By Eve Porcello, People-OnTheGo Faculty Member

Back in March, Google announced (buried within a bulleted list in their blog) that they would be retiring their popular RSS feed platform, Google Reader, as of July 1. Google cited a decline in usage, but Google Reader fans are rabid and reliant on the tool to organize and deliver their news for easy consumption.

So what is a Google Reader user to do?

Despite Google Reader’s demise, there are still several services that will help you curate the experience of reading websites and news articles through RSS.

Feedly - Among the Google Reader replacements, Feedly is likely the most seamless. You can log right in to Feedly using your Google account and import your Google Reader data absolutely for free. Feedly also offers a variety of apps that will allow you to access your content from any device.

NewsBlur - Intended to help you read the news from anywhere, NewsBlur offers iOS, Android, and web apps to help you organize and read the news. The service also offers social features to help you see what your friends are reading and sharing. NewsBlur is a “freemium” app with free storage up to 64 feeds and $24/year for an unlimited subscription.

Flipboard, Pulse, & Zite - These apps help you get the latest on your mobile devices. While they don’t mirror the experience of viewing Google Reader from a desktop computer, all show your articles with reliability and great usability.

If you have used Google Reader in the past and you want to export your subscription data, you can download a copy with Google Takeout before July 15, 2013.

To learn more about using other Google tools (that won’t be retired anytime soon), check out our Managing Your Inbox in Google Apps, Google Docs & Drive, Google Docs & Drive Advanced, Google Sites, Google Sites Advanced, and Google Analytics webinars.

Project management has been around for as long as human beings have endeavored en masse to complete tasks and projects of all shapes and sizes: from the Great Pyramid and Great Wall of China, on through 21st century workforce management by way of virtualization and the cloud.

Below is a brief, visual history of project management that illustrates a rich timelime of project management methodologies, advancements, and the overall evolution of the field. Now, more than ever, the ability to effectively manage projects large and small to successful completion is a vital and in-demand skill.

We hope you'll consider joining us at our next free webinar, "How to Use Visual Project Management for Greater Productivity" on 7/11/13 at noon PT where you'll learn the latest visual approaches to project management including virtual whiteboards, and much more.

—> Register now for the FREE webinar!

Click on the image below to enlarge:

Heard about our summary+commentary (s+c*d) format? Learn more!

Summary

“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.” –C.S. Lewis. Today, we live in an era of constant distraction: a fast-paced digital age of multi-screens, electronic alerts, instant messages, and alarms, social media, and near-infinite web search & surf possibilities. At work the temptation toward distraction is a very persistent reality; and it’s making us not only less productive but less smart, too.

In a Carnegie Mellon experiment cited in the article (“Brain, Interrupted,” NYT), it turns out that an interruption made test takers “20 percent dumber” than the control group. In the second part of the experiment, a portion of the test takers were interrupted again, and yet improved to 14 percent (still lower though than the control group). Meanwhile, the other portion of test takers, who were told they’d be interrupted and were not, improved by 43 percent—even outperforming the control group.

Commentary

The authors conclude this last group may have focused to “steel themselves” against the interruption that never came, or that an awareness of imminent interruptions better prepared them. People-OnTheGo helps professionals develop this exact power of “micro-level focus,” and offers many strategies and webinars to this end. Here are 3 tips to help get you focused right now:

1. Create a distraction-free work environment.

2. Use a Micro-Plan™ and timer.

3. Quickly “capture” any distracting thoughts in a paper journal so you can remain focused on the task at hand.

Discussion

How do you handle distractions at work? What strategies and techniques are you currently using? What are your greatest interruption challenges? Do you feel you’d be more productive if you learned to better manage interruptions?

Productivity Webinars You Might Enjoy

"How many of you are completely comfortable with calling yourselves a leader?" It's the question Drew Dudley, founder of Nuance Leadership Development Services asks in his powerful TEDxToronto Talk below. Indeed, the subject of leadership raises many issues and questions—among them: What does it take to be a good leader? What the the key attributes of effective leaders? Are leaders born or made?

We're hosting a short survey on leadership in the workplace, and would love to hear your thoughts. It takes just about 10 min. and you'll be entered to win some excellent prizes.

