By Michelle LaBrosse
We all hear the daily doom and gloom that comes out of the mouths of every journalist, neighbor and co-worker within a whisper's distance. There are major challenges taking place in businesses with downsizing and budget cuts and overall morale.
Instead of efficiency and productivity things may feel out of control. Perhaps it actually is at this moment.
I believe, out of my own experience of running a business, that no matter how tough the economic climate is, there is always opportunity to gain control and to continue aiming for success.
To put things back on track and give everyone -- yourself included -- a way to achieve success through this whole experience, put email-based project management to the test. When things feel out of control, it's usually because of a lack of communication and organization surrounding impending doom. Project management can help gain control and turn things around with positive results.
Seize the day and try out these ten ways to use email and project management to gain control and achieve success:
Tip #1: Stay clear of negativity
Negative information depletes your energy, drags you down and ultimately wears away at your ambition and spirit. Stay clear of negative practices like gossip and media hype as well as those who deliver the bad news.
Negative thoughts stay with you and affect how you speak to others, how you look, and can often have a destructive impact on your thought process.
If you feel yourself spiraling from the bad news surrounding you, take a walk, drink some water, listen to some music and allow yourself process it and then let go of it.
Tip #2: Dream
If you focus on failure, you will fail. If you set long-term personal and organizational goals for success, then you will eventually achieve it.
Similar to "you are what you eat," "you are what you dream."
Envision yourself going through the motions and conversations to get yourself exactly where you'd like to be. If you do this daily and continue seeing yourself succeeding, then it will become a reality.
Tip #3: Learn
Seek out opportunities to do your own formal and informal learning. Engaging in activities like informational interviews, webinars, or eclasses and development courses will all take you to your customized major.
How often have you met someone who went to school for Art History only to become a Dermatologist later on? You have the power to become an expert in whatever you'd like. And chances are, if you are excited about that subject, you will excel in it.
Tip #4: Lead by example
Develop a "can do, we will prevail" attitude, and bring those around you up with your thirst for knowledge and your enviable email and project management capabilities. People love a hero to follow and you'll find a wonderful sense of making good things happen even if it's in small doses.
