How to Automate Life and Streamline Everyday Processes

How to Automate Life and Streamline Everyday Processes Whats something that Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, Barack Obama, and Steve Jobs have in common?Incredible success, yes. But theres another common factor: wearing the same outfit every day.And its not because they lack creativity or style.Its because successful, busy people want to cut down on their daily decision-making.When youre less worried about the mundane details of life, you have more mental space for creativity, problem-solving, and genius ideas.In an interview with Vanity Fair, Obama explained, You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can't be going through the day distracted by trivia.Similarly, the book Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris reveals that most highly successful people eat the same breakfast every single day.Boring? Maybe. But theres a method to the madness.How do I know? Ive used these tips and tools to automate my life and grow my business, Transizion. Ive saved time and mental energy to focus on the tasks that matter.L ets learn more about how to automate your life.Benefits of AutomationThe average person makes 35,000 decisions a day. And studies show that decision-making fatigue is real.Perhaps paradoxically, every act of making decisions limits your ability to make decisions later.So, it makes sense to consciously choose where youd like to focus your energy each dayand where that energy is wasted.Reducing your number of daily decisions is a form of automation.Automation means streamlining processes, limiting distractions, and saving time and effort. It means clearing your mind of clutter and spending your day on what matters.Would you like to be more efficient, productive, and creative? Are you interested in creating more space and time for yourself?Sure, we all do.Automation is the way to go.No, you dont have to drink the same protein shake every morning, trade delicious dinners for Huel or wear the same suit every day. But there are countless ways to automate the dull details and pesky process es of your life.8 Strategies to Automate Your LifeThink about the tasks that consume you daily, weekly, or even monthly. The boring ones that waste your time and drain your energy. Then, consider ways you can simplify, speed up, or automate these tasks.Here are some useful automation ideas to get you started.1. BillsAutomate your monthly bills by setting up automatic bill pay. You can do this with your phone, cable, rent, car insurance, and even daycare payments or the minimum amount on your credit cards.You can set a specific amount to be paid on a specific date each month. This way, theres no need to keep a running mental checklist of which bills are due and when theyre due.Plus, youll never be penalized for late payments, saving your credit score and your money.2. Extreme (?) CouponingYeah, the TLC couponing freaks are at once impressive and kinda scary. But you actually can learn a lot from them (just dont take it to the... extreme).In truth, coupons can save you money with litt le to no effort.The mobile app Cellfire lists coupons and other offers. Simply select the ones you like, and theyre added to your grocery store loyalty card. Next time you swipe your card at the store, the discounts are automatically deducted.As for tools outside of the analog worldHoney is a Google Chrome extension that automatically searches for discounts while youre shopping online. The discounts are applied when you check out.3. ShoppingSpeaking of shopping, its a fearsome task for many of us. Luckily, there are several ways to simplify it.If you hate clothes shopping, try a subscription service like Stitch Fix, Trunk Club, or Bombfell. Based on a series of questions that you answer, these services send clothes selected just for you. Send back what you dont like, and only pay for the items you keep.There are similar services for books, razors, makeup and beauty products, shoes, coffee, wine, and more.Of course, the goal here is automating, not splurging. Think of a few purchases you already make on a regular basis, and see if a subscription service could save you time without breaking the bank.If grocery shopping is a pain point for you, services like AmazonFresh and Instacart will deliver your groceries.Grocery store chains like Publix and Wal-Mart now offer curbside pick-up. You order your groceries online and schedule a pick-up time, then an employee loads your groceries into the car for