluate as many alternatives as possible to ensure that you have achieved your objective. In doing so, you invest much more time and energy than your peers studying the various alternatives before trying to whittle them down to a winner.

This stands in stark contrast to the behavior of a satisfier, or a person who chooses to “settle for something that is good enough and not worry about the possibility that there might be something better.” Ironically, even though you are likely to make better choices when you’re a maximizer, you will ultimately be less happy with those choices. That’s because as a highly selective person— i.e., someone with FOBO (Fear Of Better Option)—you’ve evaluated so many potential alternatives that you’re stressed out and prone to risk aversion lest you suffer buyer’s remorse. It’s highly ironic when you think about it.

Try taking these self-assessment questions! Answer all of these questions on a scale 1 (not at all true) to 5 (extremely true):

1. I spend an inordinate amount of time or energy making relatively unimportant decisions (i.e., things I won’t remember in a week).

2. I do not feel I can make a good decision unless I have numerous options to weigh. Even if I have an acceptable choice in hand, I seek to generate other alternatives before committing.

3. I often make multiple reservations, appointments, or sets of plans and wait until the last minute to choose one (or none) of my options.

4. I often reject the first thing I’m offered (such as a table at a restaurant, a hotel room, or the purchase price of an item) and try to negotiate or trade up to something better.

5. I frequently purchase items that I end up returning later on.

6. I see canceling on commitments, even at the last minute, as an unavoidable by-product of my busy life.

7. I have damaged personal or professional relationships due to my inability to commit to plans or other decisions.

Next, find the average score for the responses to all ten questions. If your average score exceeds 3, then you can count yourself among the ranks of FOBO sapiens.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON TIKTOK

In case you hadn't heard, TikTok's short-form videos are the latest and greatest way (until something else comes along) for businesses to showcase their brand and communicate with consumers--especially those of the Millennial and Gen-Z variety.

Take, for example, Duo­lingo. The language-learning platform's ­account took off toward the end of 2021, when many of its videos--which usually feature the company's mischievous fuzzy green owl mascot­--went viral. Now, 3.5 million TikTok users follow Duo­lingo's account. But to emulate that success, you'll need some strategies beyond boisterous mascots, so we've compiled advice from TikTok marketing experts to help you get some younger eyes on your brand.

1. Be Authentic

"Throw out your brand book," ­advises Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers (No. 78 on the 2021 Inc. 5000). The marketing firm tells clients like E.l.f Cosmetics and Neutrogena that what works on Instagram won't play well on TikTok: "It should feel low-stakes," says Horowitz, noting that TikTok users prefer videos with low production value, and anything that feels too advertorial won't perform well. In fact, he adds, TikTok users want to feel like your brand is a person: "We always recommend using the first person singular in captions."

2. Follow the Trends

Jonathan Chanti, chief growth officer of marketing agency Viral ­Nation Group, advises jumping on daily trends that are featured on TikTok's "Discover" page. There, you can tune into which topics, video soundtracks, and editing formats are grabbing users' attention. Test what works best for your audience, and don't be afraid to experiment. Tracks that have been featured in 10,000-500,000-view videos have the best chance of boosting your TikToks to viral success, advises JT Barnett, founder and CEO of TikTok marketing agency StrategyX.

3. Communicate

TikTok comments are a great way to see how customers feel about your brand. Pinning comments to the top of posts is a great way to showcase authentic reviews and questions, says Chanti. And Horowitz advises commenting on trending posts to snag traffic and followers.

4. Move Quickly

Small businesses can gain an edge on the platform by posting faster than larger brands that need approval ­before sharing, notes Alessandro Bogliari, co-founder and CEO of Influencer Marketing Factory. And posting three to four times a day when starting out can help you find your core demo­graphic--and gather enough data for analytic tools to be helpful, says Brett Mirman, creative director at marketing firm Go Ventures. He adds that you should check your analytics to see what works best, but certain days (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays) and times of day (6 to 10 a.m. ET; 7 to 10 p.m. ET) are currently optimal for posting.

HOW TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS

You have the potential and ability to accomplish extraordinary things in your lifetime. In order to be successful in life, however, you need to follow a few key habits to help you create and execute your plan. 

Identify Time Wasters

The first thing you need to do to help you plan for success is to eliminate time wasters. Whether it’s the notifications dinging from your phone, the noise of the TV, your kids running around, or construction happening across the street, identify the time wasters and distractions in your life. Most likely, this step won’t take long — you’ll probably be able to easily zero in on the things that you spend time doing, but probably shouldn’t. 