First Prize: A complimentary seat in our upcoming leadership program ($1,250 value) and a copy of David Sibbet's latest book, Visual Leaders: New Tools for Visioning, Management, and Organization Change.

Second Prize: A complimentary, one-year individual membership ($120 value, includes 12 workshops) and a copy of Visual Leaders.

Third Prize: A Kindle Fire Tablet, 7" LCD Display, Wi-Fi (value $159), and a copy of Visual Leaders.

Fourth Prize: A copy of the Accomplishing More With Less Workbook and a copy of Visual Leaders.

Click here to take the survey now:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/leadership-today. And please feel free to share, email, and tweet it with your colleagues.

We'll be publishing the results of our survey and findings in the coming months, so stay tuned for further updates. The final prize drawing will take place when we reach 1,000 participants; winners will be announced at one of our upcoming free Lunch & Learn Webinars, and will also be notified via email.

By Jennifer Weland

It’s no secret that exercise is good for your health. Building a habit of regular exercise into your life is a key part of managing your weight and keeping your heart, lungs, and other bodily systems in tip-top shape. But it can also dramatically impact your life in so many ways, helping you perform better at your job and enjoy life more outside of work.

Moving more not only helps you accomplish more, here's why it’s also critical to being your best at work and in life: From making you more productive, to boosting energy and stamina, to spurring creative thinking, to elevating your mood and even helping you sleep better—moving more each day can dramatically help you live and work better. 

With all of these benefits, you’d think everyone would be exercising all the time, right? Unfortunately, no. We’re now more sedentary than ever.

• Less than 2 in 10 Americans gets even the bare minimum amount of activity each week recommended by the American Heart Association.

• Even worse, 40% of Americans say they never exercise.

• We’re awake about 16 hours each day. But according to the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sport, our muscles are inactive most of that time—even for those of us who exercise!

How is that even possible?

Take a second to think about your average day. After rushing out the door, you sit in the car or on mass transit on the way to work. At work, you sit at your desk. Or you sit in a series of endless meetings. On the way home, you sit some more. And when you get home? It’s couch time. Then you go to bed. It’s easy, then, to see how your muscles could be inactive for most of the day.

Plus, I’m betting exercise consistently slips down the priority list when you look at your packed schedule. The same is true for so many of us. Not only are we not getting all of the benefits of regular exercise, but we’re actually harming our health by sitting so much.

The good news is all is not lost. You can reverse the affects of “sitting disease.” And you can reap all of the benefits that regular exercise delivers. I’ll tell you how during my Move More to Accomplish More webinar. Here’s just some of what you’ll walk away with:

• How your body adapts to exercise

• The very real health benefits of exercise and other surprising benefits

• How much and what kind of exercise you need to reap the health and other benefits

• Tips to move more throughout the day and reverse the affects of sitting disease.

Check out my blog for more healthy tips, recipes, and workouts you can do anywhere.

Additional Resources

• Move More to Accomplish More

• Eat Well to Accomplish More

• Stress Management

Don't miss our free Lunch & Learn Webinar, The Power of Three—How to Distill Your Message to Its Essence with acclaimed author of Beyond Bullet Points, Cliff Atkinson, on Thursday, May 2 at noon PT. Register now for the complimentary webinar!

The Art of Storytelling at a Glance:

1. Be authentic.

2. Know your audience. Be interested in them, rather than just focusing on being interesting

3. Have a clear goal.

4. Be interactive. Listen as a storyteller. Engage in a dialogue with your audience.

5. Create an emotional component along with the information in order to make it memorable.

What are your tips, strategies, and suggestions when writing your marketing and communications message? Do you use the art of storytelling in your presentations, sales copy, and other content?

Attend The Power of Three—How to Distill Your Message to Its Essence, our free Lunch & Learn Webinar on Thursday, May 2 from noon to 12:40 PT. Reserve your webinar seat now!

Additional Resources

• How To Write Attention-Grabbing Content

• Business Writing for Success

• Writing to Make a Difference

• Creativity and Innovation

Take advantage of our Wellness Webinars Special this June & July! Only $19.95 for 3 webinars--Movement, Nutrition, and Stress Management.

By Claire Cohn

Approximately 1 in 4 employees say their top work priority is just being present at work. These employees who admit that simply showing up is #1 are at high risk for job burnout. 

Why is this so?