you.Although theres usually a minimum purchase total associated with these services, theres no extra charge for pick-up.4. CookingOf course, buying the ingredients is less than half the battle when it comes to cooking. Theres also deciding what to cook, actually cooking it, and repeating the whole process again the next day.One way to streamline this ordeal is to gather a collection of favorite recipes. You can save them in a computer file, write them on index cards, print them and keep them in a file folder, etc. Then, set up a rotation of your favorite meals, reducing the time you spend considering what to cook.Setting aside a day over the weekend to meal prep and/or cook make-ahead freezer meals will also save you time during the week.If you forget to plan, theres a website called MyFridgeFood that allows you to check boxes indicating what you currently have in your fridge or pantry. The site then supplies you with some recipes you could make using the items you already have.You could also try Blue Apron or HelloFresh. With these services, youll get a pre-determined menu, pre-measured ingredients, and easy step-by-step instructions for cooking each meal.This eliminates meal planning and grocery shopping, and it simplifies cooking. If you dont like something on the menu, youre free to skip it or change it.5. EmailsEmails are a major stressor for many people.Reduce inbox stress by:Checking your email at set times each day, or setting alerts only for people who require an immediate response (e.g. your boss).Unsubscribing to emails you dont really read.Keeping emails short, and avoiding questions when possible. This reduces the chances of a lengthy back-and-forth.Creating folders and subfolders to automatically sort your emails. For example, you might sort by Work, Amazon, and Social. You can also sort based on priority.Using predictive text like Gmails Smart Compose feature. It provides suggested (and often spot-on) responses to emails at the bottom of the screen. If you like one of the suggestions, simply click it and hit send (actually, I get scared by how accurate some of the responses are).Enabling Canned Responses in Gmail or another service to tackle commonly sent email responses. Create simple templates that can be easily inserted into messages with a few clicks.Experimenting with different features and configurations to see what works best for you. Every email service is different, but they all offer useful ways to fight the email beast.6. AppsIf you use a lot of apps on a daily basis, apps like If This Then That (IF TTT) and Workflow save you time by getting all them otherz apps to communicate and work together.You can:Save articles to read laterPost a picture or update on one form of social media and have it posted everywhereCreate shopping listsScore discountsSchedule and track tasks and goalsGet the weather sent to your phone each morningReceive reminders to hydrate!Add songs from videos you like to a Spotify playlist and sync Soundcloud likes to SpotifyGet a summary of how youre spending your timeTrack workoutsMuch moreThe possibilities are nearly endless, and the apps are free!7. Learning on the GoWe all want to stay informed, but reading and browsing the web can be a severe time drain. Listen to podcasts or audio books during your commute to and from work, while exercising, or even while doing chores around the house.Take advantage of sites like The Daily Skimm. It sends a quick, easy-to-read summary of the latest news straight to your inbox daily.8. Home AutomationHome automation is an e ver-expanding trend, with options like Amazon Alexa, Amazon Echo, Google Home, Sonos One, and many others.With home automation, you can adjust lights, temperature, security, and other items from your device. You can also give verbal commands to set timers, turn lights on and off, play music, update grocery lists, and so on.To Wrap Up:Even basic ideas like creating routines, setting out tomorrows outfit the night before, and using keyboard shortcuts can make your life easier.These automation tips and many more can simplify and streamline your life. Youll have more room in your brain for innovative ideas, bursts of inspiration, and... the next big thing;).Ive automated my life while running and growing Transizion. Now its your turn to maximize your productivity and focus more on what matters.So, what do you think?Have you tried any of these automation ideas? How did it go? Are there other ways you automate and simplify your life? Id love to hear from you in the comments!

