10 Best Fast Food Restaurants in America - Financial Times

http://time.com/2981596/best-fast-food-restaurants-america/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• The Fiscal Times
 

5:45 AM ET

    

In-N-Out Burger's signature Double-Double cheeseburger and french fries.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

There are a few surprises on the Consumer Reports’ list this year of the best fast food restaurants in America – and a few names that are not that well known nationally.

The bottom line is that whether we’re aiming to eat pizza, burgers, chicken or grilled sandwiches, Americans want a lot more than just food on the cheap when we eat out. We care about the quality and freshness of our food; we care about the quality of the service we receive. These priorities when choosing a destination for grabbing a quick bite emerged in Consumer Reports’ most recent ranking of our nation’s fast food restaurants.

The magazine asked more than 32,000 readers – who ate more than 96,000 meals at 65 chains – what they thought. The less ubiquitous fast food restaurants and the regional ones were the most popular with diners.

Respondents looked at five criteria to rank each chain: food quality and freshness, value, politeness, speed of service, and cleanliness of the dining area. Based on these criteria, they had to come up with a grade out of 100.

The top winner: In-N-Out Burger, which has a cult following of fans from across the country. Its restaurants are only available in a handful of states, mostly on the West Coast, which means that for many Americans, vacationing in California often includes paying a visit to an In-N-Out Burger restaurant.

Other names that made the list of the best fast food restaurants include Chick-fil-A and Potbelly Sandwich Shop, but most of the other chains on the list aren’t that well known.

“You’ll find many fine national (defined as operating in six or more states) and regional restaurants,” noted Consumer Reports.

10) Culver’s

Consumer Reports Grade: 84/100

Started in Wisconsin in the 1980s, Culver’s, which offers fresh frozen custard and burgers, is still predominantly in the Midwest but has also expanded into Texas. Culver’s also features its own brand of root beer. Politeness of its staffs and dining-area cleanliness were among its highlights.

9) Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill

Consumer Reports Grade: 84/100

Rubio’s, which was founded in California in the 1980s, offers Mexican food using fresh sustainable seafood with an emphasis on tacos. The company operates 190 locations in California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nevada. Noteworthy for Rubio’s: quality of the food, its staffs’ politeness, and cleanliness of dining areas.

8) Potbelly Sandwich Shop

Consumer Reports Grade: 84/100

Another fast food chain that specializes in subs, Potbelly, which was founded in Chicago in 1977, has locations in 23 states. It often has local musicians performing live at a Potbelly Sandwich Shop – whose staffs’ politeness helped it earn this spot on the list.

7) Firehouse Subs

Consumer Reports Grade: 84/100

Founded just 20 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, by former firefighters, Firehouse Subs specializes in hot subs and also offers subs and salads under 500 calories. It has more than 700 restaurants in 36 states. It earned this spot on the list because of its staffs’ politeness and the cleanliness of its dining areas.

6) Chick-Fil-A

Consumer Reports Grade: 85/100

Chick-fil-A, which is headquartered in Atlanta and specializes in chicken sandwiches, made the news three years ago because of its opposition to same-sex marriage legislation – but it also made theConsumer Reports list of the best fast food restaurants in America for the quality of its food and of its service.

5) Jason’s Deli

Consumer Reports Grade: 85/100

Founded in Texas in 1976, Jason’s Deli offers a deli-style menu with sandwiches, salads and soups. It boasts 240 locations across 28 states. In the last decade, the company has eliminated trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and MSG from all of its food. It rated highly for its food quality, politeness of its staff, and the cleanliness of its dining areas.

4) The Habit Burger Grill

Consumer Reports Grade: 86/100

The Habit Burger Grill was started in California in 1969 and like In-N-Out Burger, it has remained on the small side, with only 100 locations in California, Arizona and Utah. Food quality, politeness of staff, and cleanliness all rated high for this restaurant.

3) Portillo’s Hot Dogs

Consumer Reports Grade: 87/100

Portillo’s specializes in Chicago-style hot dogs and sandwiches. It has less than 50 locations, mostly in the Chicago area, as well as in Arizona and California, but you can order some items online. Like the other winners on this list, its food quality, politeness of staff, and cleanliness of its dining areas stood out.