Prolonged employee stress due to increasingly demanding workloads (with fewer new hires and limited career ladders) causes burnout and reduced productivity. One person is often doing the work of two and probably without support staff. The actual state of burnout isn’t just a bad day or a bad week—it’s when an employee is so consumed with symptoms (i.e. headaches, nausea, neck or back pain, anxiety) that they can’t function. It can sneak up on the best performers who might be workaholics also.  

In addition to accumulating workloads, employees may be unhappy or dissatisfied with their job. Perhaps the absence of a career ladder is demotivating for younger employees, and they are bored and stuck in a dead-end job.  

So how do wellness programs address the above burnout issues primarily related to workplace stress? Below are five steps to establish a healthier workplace and happier employees.  

Five Easy Action Steps 

1. Put Health First. Onsite wellness programs check vital metabolic signs and assess lifestyle behaviors that could be depleting job performance, for example:  abuse of alcohol or substances, poor eating habits, no exercise program, lack of social life.

2. Create Resilience. Exercise is the quickest way to feel better and build resilience. Building a resilient workforce will counter chronic illness such as migraines, back pain, and digestive problems. Many people suffer from sleep disorders or find it difficult to concentrate on work.

3. Apply the Mind and Body Connection to wellness. Wellness practices that build resilience also improve mental health. Employees who set goals for weight reduction, exercise or diet are taking control of their lives and creating a healthy worklife balance. Mind-Body tools such as relaxation skills, mindful meditation and Qi Gong movement also reduce mental stress. 

4. Provide Socializing Activities within employee groups and teams.  Games and playfulness in the workplace decreases feelings of isolation.  At Search Engine People, an Ontario company, the CEO said, “we need our people to be healthy, be happy—if you’re not happy, you won’t be able to take care of customers.” The CEO initiated ping-pong challenges in a game room useable any time of the day. The challenges break up the isolation, create camaraderie, and prevent sitting too long at computer stations—and are, not to mention, FUN.

5. Adopt Regular Alone Times. Individuals need to practice taking breaks to energize and rejuvenate during the workday. The time-out practice could be walking 20 minutes or taking 10 minutes of relaxation sitting outside and breathing fresh air.

What do you do to prevent burnout at work? Please share your comments below.

Claire Cohn, owner of On Your Feet Wellness, is a health and wellness expert with over 20 years of experience as an organization consultant, movement therapist, and health educator.

Additional Resources

• Stress Management

• Eat Well to Accomplish More

• Accomplishing More With Less

By Eve Porcello

Eve will be presenting at our complimentary Lunch & Learn Webinar, Getting Started with Office 2013 and 365, Thursday, April 4 at noon PT. Register now for the free webinar!

With the release of the new Windows 8 operating system and the nonstop commercials for the Microsoft Surface tablet, Microsoft is making an aggressive bid to remain relevant in the increasingly complicated landscape of personal computing. Part of this push is the release of Office 2013, the latest version of the familiar Microsoft Office Suite. Each of the applications included have been through a major design overhaul, and all include a variety of new features that make them especially compatible with touch-friendly Windows 8.

But even with all of these changes, is it really worth it to upgrade to Office 2013? Below we’ll take a look at the key features that make an upgrade a compelling idea.

Cloud Compatibility

With Office 2013, Microsoft has made it possible to store and sync all of your documents across all of your Windows devices, so they can be accessed from anywhere.  All you need to do is save documents to your SkyDrive, and you can open and edit these from any of your Microsoft devices. Never again will you have to email yourself a document or risk having your work stuck on a faraway computer. Office 2013 is designed to cater more toward our connected world.

Rich Media Features

Throughout the suite of Microsoft Office 2013 products, there are a variety of new rich media options to make your documents, presentations, and other files more interactive and engaging. For example in PowerPoint, you can find and add photos from albums on Flickr, Facebook, and other online services without saving to your computer.

PDF to Word Doc Capabilities

Have you ever had to type out an entire PDF document because you needed to be able to edit it in Microsoft Word? In Office 2013, you’ll never have to suffer through this again. Word now does a great job of converting PDF files to Word format.

Flexible Pricing and Delivery

As is the case with most software nowadays, installing the software is as easy as a download. All versions of the new Microsoft Office are available via download instead of with clunky software installation disks. Versions include Office Home and Student ($139.99), Office Home and Business ($219.99), and Office Professional ($399.99).