How You Can Still Send Your Tweets into LinkedIn [Video]

How You Can Still Send Your Tweets into LinkedIn [Video] The Twitter and LinkedIn integration has been a pet peeve of many LinkedIn users for some time. When used correctly (selective tweets only), it would send one or two relevant tweets into a users LinkedIn status. Most users got this wrong however and sent  every  tweet into LinkedIn. The trouble is that the tone on Twitter is conversational and on LinkedIn its professional. On Twitter its fine to do 10 updates in a day, on LinkedIn youll only clutter up your networks homefeed. A very different pace of interaction on LinkedIn if you like. LinkedIn + Twitter = Litter Many bloggers, including  myself, have been calling for LinkedIn to cull the Twitter integration or at least allow users to filter out updates they see. The recent  announcement  came as a surprise, not because they stopped the integration but because it was actually Twitter that pulled the plug. They have pulled the Facebook integration as well, their game is of course to encourage users to use Twitter as a stand-alone product and not as a firehose into other networks. Its a one-way street As it stands now, you can still share into Twitter from LinkedIn (just not the reverse). This is very simple, just click the blue Twitter bird when making an update. I see recruiters doing these updates from group discussions as well as status updates and it makes a good impact in my opinion so keep this up whenever relevant. How to still tweet into LinkedIn If you still want to make updates from Twitter to LinkedIn you have the option of using something called  IFTTT  (If This Then That). This is a 3rd party application allowing you to set up automated updates from one network to another. In this case you can choose to send Twitter updates to LinkedIn. In general, I would avoid doing the same blanket updates across different channels but it does of course save time and effort. I would be interested to hear from other recruiters how they do it so please get in touch! Related: How Recruiters Should NOT Run LinkedIn Groups. Image: Shutterstock

5 Innovative, Professional Ways to Land a Job in 2018

5 Innovative, Professional Ways to Land a Job in 2018 Landing a job isnt easy in todays competitive job market. You have seconds to catch the attention of HR before your resume winds up in the trash or the bottom of the pile. Sometimes, you have to get a little creative to stand out in the sea of applications. Here are five innovative ways to land a job in 2018. 1. Establish a Web Presence Its not always easy to convey your experience and skills in a paper resume. To show prospective employers what you can do, build a portfolio website that showcases your skills. The great thing about having your own website is that you have freedom to do whatever you want. Be as creative as you want with the design. Format the content any way you please. You are the captain of the ship when building your own website. Your online portfolio should be designed as a marketing piece to sell you and your skills. It should fit your personality and be relevant to the job. While you have some creative freedom here, make sure that you still keep it professional. 2. Make LinkedIn Work for You LinkedIn is a powerful way to connect with decision-makers and show off your resume. In fact, LinkedIn is your digital resume. Most professionals have a profile on this platform, but they dont use it to their full advantage. A complete, up-to-date profile is a valuable tool that you can use to demonstrate your skills to potential employers. Your profile should include: A recent photo Information that is relevant and up-to-date Include your achievements and education history List at least one previous position Include work examples in text, video, photo or presentation format Work on growing your network, and getting recommendations and endorsements. Endorsements and recommendations will improve your credibility. 3. Hire a Professional to Write Your Resume If you havent had any luck getting interviews, your resume may be to blame. Knowing what to put on your resume and how to word it can be a challenge. If writing isnt your cup of tea, you may want to hire a professional to write your resume. A resume writer will know how to showcase your skills in a way that catches the eye of hiring managers. As the professionals at Arielle explain, Some people dont ever talk about their careers, and most people don’t really reflect on their achievements. By taking a deep dive into this process, they get reacquainted with their careers and start owning it again. Something as simple as changing your resume may be all you need to land your dream job. 4. Connect with Decision-Makers Online One way to get to know a company is to check their social media profiles. But following a company may also be a great way to get hired. You may not get a job offer overnight, but if you connect with decision-makers and build relationships with the right people, you may just get your foot in the door. Make sure that your social persona is professional. Inappropriate posts can damage your chances of getting the job. 5. Cold Calling Cold calling is still an effective method of job hunting, although it has changed a little over the last decade. Now, creative job hunters are creating databases with information about each company. This information helps the candidate create a more personalized message and better explain why theyd be a good fit for the company.

