lifestyle and culture

The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and we’re putting away our sweaters to take out our pastel dresses.
With the change in the season comes a sense of renewal and excitement. Warmer temperatures feel fresh and light—a chance to start anew. With the weather getting nicer and new events popping up on your social calendar every time you look, it can also be a difficult time to stay motivated at work.
The good news is that this shift can be a combination of an exciting time socially and personally and also a time of renewed motivation for your career.
Let’s dive into six productivity tips that will help you accomplish this balance and be unstoppable in this new season.

1. Refresh Your Goals
Often, we set hefty goals and charge full speed ahead to achieve them. As we work to adjust our workout plans to achieve our fitness aspirations, our sleep schedules to fit our needs, and our skincare products to suit our environments, we forget that our goals need care and adjusting too.
Every few months or so, I like to review the goals I have set for myself. I ask myself these questions:
How do these align with my values? My beliefs? My deepest desires? How do I want to live my life? Does anything need to shift? How are the small goals I am working toward daily feeding into my overall dreams for my life?
By asking yourself these questions, you are able to see if you need to pivot and where you need to do so. It helps you to remember how your daily life informs your future, reminds you why you are going after what you are, and gives you a new sense of purpose as you move forward.
If you do one thing to stay motivated or get into gear as it gets nicer outside, it’s this. Take an hour or so with your morning coffee and get clear on what it is you truly are after and why.

2. Get into the Practice of Preparing Your Weeks in Advance
Now that you have a fresh set of goals or a fresh mindset around them, it’s time to ensure that what you’re doing in your daily life is leading you toward accomplishing them.
My favorite thing to do is prepare and plan my week in advance. Every Saturday or Sunday, take some time to get intentional with your week. Map out all the things you have to do, the things you want to do, and the things you’d like to do. Purposefully schedule your work and personal lives (and leave some room for spontaneity for those spring and summer rooftop bars!).
On top of this, clean up your space and do some self-care—do whatever you need to do to feel as refreshed as you can come Monday morning.

3. Build Your Schedule for How You Want to Live
There’s a lot of content out there for women who work for themselves and can build their days, to an extent, how they ideally see fit. Not everyone has that option if you’re in the more traditional 9-to-5 work model.
Regardless of your work schedule, there are ways to build your life to more closely reflect that of what you hope to one day be able to do.
For example, if your goal for your life is to own your own business and you envision yourself waking up, making a coffee, journaling, getting in a workout or morning walk, and then heading to your office space, start doing the pieces you can do right now, today.
Maybe you have to commute at 7 a.m. so you can’t get in all of those things, but my bet is that you can fit at least one of those into your schedule before you head out the door.
Just because you aren’t in your dream life yet doesn’t mean you can’t start getting closer today.
In addition, make sure you are structuring your week around when you work the best. Again, this is not always possible with people pulling you in all directions, but you can probably afford to time block at least one morning or afternoon to work on a project you’ve been neglecting, depending on when your creative juices flow the best.

4. Enjoy the Process: Take Breaks!
As you’re building your schedule (and life), don’t forget to treat yourself.
While you build in your practices to better reach your personal and professional goals, add in time for the simple pleasures of life.
In other words, schedule breaks.
One hack I have found helpful throughout the years, particularly if I’m working on something that may not be my cup of tea, is to time block an hour or two where I’m focusing on the project, knowing that once I hit that time limit or a certain point in the project, I can go for a walk to grab an almond milk latte down the street.
Breaking your projects down into digestible pieces and scheduling breaks or rewards as you go can be a key way to ensure you are making progress and enjoying the process as you go.

5. Get Outside (and Early!)
The benefits of getting outside are endless. Now that we’re getting more sun, make sure you plan time to get outside as you build out your week.
Now that many of us have shifted to working remotely, it can be easy to look up after three days and realize you haven’t left your apartment (just me?).
One of my favorite ways to make sure I incorporate fresh air and sunshine into my daily life is planning a morning walk, whether that’s on my commute or just a few blocks depending on my day. On this walk, I listen to a podcast, music, or walking meditation to start my day off right.

6. Plan a Refresh—Of Your Work and Your Life
Last but not least, we hear a lot about refreshing our home and belongings when the weather gets nicer. It is a great time to clean out the old to make way for the new.
But what about your work and life?
Take some time to refresh what you have on your plate. Go through your inbox, your desktop, and the folders and files on your computer. Delete or archive what you don’t need. Review your to-do list. Are there items on there that have been there for months? Are they really that important? Take a look at your calendar. Are there items that can be removed? Are there meetings that aren’t beneficial?
Dig into your documents, your to-dos, and your overall work—where can you declutter to help you focus on what matters most?

