Beth Beutler's Blog, page 8

The 10 Most Common Rideshare Driver Personalities and How to Deal with Them (Guest Infographic)

The Zebra has analyzed the funniest, quirkiest, and most annoying types of rideshare drivers and broken down easy tips on how to handle them.

Uber topped the second place AirBnB by over $30 billion last year in valuation, making it the most valuable tech startup. Young professionals and business travelers are increasingly using rideshare apps to get around. They’re foregoing car payments, rental cars, and taxi services for rideshare services’ ease of use and relatively cheap costs.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably used a rideshare service before. So you may know, for all its benefits, using a rideshare service can be a bit of a guessing game. You have to ride in a complete stranger’s car and being forced to make conversation — or worse, forced to sit in silence — for the duration of the ride. Sometimes you get lucky and the person is a great conversationalist, has snacks and lets you pick the music. But more often than not, rideshare drivers make things awkward one way or another.

So, check out this infographic below to see how to deal with the most common types of rideshare drivers. My personal favorites are Family Man Frank and Oversharer Olivia.

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A Simple Suggestion to Reduce Your Email

Email is part of life. It gets unfairly criticized sometimes, but it is a challenge to many people.

You can find tons of tips to help you manage your email, but here is one simple suggestion.

Whenever possible, remove yourself from the “CC”–or in other words, internal lists.

I’m not talking about email newsletters. For that I recommend Unroll.me provided you are okay with their privacy terms.

I mean direct emails that come to you because you have become part of a group.

For example, I manage a collaborative monthly post for a client, and there are a number of potential contributors. I use that list to send reminders a few times a month. There are quite a few people that don’t actively participate in the opportunity, yet never ask me to come off the reminder list. I’m not sure what they do with the reminders I send, but I wouldn’t be offended if they ask to be removed, and maybe they’d have one less email to deal with a few times a month.

Maybe “just one” email isn’t a big bother. But what would happen if that “one” turned into 10-20 emails you no longer had to process regularly? Would that save you time?



Take a look at all direct lists that you may be on. Can you come off that “Lunch Group” email if you never go to lunch with that group? Can you ask not to be cc’d on a weekly report when you already receive it at staff meeting?  The few minutes you spend evaluating what lists you are on, and deciding what to come off of, might help. If nothing else, your inbox will begin to look less visually cluttered, which energizes you to tackle the rest of it.

 

What list do you need to ask to be removed from today?

 

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Hope In Action – Hope Inaction – an Open Letter

On September 28th, we co-sponsored a Sole Hope Shoe Party as our Hope In Action initiative for the third quarter of 2018.  The best way to summarize the evening is to share part of the recap letter that went out to participants.  I’ve included that below.

I had an idea or two for the fourth quarter project for 2018, but instead felt led to institute a Hope “inaction” period.  More and more I’m feeling drawn by the need for people (and myself) to take adequate rest breaks in a world that is becoming more and more rushed and volatile.  So I’m setting an example by NOT pressuring myself or others about another project, just to say we did one per quarter.

Our three projects this year were meaningful and hopefully will continue to bless others for some time to come.  I think a period of “inaction” on such initiatives can be effective too.

For recaps of all our projects, and the plan for the final quarter, click here for the Hope in Action page.

Thanks for your support!

Beth

A Message from Bed, Bikes & Beyond AirBnB & HOPE Unlimited:

Hello Sole Hope Shoe Party Participants, both virtual and in attendance!

THANK YOU so much for your collective contributions to this event.  We are delighted to share that denim templates for 37 pairs of shoes were prepared and will be on their way to Uganda soon!  That’s 7 more than the goal of 30 thanks to your provision of denim, funding, and working hands!

Click here for the link to the online photo album.  

Click here for Beth’s Instagram Story on the evening.  You do not have to be on Instagram to enjoy it. It should just be playable as is.

Again, thanks for joining with us in person and/or in spirit to help us bring hope to children on the other side of the world.

 

 

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October Freebie

Hi everyone!

I have a freebie for you this month!  Click here to download your October Tipsheet. It contains 31 tips, one for each day of the month.

This is TOTALLY free. I do not require an email address, money, or anything else. Simply enjoy the tip sheet. Hope it helps you, and share the link with others so they can get practical tips, too.

Happy fall – take a moment to breathe in some crisp air today!

Beth

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Three Meaningful Blessings of Having Limited Time

We all have limited time. We all have the same amount of time in a day to redeem. When we are stressed by “limited time” we’re actually dealing with how we feel about what we do, or want to do, with the time we have. We often end up with negative thoughts, wishing we had more time to do the things we want, or need, to do.

However, maybe we need to consider some of the blessings of limited time.

Because of limited time:

We have a valid reason to say “No, thank you” to some things.