How Speaking Up Can Create Greater Happiness and Success -

How Speaking Up Can Create Greater Happiness and Success - It’s not always easy to find the words when you don’t know what the reaction will be, but just how much do we avoid speaking up? According to research, 72% of employees admit they do not speak up when they feel they should. Whether you were taught at an early age not to rock the boat or appear rude, or whether you’re afraid of another’s reaction to a difficult or awkward conversation, there are many reasons we may not be willing to have our voices heard but have you considered what the cost of not speaking up could be? Staying silent when you need to speak is not just undermining your personal and professional relationships and opportunities â€" it can cause harm to your health and well-being. Here are 4 reasons why speaking up is so important and how you can use your voice to create greater happiness and success for you and those around you: Challenge limited mindsets and fears Fear is one of the biggest reasons we use when choosing to hold back our voice: fear of failure, ridicule, rejection, conflict or confrontation. Sometimes it’s even fears of succeeding standing out and being recognized positively can be just as uncomfortable for some. But what is fear really? The only time we fear something is when we don’t have all the information and think we will get caught off-guard. Rather than challenge our fears, we usually start to imagine the worst-case scenarios. If you would like to go beyond the fears and stories that stop you, first ask some different questions and shift your mindset: instead of thinking about what you might lose from speaking up, have you ever wondered what you might gain? Rather than fixate on the worst that could happen, flip that point of view on its head and ask:  If I choose to speak up, what contribution could this be and what possibility could it create? If you don’t feel you have all the information required to speak up, don’t stop yourself there. Ask a question, like: Who can I talk to, where can I go and what questions can I ask to gain more clarity or information about this? Empower curiosity and creativity Do you truly desire to create and innovate? Then you have to be willing to speak up (and listen) with an ongoing sense of curiosity, not judgment or expectation. Nothing kills creativity faster than approaching an interaction from the view of good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, positive vs. negative. When you are curious, you can see all perspectives and ideas as interesting and different, without putting a value judgment ahead of time or dismissing certain ideas because they don’t match your expectation of how things should be. By going to curiosity instead of judgment, you allow for much easier and open communication. Speaking up isn’t about having all the answers. It is actually the questions you are willing to ask that can open doors to true innovation and creativity.  What if you never again had to come up with the right thing to say, at the right time, in the right way? Use questions like these to stimulate creative conversation and communication: What else is possible here we haven’t considered? If we stop viewing this as a problem, what possibility could it be? What’s right about this (situation/outcome) we are not getting? What or who could we add to this project/team/service/product that would make it greater? If you are still catching yourself trying to figure out what to say to someone, try asking: What is this person willing to hear right now? What can I say or what questions could I ask that would create greater for everyone? Is this information/idea/conversation for now or later? Be more authentic and recognize your value What have you decided you have to be like, sound like and act like in order to climb the social or professional ladder? We can tend to look to the people around us and mimic how they act and communicate, thinking that’s how we have to be in order to be successful or be seen and heard in that environment. Speaking up authentically as you and not trying to be like others is what makes you different and unique. If you honor your difference and allow your true voice to come forward, it is not only a lot less effort, you will tend to have more confidence and resilience, because you are being true to you. Ask yourself: If I wasn’t trying to be like everyone else, who would I be? What would I choose? If I were being honest with me, what is my point of view here? Don’t doubt your value and contribution. If you catch yourself thinking that perhaps you are too inexperienced or don’t know enough, stop and and ask: What do I know here that would help resolve this or contribute? Never underestimate a fresh or “outsider” perspective, or assume you don’t know anything valuable, or that others must know more than you you may surprise yourself with the ideas and solutions stored away in your unconscious that can open unexpected doors that others don’t see. Benefit your body Your body also has a voice of its own and when something isn’t working, it will let you know! If you are bottling up important thoughts, internalizing, or holding back on saying what you need to say, it can create a lot of tension, stress, and emotional imbalance. These mental and emotional stressors can build up like toxins within the body and lead to fatigue, pain and illness. Your body is directly impacted when you hold back from saying what truly matters to you, so it is important to honor you and your body and look at what else is possible: What ways can I nurture and care for my body that would allow it to dissipate and let go of what I have been holding onto? Who can I talk to and what choices do have, that I haven’t considered?   What would it take to have clarity and ease for me and my body? What would change if I were willing to share what I have been unwilling to say? We damage our emotional and physical wellbeing anytime we decide that we don’t have the choice or power to speak out. You always have a choice and you always have a voice. Are you willing to use your voice to create more for you and your body? Having your voice in the world is one of the most empowering choices and commitments you can make. When you are willing to speak up without judgment of you or anyone else, when you are willing to be curious, ask questions and contribute your unique perspectives, you will become the inspiration and invitation for others to do the same. Your voice could be exactly what the world needs to hear right now is now the time to speak up and find out? This guest post was authored by Laleh Alemzadeh-Hancock Laleh  Alemzadeh-Hancock  is a life and communication coach, management and professional services consultant,  and facilitator of several  Access Consciousness ® special programs including  Right Voice for You  and Being You.  Laleh  has inspired and empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals and families including Fortune 500 executives, government agencies, non-profit organizations, athletes and veterans. A lifelong entrepreneur and passionate change-agent,  Laleh  strives to seek out possibility in every problem and aims to facilitate strategic change and optimal growth for all her clients.  Through her organization,  Global Wellness for All,  Laleh  inspires individuals to create wellness in all areas of their life and seek greater success. Follow  Laleh  on  Instagram  and  Facebook.