In addition, Microsoft has offered Office 365 as a productivity and word processing option. Office 365 provides all of the Office Suite as apps and is purchased as a subscription of $99.99 a year. This option includes all of the Office apps and comes with 60 minutes of Skype calls per month.

What do you think about the upgrade? Share your thoughts below!

If you’d like more information on the features of Microsoft Office 2013 and 365 before you take the plunge, join us for our free Lunch & Learn Webinar on April 4 from noon to 12:40 PT. Reserve your webinar seat now!

Additional Resources

• Microsoft Office 365/2013 Crash Course

• Microsoft Office 2010 Tips & Tricks Crash Course, PC and Mac

By Melissa Sweat, Online Community Manager

Change. Why is it so hard? How can we make effective, lasting changes in our organizations, lives, and communities when change itself seems so overwhelming and monumental? How do you even start? In the New York Times bestselling book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath provide refreshingly new perspectives on change in a vivid and practical narrative, while deconstructing the various barriers and how to surmount them.

I’ve summarized the first chapter to help illuminate the authors’ change-inspiring findings and jumpstart your “switch”:

The first surprise about change? “What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.” As an example, the authors cite a study where people at a movie theater ate more popcorn out of bigger containers than smaller ones. People vs. Situation. If you want to get people to make a healthier choice with their popcorn eating, then the answer is simple:  provide smaller containers. Identifying where changes can be made situationally can create profound and effective results.

In order to adopt change, we also need to understand, guide, influence, and attend to our hearts and minds. This can be difficult when head and heart so often disagree. To further explain this dichotomy, the authors refer to a book called The Happiness Hypothesis in which our emotional side is described as an Elephant and our rational side as the Rider. The Rider is the leader and has some ability to control and guide, but the Elephant is far stronger and, if provoked, tired, worn out, or scared, is always going to overpower the Rider.

Both Elephant and Rider have their strengths and weaknesses. The Elephant seeks short-term payoff, while the Rider can see goals for the long-term. The Elephant, meanwhile, has the power of emotions: love, compassion, loyalty, sympathy, ferocity—aspects that are going to commit and motivate ourselves toward lasting change. These are furthermore the things that connect us with other people and can make a compelling case for ourselves, company, brand, point-of-view etc. To drive change, you need the work, energy, and heart of the Elephant.

While the Rider is a decision-maker and a good guide, she can also overanalyze, which can be a paralyzing hindrance to change, as well. So you have to appeal to both and have Rider and Elephant move together. As the authors say, “A reluctant Elephant and a wheel-spinning Rider can both ensure that nothing changes.”

The second surprise about change: “Change is hard because people wear themselves out.”

Again, you can avoid wearing yourself, team members, or employees out by appealing to Rider and Elephant. You do this by providing crystal clear direction to both—which is the third surprise about change.

Here, in short, is the authors’ three-part framework for accomplishing change:
1.    Direct the Rider.
2.    Motivate the Elephant.
3.    Shape and Direct (Clearly) the Path/Situation/Environment/Strategy.

What are some of the challenges you've experienced when trying to make change? What are some effective strategies you've discovered? Share your thoughts below.

For more helpful articles and tips, join our Accomplishing More With Less groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Follow People-OnTheGo Founder Pierre Khawand on Twitter.

Additional Resources

• The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook

• Accomplishing More With Less Workshop & Webinars

We know you have some strong opinions about leadership in the workplace—so share them with us! Our super-straightforward Leadership Survey takes just about 10 minutes to complete, and for participating, you could win some truly great prizes. Check them out below! The drawing date will be announced in mid-May 2013.

First Prize: A complimentary seat in our upcoming leadership program ($1,250 value) and a copy of David Sibbet's latest book, Visual Leaders: New Tools for Visioning, Management, and Organization Change.

Second Prize: A complimentary, one-year individual membership ($120 value, includes 12 workshops) and a copy of VisualLeaders.

Third Prize: A Kindle Fire Tablet, 7" LCD Display, Wi-Fi (value $159), and a copy of Visual Leaders.

Fourth Prize: A copy of the Accomplishing More With Less Workbook and a copy of Visual Leaders.

Here again is the survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/leadership-today.