I’m learning that you don’t need excuses to say no, but it is sometimes helpful to realize that limited time and energy may mean taking on that new project is not a good idea.  And, it may be a more courteous way to tell someone you aren’t available.

We can become more motivated.

If you sign up to participate in a 5K in three months, you have limited time to train. You are likely going to focus some of your time on the priority of getting in better shape.  The limited time can be a motivation.

We can think seasonally.

For example, maybe your time personal time is limited because of a certain seasonal project you are part of at work. This doesn’t mean you will always be running at that pace, but you can mentally lean into that busier season knowing it will slow down in the future. (Note, if it never slows down, that’s a topic for another day.)  Some of HOPE’s clients are busier in the summer than later in the year. It just depends on their industry and audience. We have to adjust accordingly in our support.

How about you? Do you get frustrated by limited time, or does the boundary it forms help you? Let me know what you think!

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Is Your Professional Life Moving forward, Stagnating, or Retreating?

No matter where you are in your career, you are either moving forward, staying stagnant, or retreating.  Where is your professional life right now?

Moving forward doesn’t have to mean you are seeking a promotion or have a “big hairy audacious goal” of hitting a certain income in your business. It CAN simply mean that you are maturing in your approach to work, finding balance, giving your best and continually learning. If you are in this stage, you need to:

Make sure you still take breaks
Develop relationships with like-minded people
Stay current with trends and info about your industry.

Your professional life is stagnating occurs when there is very little, or no, movement at all. Perhaps you’ve been in the same position for years, and while you may be comfortable with the routine, you haven’t really learned anything. If this is occurring, try:

Learning tips and techniques to make you more productive
Investigating other positions that can use your skill set
Join a networking group to meet others in your industry.

You are retreating when you lose interest in your work or even start to develop a sour attitude. If that is where you are you may need:

More refreshing breaks (perhaps take several long weekends instead of one or two one-week vacations per year.)
A change of jobs if possible.
Additional focus on gratitude.

So, where are you today? Do you want to talk it over? You can request a one-time free strategy session here.

Photo by Fernando Puente on Unsplash

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How to Keep Up with Email from Multiple Inboxes

Let me guess. You have email coming to you from more than one box. Maybe you have a Gmail address for some things, a work address, and one or more personal addresses. That’s my story. Currently, I have more than one personal box (one being Gmail in order to use Google services), an inbox for HOPE Unlimited, AND email boxes I monitor for clients or that have me on their system for the support work I do.

How can we keep track of them all? Here are some tips.

Decide on one primary, centralized inbox for processing email.

Yes, we are a mobile society and can see our email on phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc. But where do you PROCESS email most often? Organize that spot first.



In my case, I am at my desk “cockpit” the most. I’ve used Outlook for years, and although there are some things that don’t thrill me about it, it’s a familiar and organized interface for me. I have it set up for my business and personal mail, and when practical, can have it “pop” client email into a separate folder for processing.  I use Google to connect with email for other clients, also accessible of course from my desk.

Utilize mobile email effectively.

While I choose to process most email from my desk, I am able to see important email on my smartphone, mainly to monitor what is coming in. From time to time I will respond using my phone, but I make it a practice to use it more for a preview of what I’ll need to deal with when I’m back at my desk.  I have the following signature on my mobile email to cover this: “Sent from my smartphone, which is used primarily for monitoring and quick responses. A more in-depth response may be sent at a later time.”

If you decide to use your mobile device to handle email, I recommend using one primary device for this, to keep your mind uncluttered. It may help with keeping your “sent” file consolidated to one place as well, although it’s possible that will also sync across devices.

Add “check email” to your task list.

If you must manage multiple accounts, and some require going to a different interface, add a reminder to your recurring task lists. For example, “Check Client A’s email” could be a recurring task that pops up each weekday.  If you have an email account you don’t check often, but do need to glance through, add a task for once a week or every other week to remind you to check that box.

Consolidate sales emails.

If you subscribe to newsletters or store flyers by email, try to have a separate email box for items like that. You can also use a service like Unroll.me to consolidate emails like this into one daily digest.

It’s not uncommon for professionals to have multiple email boxes. These tips will help you centralize your approach.

Your turn? What’s your best tip for handling multiple email boxes?

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

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Reminder! Sole Hope Shoe Party! (HOPE In Action )

Each quarter, we share a HOPE in Action project to involve our community near and far. For Q2, we collected a number of Hope Hints from Pros We Know to share on our social media networks perpetually. Earlier in the year, we colored cards to bless some military wives.

Now it’s time for our Q3 project, and it’s another fun one!