Writing About Ble on Resume Skills

Writing About Ble on Resume SkillsWriting about Ble on Resume is another way for you to get your resume noticed. It's a really common mistake of yours when it comes to writing your resume that people are unaware of it and often they end up taking so long to put their resumes in front of hiring companies. Instead of hiring you and giving you a higher salary, employers will usually overlook you because of your lack of skills.Skills on your resume shouldn't be ignored and you should use the tools available to write about Ble on Resume. Having skills is not enough to make you worthy of a higher salary, you also need to have more abilities to match the salary that you are offered.Since your skills are a bit outdated, employers will keep ignoring your resume. In order to convince them that you're still good and have potential, you should write about Ble on Resume skills in the present. Employers will notice that you haven't updated your skills yet so writing about Ble on Resume skills now is a way to make yourself look more valuable and worthy of a higher salary.Other resume writing tips will help you write about Ble on Resume skills today. Being a self-starter, can help you be an employee today if you're going to look for your own job. With your skills, you're most likely a self-starter but as employers will see that you've updated your skills, they will be more sure that you're worth of a higher salary.Being aware of the importance of skills on your resume will help you when you're writing about Ble on Resume skills. Since your skills have been outdated and you're not updating them, employers will think that you haven't upgraded yourself yet.If you want to update your skills, you can do that and write about your skills before you're applying for a new job. Youcan also take some extra time and read through some books that will give you a better idea of how to improve your skills so that they'll look like a notch higher.Skills on your resume can't just be disregarded , you have to make sure that you update your skills so that you'll have a higher chance of getting hired. In addition, skills don't only include what you've done in the past, you also need to keep upgrading your skills and be updated with the changes in the industry. If you're able to match those with the salary you're offering, you're already halfway there.If you're wondering how to write about Ble on Resume skills, all you have to do is to write about skills that are relevant to your job search. They won't be done on the past but on the present and you have to show employers that you're always learning and improving yourself.

Networking for happiness and profits - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Networking for happiness and profits - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog The inimitable Rowan Manahan once again got me invited on to a live radio show in Dublin, this time to talk about networking and how it can make you happy. And rich. But mostly happy. We had a great chat on the air and you can hear the whole thing here its about 10 minutes long. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Is Twitter worried about Flutter

Is Twitter worried about Flutter 0 Flares 0 Flares Spent some time on Ken Horsts blog last night and found a doozy.  A doozy I tell you.  Ken is also known as The Jobs Guy, and has over 14,000 followers on Twitter.   Check him out, hes a good dude. So, what is Flutter?  Flutter believes Twitters use of 140 characters is way too long, so theyve shortened it to 26 characters.  Flutter has also replaced tweets, with flaps.  Ok, so maybe Flutter is fake, but this video is very funny.  Im still laughing at the concept of Flutter Eyes.  Definitely watch this video Corn Heads! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeLZCy-_m3shl=enfs=1color1=0x234900color2=0x4e9e00hd=1border=1]