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5 Promotion Secrets to Get the Job You Want
You Mean I Need to Promote Myself to Get a Promotion?
Time and time again I hear the following from students in my career advancement workshops:
“My work speaks for itself…I shouldn’t have to tell anyone about my skills.”
“Why did...
Building High Performance Teams
Your managerial success is tied to your team. Teams are the most valuable resource of an organization. The times of lone leadership are over with Alexander the Great. These are the times of the team leadership. If you can build a successful team and...
Highs & Lows of a Net Business
In our recent survey to readers of my ezine, The Joy Letter, I was asked to provide a timeline of the ups and downs in building my motivational website, ( www.howmuchjoy.com ). Ah … where to begin? There have been definite highs and lows in my...
Innovation, Idea Selection, Valuation
There is no sure fire route to commercial success, but one can maximize the chances of selecting those ideas that are most likely to succeed. Organizations short of R & D resources must implement such processes. The Economist (2003) states that...
Setting Goals -- Your Ticket To Success
You know that old saying -- if you don't know where you're going, any path will get you there. That's what happens if you don't take the time to figure out what your goals are and WRITE them down. There's power in writing things down. Trust me,...
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PLORK: Creative Laziness, Part 1
If you work for someone else, when was the last time your boss said to you, "I think you're working too hard. I want you to take some time off a just loaf around. In fact, I insist. We'll even pay you for it."
Even less likely, if you're self-employed, when was the last time you said to yourself, "I need to kick back a bit here. I'm pushing way too hard. This 'free agent nation' gig is killing me. I think I'll take the day off tomorrow and do nothing."
HA! Not very likely, right? Almost all of us have this built-in mental driver that says something like, "Sloth is a sin. Laziness is the easy, downward path that leads away from growth, progress, and prosperity."
HOGWASH!
Properly applied, laziness does not have to be the opposite of that constant, frenzied rushing around trying to get everything done now Now NOW! Keeping your nose to the grindstone is the surest way to prevent your creative imagination from producing great new ideas.
You don't have to be rich (however you define that) to take a day off and creatively loaf. Read this out loud: "If I slow down for an instant, it will all go down the drain." Doesn't that sound ridiculous? You know in your gut that's just not true.
BACK OFF, VARMINT!
I started applying this concept when I was 'working' as an Intranet project manager for a major university. When 10-hour days weren't long enough to solve all the problems and deal with all the crises, I started working 12-hour days. When THAT wasn't enough, I started working weekends. When my wife told me she was thinking about leaving me because I was never home, I stopped working weekends. The crises didn't get solved, but they didn't get any worse either!
Then I started working at home on Wednesdays. I answered the phone and sent emails, but I told people I wouldn't come in. Startlingly, the crises in the office conveniently waited for my return the next day, or else people on my staff started solving some of them.
Then I really got bold. I started relaxing on my day off. I was still "working", but on solutions, not fire-fighting. Astoundingly, I got much more
"work" done in the remaining four (10-hour) days than I had ever gotten done in five - or six or seven!
GETTING INTO THE FLOW IS OK, JUST DON'T LET IT KILL YOU
Sometimes I do get caught up in work, plunging ahead at a feverish pace. At times like these, I do the hardest thing in the world for me - I force myself to take a day off and do absolutely nothing. Surprisingly, the work still gets done somehow, often ahead of schedule.
By taking time out to recharge your mental, emotional and creative batteries, you can produce even more of value and worth. Even if the results aren't apparent immediately, you're not idle. Your brain is working in the background and your creative imagination is actually more stimulated by not being distracted by "busyness" -- part of the negative legacy of the Puritan work ethic. And have you ever noticed how similar the words "business" and "busyness" are?
LAZINESS IS TRULY THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF CREATIVITY
If you take some time to deliberately distance yourself from the busyness of the typical day, your subconscious creative mind can forge ahead unfettered. One of the expressions I hate most from the business world is, "Keep your head down and your tail up." What crap! Busyness will keep you from tapping into your creative potential. Don't feel you have to prove something by always appearing busy.
Remember Parkinson's Law? "A task will always expand to fill the amount of time available for its completion." The contrapositive of that might go like this: "A task will take only as long as the amount of time allowed for it."
So go ahead, give yourself a well-earned day off. What did your mother always say to you when you got so busy in the house you were driving her crazy? "Go out and play." Have fun. You'll be more creative, more successful, more prosperous.
About the Author
Best Regards, Robert Brents, "The 80/20 Guy" http://www.RobertBrents.com For your free four-lesson e-seminar, How To Write, Publish, Market & Promote Profitable How-To Manuals, email mailto:freehowtoeseminar@sendfree.com Copyright 2001 Robert Brents and Blue Gecko Press.
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Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Creativity For Life |
An exploration of creativity in everyday life, with articles, quotes, reviews and other creative resources to awaken creativity in daily life. |
www.creativityforlife.com |
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AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
www.adcritic.com |
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National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
www.ncaction.org.uk |
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Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
www.jpb.com |
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Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
www.mycoted.com |
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Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
www.creativityatwork.com |
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Crayola Creativity Central |
Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
www.crayola.com |
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Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
del.icio.us |
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Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
members.optusnet.com.au |
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gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
www.gapingvoid.com |
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Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
www.wisdomquotes.com |
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Ideas by Creativity Pool |
A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
www.creativitypool.com |
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CREATIVITY |
Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
www.quantumbooks.com |
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Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
www.mindtools.com |
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The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
www.fastcompany.com |
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CreativeClass.org |
Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
www.creativeclass.org |
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TIP: Concepts |
The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
tip.psychology.org |
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American Creativity Association (ACA) |
An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
www.amcreativityassoc.org |
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CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
www.creax.net |
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