Ask The Entrepreneurs is a regular series where members of those involved in the Young Entrepreneur Council are asked a single question that aims to help Lifehack readers level up their own lives, whether in a area of management, communication, business or life in general. Here’s the question posed in this edition of Ask The…

Meetings can be one of the biggest time-wasters we can be involved with. They can be directionless, unfocused, long, and worst of all: pointless. There have been countless strategies put out there to combat the tedium of meetings, such as having “chairless” meetings, limiting meetings to 15 minutes, conducting…

It’s no secret that career success often depends on the quality of the relationships you develop with your managers and co-workers. Although office personalities vary considerably, there are certain rules that always apply because we are all human. Here are 9 to keep in mind as you strive to lead, influence, and collaborate with…

They are mad, evil geniuses I tell you! Every year I watch the sale of Girl Scout cookies with amazement. These sweet, innocent and friendly girls all become masters of marketing, sales and business through the months of January and February. And you know what? I happily buy Girl Scout cookies every year. I open…

Extraordinary management requires extraordinary thinking, and these creative workplace strategies are proven to supercharge team productivity over a sustained period. The following are innovative ideas used in companies all over the world to help high-performance teams crank efficiency up a few notches. 1. Schedule a FedEx Day Australian software company Atlassian holds what it calls FedEx…

Effective leaders set their teams up for success. This requires that they avoid any management practices that could potentially kill employee productivity. Inept leadership styles come in all flavors, from the disorganized or forgetful boss to the extreme micromanager. Here are five practices that are guaranteed to sink your workers’ efficiency — and the…

January is an amazing time to starting thinking about what you want in life. It’s fun and exciting to dream about how awesome a new year will be. You set goals, you get excited… Then the excuses set in. “The person who really wants to do…

This has been a tough year for a lot of businesses. The economy has yet to rebound (it may never fully) and with a downtrodden economic situation often comes a despressed workforce. I’m not talking about the overall unemployment problem; I’m talking about the problem that those who have jobs are dealing with: elevated…

I have a family member who is always clashing with her boss. I wonder if part of the problem is that she takes professional criticism personally. Over Thanksgiving one year, she explained to me that she is rejection sensitive, meaning that she’s attuned to any cue that she is being rebuffed, and has the…

Whether you’re a high-flying manager tasked with leading your team into battle in the latest big company mission, or looking to get a passion project off the ground, falling into that most counterproductive of traps and trying to do everything yourself can be all too easy. After all, these projects are your babies; their success –…

Bills are the bad guy–your ultimate nemesis. At the least, they’re like those annoying second-cousins at family functions you’ve labeled as  “Hoverer” and “Close-talker.” The point is, they’re always there. No escaping. You’re tied to them. Because of this inescapable connection, we often let bills consume our thoughts, and—even more valuable—our precious time. We trudge through…

In a recent TED talk, activist Jeremy Gilley discusses his inspiring mission of “Persuading the world to try living in peace for just one day.” Adhering to a single day of peace allows for the immunization of rural populations, aid to be distributed, freedom to travel and the transmission of information. Most importantly…

Do you spend too much time in meetings?  If so, you are in good company.  One of the  most common complaints of office workers is that their productivity is hampered by too many unproductive meetings.  Ineffective meetings lead to frustration.  They waste the time of the participants and they undermine the effectiveness of the whole…

Monday is Labor Day, a holiday created for workers to get a much needed day off. Of course in practice it doesn’t work out. On the holiday itself bosses will text or call employees with something they “need to review and give a POV on” prior to a Tuesday meeting “because it will be so…

Every family encounters a situation where the actions or inaction of a particular family member has a negative effect on the rest of the group. These issues are difficult to resolve because families are a fragile and complex unit. Because of the complexity, people have to be sensitive and compassionate when dealing with family issues…