I’ve Worked for Myself for 4 Years—These Are the Tools That Keep Me Productive More

How old were you when you managed your first direct report? Was it your high school job at the frozen yogurt shop? Your second or third job out of college? Maybe you haven’t even gotten to that point in your career yet. For me, unofficially at least, I fell into my first management role a few months after college graduation—but my first official opportunity didn’t come around until I was a 26-year-old director in the middle of The Great Resignation prompted by a pandemic.
Let me back up a bit. After I secured my journalism degree (go Hoosiers), I interned for a smaller company in Chicago. There weren’t too many of us, and I was soon promoted to a full-time, non-intern position. What I didn’t expect was to somehow end up (mostly) in charge of the next intern when I had held that very position just a few months prior. That intern wasn’t my official direct report, but I showed her the ropes and served as her first-round editor and general go-to gal.
Cut to after a few jobs, and I finally got the chance to fully and officially flex my managerial skills with a direct report—an intern dedicated to my department (AKA my mighty team of one) for three whole months. What was interesting was that just as she was learning the ropes of the intern position, I was also finding my own way. How hands-on did I want to be as a leader? How could I build rapport while still maintaining our boss/report relationship? There were times when I probably should have just picked up the phone instead of DMing on Slack or prepared more details with clearer direction before handing over an assignment. And everything—from the hiring process to remote onboarding to getting things across the finish line—definitely took much longer than I originally expected as we both found our footing in our new roles.
That internship period has since come and gone, but I find it helpful to reflect back on the highs and lows of being in charge during such a strange time for the professional workforce. Did I expect my first leadership role to entail managing someone halfway across the country? No. Am I late to the management game? I’m not sure. Did I learn a lot? Absolutely. So for all of the other first-time managers out there (and myself), here’s what I’ll try to remember next time:

Know that hiring takes time
Finding the right person won’t happen in the blink of an eye. Not only do resume reviews and candidate interviews take time, but so does the proper prep work. In order to ensure equitable hiring practices, my company lists job descriptions in a 30/60/90-day structure that outlines what the candidate will do once hired instead of requiring specific experience. We also prepare a list of questions to serve as a guide through each and every interview—we still have our own unique conversation with each candidate, but this strategy gives us a standard baseline for all candidates. TL;DR: If you’re hiring from outside your organization, it takes more work than you expect.

Source: Color Joy Stock

Prepare
Once you’ve given your direct report a start date, you’re on the clock. Onboarding is usually a key indicator of company culture, so you want to leave a good first impression with a smooth, educational process. Along with HR materials like an employee handbook and a W-9, gather as much relevant information for your direct report ahead of time. Be ready to hand over a packet of introductory information like links to important documents, usernames and passwords, and the original job description. Don’t forget the not-so-obvious things like your work style, schedule, and any other preferences that are important to share up front—and don’t forget to have your direct report share the same.

Explain
Seriously. Explain absolutely everything, and then explain again. This applies to in-person work too, but it’s especially relevant in remote situations where a lot can get lost in translation. Is your direct report comfortable with the technology you’re using? Did they hear you clearly? Maybe they prefer to review things on paper instead of over a screen—are you both on the same (digital) page?
One of the biggest lessons I learned was that if my direct report didn’t understand something, it wasn’t really on her—it was probably on me. What information had I shared with her? Did I give her enough direction? Did I give her enough feedback? I’m not suggesting micro-management, but in my opinion, it’s better to over-explain than under-explain. Either way, do your best to clearly articulate the task at hand, then make yourself available for questions just in case.

Source: Social Squares

Connect
If you’re working remotely, it can be easy to Slack someone a to-do list and call it a day. We’ve all had those days when turning our camera on just isn’t going to happen, but try to set aside some regular “face time” to check in with your direct report. And while touching base on specific assignments is great, a recurring 1:1 meeting dedicated to overall progress, career growth, and some casual banter will go a long way in getting to know each other and building rapport.

Listen to Them
Just like you probably encourage your direct report to ask questions, make sure to ask them some too. See what they’re interested in and, if possible, take their career goals and growth areas into account when mapping out tasks and assignments. Are they interested in analytics? Have them pull next month’s numbers—better yet, have them present them to you and your boss. Take it even further and see if there’s a hands-on project they can call their own or a department they can shadow for a day or two to get a sense of what the work is actually like.

Listen to Yourself
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: Managing someone else in addition to your own responsibilities is a big undertaking. It’s probably going to take more time and energy than you think—your direct report will have off days, you’ll have off days, and deadlines will creep up before you know it. Throughout your role as a manager, have a serious conversation with yourself about your work style, communication preferences, time management skills, etc. You’ll learn things about yourself that you’d never expect, and it’ll make everyone’s experience that much more worthwhile.

