Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Black Enterprise writes about this genius Brooklyn teacher who remixed Cardi B’s “Yellow Bodak” song to teach her students geography, and we’re just in awe;
Recruiter teaches you to build a better resume in….60 seconds;
Got a pastry fanatic in your midst? Serious Eats lists some great gifts for them.
Check out this video of the amazing Brooklyn teacher who’s spinning Cardi B’s “Yellow Boadak” hit into a geography lesson:
You get on your phone to quickly check what’s going on on Facebook before you move on to more important things; then what was supposed to be just a 10-15 minute activity turns out to be 30 minutes, then an hour, then 2 hours…We’ve probably all been there and done that…and I am preaching to myself here!
Social media is a MUST today for any entrepreneur, wannabe entrepreneur, professional just looking for resources, or for anyone who wants to meet new people, keep in touch with friends and reconnect with long lost ones!
However, as much as it is important, it can also turn out (and often does) to be detrimental to us, as it reduces our focus on important things and affects our productivity. When is the last time you read a post and decided to go trough all the comments to read people’s opinions on the matter being discussed? How often have you found yourself spending more time scrolling through your Facebook wall on your phone at work than you’re supposed to (And you’re probably not even allowed to use social media at work 😊)? The same goes on for other social media platforms (i.e., Instagram, Twitter…even LinkedIn); when is the last time you decided to read a book before bedtime and ended up spending more time on your phone than on the book?
It is obvious that as much as we need social media, it can end up using up so much of your time, and preventing us from reaching our goals. Thankfully, there are ways to avoid being trapped by all the social media madness and still make a good use out of it.
Here are 5 ways to take advantage of social media without letting social media take advantage of you:
Determine how much time you spend on social media each day
Spend a day tracking how much you use social media for non-work related activities; use a notebook to write down every single time you log in to a social media platform and when you log off. Do that from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed at night. I am pretty sure you’ll be surprised by the result you get; but that’s okay. Before you can solve a problem, you must admit there is one!
Determine how much time you need to spend on social media each day
Based on your result from 1), see by how much you can realistically reduce the amount of time you spend on social media. Of course, this will depend on the type of work you do; but for someone who does not use social media for any work-related activities, this time should be limited. It should feel like a challenge but an achievable goal at the same time! Listen, you don’t have to comment on that post right away, participate in all the ongoing discussions, go through all your friends’ walls to see what’s going on in their lives; the same things will still be there if you take a break and come back later! Or if you come back tomorrow!
Set an alarm
This may sound a little crazy, but if you are really determined and disciplined, it works. If you decided that you’d only spend a total of 2 hours on social media a day, stick to it! You’ll be proud of yourself. Some people may choose to do the whole 2 hours at night when they get home from work, others may choose to spread their time throughout the day; but whatever you do, set the alarm to remind yourself when your time is up. And when the alarm goes off, just stop!
Use your time on social media efficiently
This will help you stick to your allotted time for the day, but it is also good for your sanity because you don’t need to read/watch everything that is on social media! When you log in, spend a little bit of time on your profile to see if there is anything important you should be aware of, then focus on those pages/groups you follow on a regular basis. Finally, use the rest of your time as you wish.
Limit your accessibility to social media platforms
You may need to delete all social media apps from your smartphone and only access the platforms from your computer. This will most likely limit your usage as it will require more work on your part (Yes, logging in and off each time you want to get on Facebook/Instagram is really hard these days 😊!).
Hopefully, these small tips help! Please feel free to share any other tips you have!
With Love,
Huguette
Huguette Essoh Latte
Bio: Huguette is a God-fearing woman, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister and a friend. She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) by trade and an entrepreneur in the making. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family and walking by one of the beautiful lakes of Minnesota where she resides, when the weather permits.
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Looking for a blog? The Muse lists 17 companies hiring like crazy in December;
The Glassdoor blog shares with us the ultimate holiday out of office checklist;
Are you in a toxic workplace? Ellevate Network lists 5 steps you can take now;
The Daily Muse shares these tips when you’re the only black person in the office;
Business Insider shares the 20 best tech companies to work for in 2018;
Ellevate Network advises women on how we can stop shooting ourselves in the foot on Linked In;
It’s one thing to set lofty goals for the future, especially as a year closes and a new one is about to open. It’s an entirely different thing to actually achieve them, and get what you want. So many of us run into this issue every time we set new goals for ourselves, or frankly recycle old goals into newer versions of what we think we should be accomplishing by now, whatever that may be.
While most of us may think that the goal-setting process is not exactly rocket science, it turns out that a large majority of people fail at setting clear goals. As a result, they fail at achieving them. Case in point: how many of us report failed resolutions and goals every single year?
The amazing thing about goals is that, when we take the time to set them well, can help us in creating the lives we actually want. Not the lives we feel that we have to live, but the very existences that fit us best and correspond to our dreams! It’s thanks to goals that we can muster the hope, vision and direction we need to design our lives! However, not having goals that are right for us, goals that inspire us and make us want to hop out of bed in the morning, have the opposite effect. Instead of creating the lives we want, they lead us to being exhausted, depleted, and without direction.
Actually, achieving our goals is much easier than we think, thanks to a few simple tips we can all apply to our goal-setting process, inspired by legendary coach Tony Robbins’ teachings:
Write the vision down!
“Write the vision” – Habakkuk 2:2
From the dawn of day, there has always been power in being able to write down your vision and goals, on pen and paper. Shut down the computer, grab your journal or a simple notebook, and write down those goals that have meaning for you. You will know that they are the right goals for you by the motivation and energy you feel when writing these down.
Act as if you had already achieved your goals!
This may sound a bit counter-intuitive, but stay with me! Having the core certainty that no matter what, your goals are going to come true is the ultimate way to achieve them. You’re not required to know the “how” or the “when”. Most times, the goals you set for yourself, the right goals for you, exceed what you’re currently capable of or your current circumstances.
Instead of trying to figure out how you’re going to achieve your objectives, or give up too soon because you don’t see a way, acting as if you had already achieved your goals gets you closer to them.
Ask yourself why you want to achieve each goal
This is an important part of the process that many, if not most of us, neglect. Instead of focusing on the motive and purpose of our goals, we tend to zero in on the outcome. Considering that the outcome is usually not immediately attainable, we then tend to get discouraged and give up too early!
Instead, ask yourself what each one of your goals means to you? Focus on how obtaining your desires will make you feel, as Danielle LaPorte teaches and recommends in her book The Desire Map. Make sure to write these down as well.
Rinse and repeat!
The goal-setting process should never be a one-time thing. Rather, it should be something you practice regularly. Don’t allow yourself to forget about your goals once you set them. Go back to them frequently, and review them over time. Make sure that you’re spending some time each and every day in the pursuit of these goals.
Our Workwear feature presents various pieces of work-appropriate attire at different price ranges and sizes.
‘Tis the season for cozy and stylish sweaters like this brushed lambswool cropped crew neck from J. Crew. I love the bright color of this luxurious and cozy piece, that you can pair with anything from trousers to pencil skirts. The cerise color is my favorite, but it’s also available in a gorgeous marled clover hue. It’s $79.50 at J.Crew.
In a similar style, I also like this Tippi sweater in merino wool, also from J. Crew.
What pieces of workwear would you like us to feature? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
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