A different way to schedule your day Generic time-management principles might not be effective for today's workforce, writes John Rampton. Instead, find your own work style and schedule tasks around your personal energy levels. Entrepreneur online (9/17)Don't fall for these career fallacies Career coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine explains why career advancement is not necessarily a matter of moving into management, finding another job or leading more people. She debunks a total of 10 myths, while reminding us it's our impact that matters, not a job title. Forbes (9/18)
Making the Connection
Saying hello is not an invitation to sell An introductory message on LinkedIn can help you make connections, but writing too long, being self-congratulatory and failing to engage with others will make your note feel like a sales pitch, Jane Perdue writes. "I wanted to get to know a real person, not be introduced to a brand," she writes. The Jane Group (9/17)
Poll
Poll results: Do you have a side job? We all swore off waiting tables once our career took off, but sometimes a second job allows us to grow our skill set, such as teaching a college course, or pursue a hobby, such as leading bike tours. It's worth considering. New poll question on Monday.
Yes
38.35%
No, but I'd consider it
32.67%
No
28.98%
Your Next Challenge
Could "penny poking" help you find a job? An unemployed art director is using the "Penny Poke" concept to differentiate herself from other candidates, and so far, she's connected with more than half of the New York agencies she "poked" compared to a zero-response rate from cold-calling, writes David Griner. The idea is to send a penny via Venmo to people with an introductory message and link to a professional profile. Adweek (tiered subscription model) (9/18)Will LinkedIn's skill-assessment tool prove useful? LinkedIn has created a skills-assessment tool that grants badges and relevant job results to users who successfully pass the multiple-choice quizzes, writes Michelle Cheng. LinkedIn will also recommend its LinkedIn Learning platform to test-takers. Quartz (tiered subscription model) (9/18)
Balancing Yourself
Offering nap time supports employee happiness, engagement Studies suggest napping can have health and job performance benefits and companies such as Google, Ben & Jerry's and Cisco include naps on company time and Zappos even has nap rooms. "Companies genuinely committed to employee health -- and happiness -- have raised the bar with fresh ideas and new ways to turn the spotlight on health, giving employees what they need to improve their quality of life and stay healthy in both mind and body," writes employee engagement expert Stan Phelps. Forbes (9/18)
When a bird lands on the endangered species list, it gets a lot of attention. But some of the types of birds that have seen their numbers decimated during recent decades, nearly 3 billion in North America, are common backyard birds like sparrows and blackbirds. Smithsonian online (9/19)
Experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire.
Sonia Sotomayor, first Hispanic US Supreme Court justice National Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15
