October 2016 Summaries

The Conscious Style Guide is a new resource created by writer and editor Karen Yin that aims to help people craft language that is kind, compassionate, mindful, empowering, respectful, and inclusive. The guide provides information on how to use conscious language in various contexts, including writing, speaking, and communication with colleagues and customers. It emphasizes the importance of understanding social context and avoiding words or phrases that can alienate or marginalize others. The guide also offers tips on using empowering language, being mindful of one's word choices, and seeking feedback from others to ensure effective communication. By incorporating conscious style into their daily work, individuals can improve their business relationships, avoid saying potentially offensive or alienating things, and strengthen important connections.

You can never stop checking your work email, as there will always be more waiting in your inbox tomorrow. To manage your inbox effectively, you need to adopt a deliberate approach, focusing on taking specific action that is intentional and mindful. This involves setting priorities, categorizing emails, and creating workflows to streamline your email management. The Eisenhower Box is a useful tool for prioritizing tasks based on their urgency and importance. By auditing your inbox, visualizing your data, and creating workflows for each type of email, you can manage your inbox without the stress of trying to get to "inbox zero." Additionally, you should consider implementing filters and Zaps to automate repetitive tasks, delegate emails when possible, and eliminate non-essential emails. By taking a proactive approach to your inbox management, you can save time, reduce stress, and focus on more important tasks.

You'll need to be a Jack-of-All-Trades`, successfully running your own business requires people to fill many roles, including Marketing, Selling, Production, Support, and Operations. When you're an employee, others take care of everything else. As a business owner, all of that is on you. Reviewing your weaknesses in these areas before starting your business and finding ways to overcome them will be crucial. You'll need to be disciplined with invoicing and following up with customers, as well as managing taxes and other administrative tasks. The satisfaction of being your own boss and making your own opportunities are worth it for many people, but running a business can also come with challenges such as procrastination, lack of motivation, and irregular income. You'll need to be comfortable wearing many hats and spending time doing things that might not be core to what you're producing. The right reasons to start a business include being passionate about your product or service, believing it will fill a real need in the world, and thriving on independence.