{"id":12378,"date":"2014-11-11T16:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T21:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=12378"},"modified":"2015-02-03T11:18:31","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T16:18:31","slug":"habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/success-tips\/habits\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Make Success A Habit At Your Business Too&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-12385 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/bigstock-Keys-isolated-on-white-backgr-25072541-150x112.jpg\" alt=\"Keys, isolated on white background.\" width=\"150\" height=\"112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/bigstock-Keys-isolated-on-white-backgr-25072541-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/bigstock-Keys-isolated-on-white-backgr-25072541-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/bigstock-Keys-isolated-on-white-backgr-25072541.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>I was walking to work last Thursday when I had a moment of doubt. I checked my pocket and found that, yes, I had remembered to put my office keys in my pocket. I leave them on the bathroom vanity at the end of each day and load my pockets each morning. And without this simple habit I\u2019d probably show up at work and be locked out a couple times each week.<\/p>\n<p>I got to thinking about all the habits I use and I\u2019ve been teaching my virtual team to use that help us make each day, well most, a success.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the list of BAD habits and HELPFUL habits for virtual teams below. Let me know if you have any you think should be added to the list.<\/p>\n<p><b>Habits That Distract<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Forgetting to fuel up<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of daily exercise<\/li>\n<li>Lack of sleep, yes nightly<\/li>\n<li>Lack of a well balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner &#8211; not to mention twice a day balanced snacks (we\u2019re talking cheetos as an example of unbalanced snack)<\/li>\n<li>Forgetting to take short exercise breaks every hour or so<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>Inviting interruptions<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of a defined private workspace (spouse, kid and pet free)<\/li>\n<li>Starting your day by checking your email inbox (most common mistake)<\/li>\n<li>Leaving your skype on green most of the day instead of using DND<\/li>\n<li>Letting others interrupt you on skype, texting you etc<\/li>\n<li>Letting family or friends interrupt your work day unless it is an emergency<\/li>\n<li>Taking personal calls \/ reading texts during work time<\/li>\n<li>Having the TV or radio news on<\/li>\n<li>Responding to personal email or texts during work hours<\/li>\n<li>Bouncing from one task to another within any 1-2 hour block of time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>Missing Self-Monitoring<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Not taking a few minutes every couple of hours to clear your head<\/li>\n<li>Trying to figure everything out on your own<\/li>\n<li>When you have a question &#8211; bugging team members for immediate answers (in non-emergencies)<\/li>\n<li>Not reviewing how you are spending your time and whether you are wasting time switch-tasking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Habits That Help You Focus<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Fueling your body and mind<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An hour of vigorous exercise a day<\/li>\n<li>Turning off all electronics communication devices an hour or 2 before bed<\/li>\n<li>Stretching before bed<\/li>\n<li>7-8 hours of sound sleep<\/li>\n<li>A well balanced breakfast<\/li>\n<li>Taking a power nap\/ meditation by closing your eyes for 15 mins and doing nothing, and thinking about nothing &#8211; so when you restart you tap your unconscious mind (where most of the creative thinking happens)<\/li>\n<li>Eating a balanced snack every few hours<\/li>\n<li>Stretching and or exercising for 5 min to get the blood flowing every hour or so. Dancing to music works too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>Focusing<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A private office<\/li>\n<li>Shutting the door if others are in the house<\/li>\n<li>Making sure family know not to interrupt<\/li>\n<li>Using time blocking<\/li>\n<li>Turning your cell phone off during work hours (unless you are on the road)<\/li>\n<li>Playing Pandora for background music<\/li>\n<li>Updating your daily agenda at the end of the previous day<\/li>\n<li>Starting your day by sitting down at your desk, closing your eyes for a minute or two and clearing your head and then<\/li>\n<li>Starting with your top priority agenda items (not email)<\/li>\n<li>When you have a question, writing it down and then at the end of the day contacting the appropriate team member<\/li>\n<li>Weekly reviewing how you are using your time and looking for ways to increase your efficiency<\/li>\n<li>Review your time blocking at least monthly to make sure it still works for you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nOthers? Let me know. BTW, if you haven\u2019t done so already I highly recommend <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Power-Habit-What-Business\/dp\/081298160X\/ref=sr_1_1\/185-4914069-3209837?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414783255&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+power+of+habit\">The Power of Habit <\/a>by Charles Duhigg and I\u2019m not just suggesting because we share the same name. It\u2019s a great read for anyone in business.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was walking to work last Thursday when I had a moment of doubt. I checked my pocket and found that, yes, I had remembered to put my office keys in my pocket. I leave them on the bathroom vanity at the end of each day and load my pockets each morning. And without this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[364,366,365],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12378"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12469,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378\/revisions\/12469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}