HOPE Unlimited and Bed, Bikes and Beyond AirBnB are co-sponsoring a Sole Hope Shoe Party.  This party is an opportunity to prepare materials that will be sent to shoemakers in Uganda, who will create pairs of shoes to protect residents from diseases and issues related to walking barefoot.

This project is a great fit for us for the obvious reason of bringing hope, but also because it provides work to shoemakers, and will require a number of people here to do simple but meaningful work of prepping the denim.

We’ve designed the event to allow anyone in the HOPE community to participate, even if you don’t live in upstate, South Carolina.  We’ve created three types of “tickets,” two of which involve participation from afar.  Click below to get all the details and help us bring hope to others across the world!

 

 

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How to Handle the Workplace Nag (How-to)

Hope received an early morning text from her colleague, Von.*

“Please don’t forget to (insert task here) sometime early this week.”

Sigh.

She’d already put a note on her desk as a reminder to do the task when she got to work. 

He’d already talked with her on the weekend about the task.

He’d already texted her once before about it.

Von is a “get it done” person who finds it hard to relax. So until this task was done–that he depended on Hope to do–he would be a bit nervous that she would forget.

Hope didn’t really mind doing this monthly task, but she knew something had to change so that she didn’t harbor an irritation with Von.

So she decided to do the following:

She didn’t answer the second text right away.

As a person who doesn’t like her messages piling up, Hope had to choose not to respond immediately. She could have told him she had a plan for getting it done but opted to do some gentle “training” by not responding prior to work hours.

Application: Ultimately, we are responsible for what we do with our phones and how quickly we respond.

She did the task the same day, but not immediately.

Hope opted to get the task done but didn’t make it the highest priority. The deadline was “colleague imposed.” Having done the task multiple times before, Hope knew there were actually several more days to before external vendor even needed the info.)

Application: Some tasks are indeed urgent, but learn to distinguish why something appears urgent. It could just be based on a co-worker or boss’ preference and not be realistic.



She added it to her recurring task list.

Since this task repeated around the same time each month, Hope decided to be proactive and start reminding HERSELF about it each month. She put the info needed for processing the task into the fields of her task management app, and set a reminder. Going forward, she could anticipate the work needing to be done and not rely on a reminder from Von.

Application: taking responsibility for recurring tasks can ease the tension felt when receiving a reminder from your co-workers.

She learned to be more specific in communication.

The first time Von mentioned the task for the month, Hope could have been more specific about when she planned to handle it.  She could have said, “I’ll confirm by 4 pm on Monday. If you don’t hear from me, feel free to remind me after that.” She determined to be more precise in her communications with Von going forward.

Application: How can you tighten your messages to help avoid potential irritations with your colleagues?

While others can certainly be a source of stress, we are ultimately making the choice of how to respond.  What would you do?

 

*This is a fictional story, parts of which are based on a true situation. The names Hope and Von (a masculine form of the word hope) are used as fictional characters to help with these lessons.

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How to Keep Your Desk Surface Productive for YOU (How-to)

My desk could be considered cluttered.

That may surprise you, given that I write about ways to de-stress and be more productive as a professional.

But having some clutter doesn’t necessarily translate to being inefficient.

Stop and take a look at your desk surface right now. What’s on it?

Mine has several inspiring items, a couple of computer monitors, two small dry-erase boards, some office supplies, and decor on a table to my right. Because I collect things that have the word HOPE on them, my desk could be considered cluttered, but overall it functions in a way that helps me be efficient.

I had a reader mention that one of her biggest pain points is keeping her desk surface cleared off, and I’m sure this challenge is widespread. So here are three tips for you:

Remember that the state of your desk doesn’t always reflect your efficiency.

As I mentioned above, my desk and office could be considered cluttered. Quite frankly, I have drawers and cabinets that could use a major decluttering. So I’m right there with you … yet feel I pretty efficient when it comes to getting things done. So don’t be so hard on yourself.

Focus on your “traffic pattern:” the desk surface and areas you use most.

It’s overwhelming to consider decluttering an entire desk, cubicle or office space all at once. So determine your traffic patterns and focus on straightening those areas out first.

Establish a sustainable filing system.

If paperwork to be filed is a nemesis for you, reframe your approach. Often, we think we have to carve out a large amount of time to do filing. Instead, make it a habit to file for five minutes every day, at the same set time (maybe before you do anything else.) You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done by consistently applying yourself over time, even if only for a few minutes each time. Use a timer if you need to. This helps you stay focused and know there is an end time–particularly helpful if it’s a task you dread.

Work a little bit at a time on getting your desk to be a place where you want to work and are productive, and cut yourself some slack when it’s less than pristine.

What are YOUR ideas for keeping your desk surface clean?

Our blog and resources are funded in part by our Friends of Hope. A gift of ANY amount is helpful if you appreciate the free material. Thanks in advance!

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