8 Ways to Be More Mindful at Work

Self-care is one of the most important things you should find time for in your day-to-day life.

Stress, anxiety and depression seem to be on the rise and it’s no surprise when you think about the demands life places upon most of us. There’s the constant battle to find a good balance between work, family, social and other commitments, as well as the overstimulation we all face each day from various media platforms. Endless emails, text messages and notifications have our phones beeping day and night, not to mention the countless hours wasted scrolling through social media feeds.

On top of all of that, many of us are also trying to squeeze some time into our busy schedules to prepare healthy meals for the family, exercise, get enough sleep and indulge in some self-care. With so much going on, eventually something has to give. It might be that you begin to cut down on “me time” and neglect your self-care, or it could be that you try to multitask a bit too much at work; either way, there will be a part of your life that suffers under the pressure.

Self-care is one of the most important things you should find time for in your day-to-day life. If you’re not looking after yourself properly, then how do you expect to look after others properly or perform your best at work? Taking care of yourself needn’t be too time consuming; there are plenty of ways you can gradually implement it into your day.

Mindfulness is a great way to recharge your batteries and increase overall productivity. Some great ways to be more mindful in your day-to-day life include:

• Take your time when eating. For at least one meal each day, ensure that you sit down and savor your food properly rather than cramming a sandwich down your throat at your desk.
• Don’t be in such a rush. Allow more time for your commute to enjoy the sights and sounds, to reawaken your senses.
• Turn mundane tasks into meditation. Cleaning your home is a necessary evil, for example, but by doing it slowly and giving it your full concentration you can switch off your mind and use it as a form of meditation.
• Write your worries down. we all have worries, but dwelling on them too much is unproductive. Instead, write them down in a notebook; this gets them out of your head and eventually teaches you to stop thinking about them constantly.

Spend time doing nothing; for at least five minutes each day, just sit and do nothing. Simply sit in silence, focus on your breathing, become aware of your thoughts and notice the world around you.

Check out the infographic below, which features eight more ways that you can be more mindful during the working day, including simple things such as taking regular breaks and performing basic breathing exercises to keep yourself feeling calm and grounded when things get on top of you.

SOURCE: RECEPTION DESKS ONLINE

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5 Secrets of the New Rich - 4 hours workweek

Listen to these tips to be more efficient, work less and make more money

Curb End-of-Year Marketing Burnout with These Digital Marketing Quick Tips

For many marketers, the holiday season is one of their busiest times of year. But let’s face it, focusing on solving your top marketing problems when you have a holiday party to go to and a new year just around the corner isn’t always easy.

This year, let’s change our perspective. Instead of letting things slip with the notion that you’ll pick back up in the new year, finish 2016 with a bang!

This post has a little bit of everything to keep you motivated and ranges from social media marketing, to email marketing and SEO.

Pick the top one or two items that you’re struggling with most this time of year and commit yourself to maintaining a laser focus through the end of the year.

Need to Inspire Engagement with Social Media Marketing?

Content is KING, but engagement is QUEEN, and she rules the house! - @MariSmith

• Listen and empathize – Learn the current situation, goals and troubles involved as well as the ability to empathize with both the brand marketer and the customers they’re trying to reach.
• Social Media program Audit – Inventory your assets and examine current social performance. This will help you determine where to focus efforts, and what to let go.
• Community building and distribution of content – It’s more than pushing brand content, it’s making active efforts to attract and engage a community.
• Improve Social User Experience – SUX – Make it easy for users to find your brand social channels from your company website. Include social sharing widgets on your blog to make it easy for readers to share on their favorite social network.

Social Media Advertising Just Not Hitting the Mark?

Be so good they can’t ignore you. @SteveMartinToGo

• Find the right platform – One message does not fit all social media platforms.
• Tailor messaging – Always create content that speaks directly to your audience. Messaging for a CEO should be different from that for a Manager or Consultant.
• Ad targeting – Test different types of targeting within your  social media advertising campaigns to find the best mix.
• Incorporate compelling imagery – Creating images that are unique, bright and energetic will go a long way.
• Rethink your CTA – If users aren’t signing up for demos or more information, consider offering a gated downloads.

Experiencing General Digital Marketing Burnout?

Attention is a precious commodity. @briansolis

• Read a book and explore new places – Stories give us new perspectives and a vacation can provide new scenery to provide new and fresh perspectives.
• Spark your personal life – Have a good diet, sleep 7-9 hours and exercise that makes you sweat.
• Mix up your work life – Network with other digital marketers to gain inspiration from by talking about what you do and try attending conferences to rev up your marketing know-how.
• Jumpstart creativity – Go to local theaters, art museums or concert halls to feel cultural. It can help in supplying you inspiration and motivation to keep creating.

Struggling with Influencer Marketing?

Everyone is influential about something. @leeodden

• Defining influence – Take into account their ability and willingness to affect action – not just achievement of high fan, friend and follower counts.
• Don’t get distracted – Don’t be blinded by the prospect of fame by association. Popular influencers  won’t necessarily create positive effects for brand marketing and PR goals..
• Validate influencers – Narrow down a short list of influencers by finding correlations across multiple influencer discovery tools and then validating through manual inspection of their work.
• Share a game plan – Provide examples of a thought leader who is already speaking to your target audience. Share steps for how you might attract, engage and partner with those influencers.
• Be the expert – Help your boss & constituents understand what influencer marketing is and isn’t.
• Be mindful of results – Focusing on social shares vs clickthroughs and actions creates fuzzy influencer results.

Want to Take Your Optimization Strategy Beyond Search Engines?

Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first. @emom

• Create a connection – SEO can deliver content-rich answers to buyers at the moment of need, and social media can provide the means to connect and engage.
• Be where customers are searching – While many marketers will debate what comes first, content, social media or SEO, the most practical approach is to use the tactics necessary for your target audience in order to “be the best answer” wherever customers are looking.
• SEO success – More than keywords and links, search engine optimization is an important part of the success equation when it comes to content marketing.
• Be conversational – While SEO has traditionally been able to drive online marketing performance on its own, search engine updates to address content quality and the more conversational nature of search behavior have combined with the growing popularity of social networks to change the SEO landscape forever.
• Think of SEO this way – If a customer-focused content marketing program is the sandwich, then SEO is the mayonnaise. It touches nearly everything and enhances the overall flavor of the sandwich. But on it’s own, not very appetizing.

Email Marketing Campaigns Failing to Nurture Leads?

Email is the glue that binds everything together. @Mike_Stelzner

• Segment your list – Begin incorporating and requiring segmentation information in lead capture forms by adding simple qualifiers.
• Develop a lead nurturing strategy – It may be worth taking the time to develop a few user personas based on the data that you have. Proper persona development can help guide your strategy for different communication streams.
• Set lead nurturing goals – Understanding what exactly you want to accomplish can help drive your lead nurturing strategy and execution.
• Consider marketing automation – Marketing automation can simplify the lead nurturing process. However, it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. Marketing automation can be a large investment and requires the appropriate resources to execute effectively.

End the Year with A Bang!

This calendar year isn’t over until it’s over. Take the time that you have left and focus on the marketing activities that will help you have the biggest impact throughout the end of the year. If there are any additional quick tips or inspirations you’d like to share with our other readers, include them in the comments below!

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