Category: 1-Minute Strategy

Declutter your office by thinking vertically. Instead of letting papers blanket every surface, use your wall space. Buy a shevling system or hanging racks, and start organizing on the walls.

If your romance with your job starts to sputter, seek a new project. Tackling a new type of assignment will add excitement to the workday.

People generally like upbeat people. By stocking your vocabulary with postitive words, you’ll enhance your charisma. Practice using “wonderful!” and “perfect!” to exude friendliness; avoid negative words like “never,” “awful” and “stupid.”

Professionals who have the habit of looking back are able to plan activities as much as 9.2 years into the future, compared with 5.1 years for professionals who only look forward.

The cause may be lack of confidence in others, which causes you to take on everything yourself instead of asking for help. Remedy: Give clear instructions, be ready to coach and get regular progress reports.

First, what they should do next. Second, why that activity is important. And third, how to use resources to get it done.

First, express the main point in a sentence or two. Second, find ideas or anecdotes that support the main point. Third, eliminate some points, since you probably have too many. Finally, create a good wrap-up, such as a solution.

When tempted to postpone a decision, ask: What will I know tomorrow that I don’t know today? Make the best choice you can and move on.

Resist the urge to do “one more thing” before you head to a meeting. Instead, take along something you can work on as you wait for others to arrive.

Intuit founder Scott Cook’s first rule: “Be humble about your importance, and about how many answers you know and about how much you don’t know (which is always more than you think).”