Tidbits, titbits or tipbits?

Our society is collectively obsessed with morning routines.

What is just as important, but often neglected, is how we manage what happens in the middle of the day.

When we wake up, our minds are clear, our bodies are rested. High willpower gives us the energy to take on the day.

The problem is that no matter how much energy we start with, it can only sustain us for so long. Without good mid-day habits, we fall prey to distraction (hello Facebook!), impulsivity, irritability, and fatigue. Or even worse, we crash and make bad decisions we regret. According to renowned willpower researcher Roy Baumeister, "Most things go bad in the evening. Diets are broken at the evening snack, not at breakfast… Impulsive crimes are mostly committed after midnight."

Via The Learning Factor

It only takes seven minutes to change how you approach your day. Using the routine described below when you get to work will make a world of difference in your productivity, your attitude, your success, and your health. It's like the approach you make to the tee on a golf course. You plan out how you will hit the shot, which is more important than the actual swing. Before you start your day, this routine will provide the right mindset. Will you follow it?

Note: I'm going to call this routine "The Seven," as in, "Did you do your Seven this morning?" Feel free to borrow that term or send me ideas on a better name.

Via The Learning Factor

Networking can feel like the professional equivalent of speed dating. And, like speed dating, you don't just want to make a good impression — you want to make a lasting one. So, how can you present yourself well and make meaningful connections when it feels like you're making small talk with people who are only half-listening?

The first step is to reframe your concept of networking. At your next event, remind yourself that it's less about empty chit-chat and more about making connections.

How do you make those?

By forgetting everything you thought you knew about networking small talk and, instead, tapping into the science of good conversation! Here are six strategies for being the most popular person to talk to at your next networking event.

Via The Learning Factor

No matter how much time we spend trying to optimize our inbox — from batch checking messages to adding bells and whistles — email takes over our lives. Looking at my stats from last month, I received and processed over 10,000 emails (eek!), so finding the right way to manage all this online correspondence has been critical for my day-to-day sanity.

Turns out, though, the "right way" to manage email depends a lot on your own personal style. I've rounded up some of the most popular and successful strategies so that you can decide which one is best for you.

Via The Learning Factor

Perfectionists are often reminded that "done is better than perfect." But it turns out there’s another reason we should all try to create more "done" moments in our workdays.

Saying the word done can help you get more accomplished on your to-do list. "Telling ourselves that we’re done creates not only an emotional reaction but a physiological response as well," says Leslie Sherlin, a psychologist, neuroperformance specialist, and the cofounder of the brain-training company SenseLabs.

Via The Learning Factor

By and large, tolerance is a good trait. The differences we encounter enrich our lives and organizations. But to attain a successful life and meaningful leadership, we must refuse to tolerate the things that deplete, and ultimately destroy, us.

Start by declaring these things intolerable in yourself and those around you - and see what changes as a result.

Via The Learning Factor

If you've spent any time on Twitter, then you're probably familiar with the "humblebrag"—a brag veiled in a complaint, so as to sound less blatantly like a brag.

Here's an example from the Twitter account of Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary: They just announced my flight at LaGuardia is number 15 for takeoff. I miss Air Force One!! And here's one from film director Lee Unkrich: Just in case you think all this has gone to my head, within 36 hours of winning the Oscar, I was back home plunging a clogged toilet.

“Not only do we like humblebraggers less, we’re less likely to be generous to them”

Humblebragging runs rampant on Twitter, but it turns out to be a lousy self-promotion tactic, especially in business situations such as job interviews, according to recent research by Harvard Business School's Ovul Sezer, Francesca Gino, and Michael I. Norton.

Their research shows that when given the choice to brag or to humblebrag, it's better to straight-out brag.

Via The Learning Factor

We talk about happiness as if it were a thing to be discovered and acquired.

But happiness can never be found externally. It is not a possession to be acquired or a set of conditions, but a state of mind.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything, but they have learned to make the best of whatever they have.

The happiest leaders aren't necessarily focused on success or failure but live by a different perspective--and that outlook makes all the difference.

Here's how they live.

Via The Learning Factor

One of the most popular Dilbert comic strips in the cartoon’s history begins with Dilbert’s boss relaying senior leadership’s explanation for the company’s low profits. In response to his boss, Dilbert asks incredulously, “So they’re saying that profits went up because of great leadership and down because of a weak economy?” To which Dilbert’s boss replies, “These meetings will go faster if you stop putting things in context.”

Great leadership is indeed a difficult thing to pin down and understand. You know a great leader when you’re working for one, but even they can have a hard time explaining the specifics of what they do that makes their leadership so effective. Great leadership is dynamic; it melds a variety of unique skills into an integrated whole.

Via The Learning Factor

"Power is a subject that makes many people extremely uncomfortable," Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer argues, but just because we don't like to think about power doesn't mean it's not the lifeblood of business. "Power is in fact all around...like air and water and gravity," he insists.

Ignoring power, therefore, won't make it disappear any more than wishing away gravity will help you fly. Instead of sticking your head in the sand, Pfeffer suggests you get real and start thinking constructively about accumulating power. How can you do that? In the video he offers a handful of actionable (if not necessarily universally palatable) tips.

.

Via The Learning Factor

After years of hard work, you’ve landed your first position as a manager. It’s now time to prove yourself in your new role, but that may be a challenging task if you haven’t been trained to manage.

If you’re feeling unprepared for your new duties, you’re not alone. According to Development Dimensions International, Inc., roughly 60% of new managers say they learned how to do their jobs through trial and error. Many described their leadership transitions as challenging, stressful or overwhelming.

Via The Learning Factor