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One thing about me? I’m a Type-B person disguised as a Type-A person. I’m that girl who sends post-nap “still in bed” selfies as my friends send their final looks to our group chat, I forget my boxed-up leftovers at the restaurant nine times out of 10, and the only thing that I’m truly competitive about is the number of pizza rolls I can chow down in one sitting. So why does the rest of the world think that I juggle three jobs with a meticulous attention to detail, organization, and time management? Enter my best-kept secret: Evernote.
I heard about Evernote a few years ago in college, but I never hopped on the train until recently, mostly because I didn’t know all of the capabilities it offered beyond note-taking. Once I realized that a planner and Google Calendar were simply not enough for me to juggle my personal affairs, my career as a branded content editor, my schedule as a pediatric emergency nurse, and my content timelines as a TikTok creator, I was willing to try just about any system to combat my tendencies of being forgetful and a little bit of a procrastinator. 
When I signed up for Evernote, I remember thinking to myself, Where the hell has this system been my entire life? It’s become my one-stop-shop organization and productivity system and has allowed me to refine my Type-B-posing-as-Type-A ruse. Here’s why I love it and how I use it:

1. To manage multiple types of to-do lists
If you took one glance at my desk, you’ll find that I’m a list person. I make to-do lists, grocery lists, and to-read lists, and then, beyond those lists, I have sublists to make items on said to-do lists a reality. And while I’ve been a pen-to-paper gal for a lot of my life, I knew it wasn’t a foolproof system: It was hard for me to visualize multiple different lists at once, I couldn’t access them when I was on the go, and I couldn’t rearrange them by priority unless I started the list over.
Evernote is a list-maker’s daydream. I’ve created separate lists for my work at The Everygirl, my work at the hospital, my work as a content creator, and my personal action items that I want to tackle. I schedule them out by adding dates and times when things should be completed, which helps me take a closer look at what I have to do and what needs to be completed first. I can set reminders for those tasks that are super time sensitive to help keep me on track and I can have my lists with me on my desktop and my phone, which makes Evernote super easy to integrate into my workday and when I’m out and about. 

2. To get a better feel for my schedule
Evernote has the capability to link with Google Calendar, which has been an absolute life saver for both my professional and personal life. And in a world where both my brain and my desktop have 14 tabs open at once, not having to cross-reference Google Calendar in a different tab has helped streamline my processes so much. I can set reminders for whatever amount of time I’d like before meetings, which is super necessary for me, especially when I get in a flow state, lose track of time, and find myself scrambling a minute before my meeting. I can also link certain Evernote notes to certain meetings, which makes preparing seamless and intuitive.

3. To filter through the noise and see my day at a glance
No matter how prepared I think I am for tomorrow, it never fails that I’ll fall into a restful slumber and wake in the morning to a wave of panic, anticipating the trials and tribulations that come with each day. But I must say: I think I’ve found a cure in a warm cup of coffee and a glance at my Evernote homepage.
Evernote’s day-at-a-glance homepage helps me get a bird’s-eye view of my entire day: higher-priority tasks, meetings (linked over from my Google Calendar), the notes that I was last working on, and the notes that I’ve found important enough to pin to the homepage. Before, I’d let my anxiety take over and I’d tunnel myself into one task, not realizing that I was ignoring other priority assignments, which is my idea of anxiety fuel. I love being able to see the big picture instead of being distracted by tasks and messages, and for that alone, Evernote has my heart.

4. To take notes during meetings
It’s no surprise to anyone when I say that Evernote’s note-taking technology is superior to any other I’ve used in the past. And while it wasn’t necessarily the reason I wanted to try this organizational system, I’ve found it to be such a great tool with my current workflow and one that I truly don’t know how I lived without. 
Within each note, you can add tasks, calendar events, tables, attachments, photos, sketches, and more. They have plenty of notes templates to choose from. From project trackers to travel calendars and beyond, I love having the option to group notes under certain notebooks so I can separate my work and personal notes to keep everything super organized. I mostly use the notes features to take notes during meetings, but I’ve recently started dabbling in more personal notes like chore charts, grocery lists, and a list that will secure me a Best-Maid-Of-Honor-Ever title for my best friend’s wedding next May.
Whether you’re looking to clean up your work life, interested in tracking multiple schedules, or wanting to plan a bigger project like a trip overseas, a wedding, or your next big idea, there’s a way that Evernote will make it easier. Click here to download Evernote and try it for yourself today!

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This post is sponsored by Evernote but all of the opinions within are those of The Everygirl editorial board. More