While you might not need to eliminate these distractions completely, they need to go into their proper place. For instance, if you have kids, caring for them is an important part of your life. But you need to find the right balance of work and family time.

Make a list of the primary time wasters in your day or week. Then come up with a plan of attack for how to eliminate or minimize those distractions. Depending on the nature of your distractions, you might try:

• Putting your phone on airplane mode during certain times of the day
• Turning off the TV
• Getting a babysitter for your kids
• Working at a coffee shop or coworking space instead of your house
• Outsource low-value tasks (such as scheduling meetings or cleaning your house)
• Use automation where applicable

By identifying time wasters and taking steps to eliminate them, you’ll be able to be more successful and productive when needed.

Set Your Environment Up For Success

You may have already noticed how a messy space breeds distraction. If you’ve ever wasted precious time looking for that one document you know you have somewhere, or if you just don’t feel as productive when your office is cluttered, you aren’t alone.

There are science-backed reasons for how your physical environment affects your work.

Research has shown that clutter affects both your brain and your work. Our physical environments significantly influence our cognition, emotions, and behavior. What’s more, cluttered spaces can have negative effects on our stress and anxiety levels; our ability to focus; our eating choices; and our sleep. 

Whether your workspace is a room in your house, your office, or simply a table, you can take steps to clean and organize this space. There’s no need to completely redesign your office or deep clean your entire home. Instead, try a few of these easy, realistic tips to spruce up your workspace:

• Purchase (and use!) an easily accessible trash can
• Dust your desk on a regular basis
• Use drawer dividers to keep small office supplies organized
• Implement a filing system for papers, and shred documents you don’t need to keep
• Hide any cords, wires, or chargers that go with your devices
• Use a whiteboard or desk calendar to stay on track with appointments and meetings

Finally, tidy up your workspace each evening when you’re through working so you can start the next morning with a fresh slate.

Create SMART Goals

Setting SMART goals will greatly increase your chances of success. Your goals create the action plan you need, helping boost your productivity as you work toward success. 

So what exactly is a SMART goal? SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The SMART acronym acts as a tool to help you ensure that the goals you create are geared to you and your means of success.

Here’s a further breakdown of this acronym and how it works:

• Specific — What do you want to do?
• Measurable — How will you track your progress?
• Achievable — How will you do it?
• Relevant — Is this relevant to your life right now?
• Time-bound — When do you want to do it?

As you plan out your SMART goals, write down each of these criteria and write a sentence or two about how your goal fits each. If you can create a goal that aligns with each element, your goal will be much more helpful to you in the long run.

Eat That Frog!

Are you familiar with the concept of “eating the frog”? This might sound strange, but here’s what it means. 

Mark Twain once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that it is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. 

To put this illustration into perspective, think of your “frog” as your biggest, most important task. It’s the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it. So “eat that frog” is another way of saying to do your biggest, hardest, and most important task first. 

This time management tip will help you unlock high levels of performance and productivity: Develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. Eating that frog before doing anything else is a common trait of successful people.

Create A Backup Plan

More often than we’d like, things don’t go the way we originally planned them. That’s why it’s important to have a backup plan — in other words, the steps you’ll take to achieve success if your initial plan doesn’t work out.

Maybe you have other goals you’d like to achieve in addition to the main goal you’re working toward. Consider setting one of these as your plan B. For example, perhaps you want to write a book and produce a documentary, and you’re focusing on the documentary right now. If the documentary doesn’t work out, you could switch gears and write a book instead.

Your backup plan doesn’t need to be very in-depth. In fact, it’s probably better that it isn’t: Research has shown that in some cases, having a backup plan can actually do more harm than good. But having a general idea of where else you could go will be extremely helpful if you do end up needing to pivot and try something else instead.

Stay Open-Minded

Sometimes life is unpredictable — and we can’t plan for the unpredictable. Even if you have a backup plan, the chaos of life might throw you for a loop. When this happens, it’s important that you have the flexibility and comfort to adjust your plans as needed. 

Some aspects of your life might be easier to plan or control than others. For instance, you may be able to count on your children’s school schedule, but be unable to control when your boss needs you in a meeting. Figure out which parts of your life right now are immovable and which ones are more flexible. Then do your best to fit in the tasks you can control around the ones you can’t.

When you’ve planned out certain elements of your life, it should be easier to manage the unplannable moments that occur. The key is striking a balance between control and flexibility — planning certain things and staying more flexible for others.