2) Papa Murphy’s Take N’Bake Pizza

Consumer Reports Grade: 88/100

Papa Murphy’s, which ranks as the best pizza fast food restaurant in the country in this list, is actually a take-and-bake pizzeria. Customers order their pizza in the store but take it home to bake, reducing the restaurant’s costs significantly. The company, which has more than 1,400 locations in the U.S., went public in May, and is noted for the quality of its food, politeness of its staff, and the speed of its service.

1) In-N-Out Burger

Consumer Reports Grade: 88/100

One of the cruelest April Fool’s jokes to New Yorkers a few years ago was the announcement by an anonymous prankster that In-N-Out Burger was going to open a location in the Big Apple. The top burger chain in the country, however, actually wants to remain small and confines itself to the West Coast. The quality of its food helped it win this highly coveted spot.

Yes, You Can Be Too Talented for Your Job - TIME

http://time.com/2977435/yes-you-can-be-too-talented-for-your-job/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Martha C. White
 

6:45 AM ET

    

If you always sort of suspected that some of the problems you encountered at work were because you were just too smart for the job — well, you may be onto something. New research looks at how people perform when they’re part of a team, and it turns out there is such a thing as too much talent.

MORE

9 Terrible Habits You Need to Stop ImmediatelyHow the Best People Handle Setbacks and CriticismMonday's Top 7 News Stories NBC NewsAdmit It, You're Only Pretending To Like These 23 Things Huffington PostReality Bites: Why You Can't Always Blame Sharks for Attacking NBC News

The study’s lead author, INSEAD assistant professor of organizational behavior Roderick Swaab, writes that almost everybody has a linear view of talent: that is, if a little bit is good, a lot must be better. But an analysis of how well sports teams perform based on the overall amount of talent among members finds that it doesn’t usually work like that — and Swaab says this has important implications for organizations and management.

“[They] are similar to organizational teams that require a high level of coordination between team members,” Swaab says. Soccer and basketball teams have parallels to consulting and strategy groups, emergency response units and surgery teams, he says, whereas baseball teams resemble sales departments.

More talent translates to better performance, up to a point, but Swaab finds that after you hit a certain level, adding more talent doesn’t produce as much of a boost to results. And if the coach (or boss, or company) keeps piling on more talent — hiring away superstars from rivals, bringing on new members who are at the top of their game — the effect actually becomes negative.

“Teams with levels of top talent that are too high perform worse than teams with lower levels of top talent because they coordinate less effectively,” Swaab writes.

It’s basically scientific proof of the old saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

These top performers are driven to succeed, but looking out for number one is a big part of that strategy, and when you have a lot of people with that mentality on the same team where there can only be one actual number one, you wind up with a situation where people start focusing on their own status within the group and their own performance rather than doing what’s best or most productive for the team as a whole.

“It is likely that top talented individuals who are perceived as having high status are more dominant and competitive because they want to maintain the status quo and keep their high status, especially when they need to work with others who are also perceived as having high status,” Swaab says.

In sports like basketball, where every point relies heavily on everyone pitching in all at once, too much talent can be detrimental because of this clash between individual and team priorities. “When teams need to come together, more talent can tear them apart,” Swaab writes. But in sports like baseball, where the score is earned on more of an individual basis, teams don’t run into a problem with too much talent having a negative effect on performance, although after a certain point, the benefits of adding more talent grow smaller.

So if you suspect your workplace is like this, the research offers one possible solution in this comparison of how talent affects performance across different sports. You might need to shift your focus to work more independently if what Swaab calls “status conflicts” are detracting from your productivity.

“When coordination and collaboration with others is required to perform well, the superior task expertise of top talent is not sufficient,” he says. “Top talented individuals will also need to learn how to cooperate effectively” as a team.

Negative views of Russia and Putin on the rise globally - BBC NEWS

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28233825

12 July 2014 Last updated at 02:08 BST

Russia's global image is increasingly negative, according to a surveyfrom the Pew Research Center.

This is despite Russians believing that President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine would improve the country's reputation abroad.

Pew Research found that increasing numbers of people around the world held unfavourable views of Russia and its president, especially in Europe and the United States.

And as the violence in Ukraine continues, 60% of people there had negative views of Russia - a huge increase from 11% in 2011.

The BBC's Ashley Semler looks at the results.

Edited by Dave Mayers

Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book - Wall Street Journal - essay by Bill Gates himself

http://online.wsj.com/articles/bill-gatess-favorite-business-book-1405088228?mod=e2fb



John Brooks's 1960s collection 'Business Adventures' still offers many insights into running a strong business

By 

BILL GATES 

CONNECT

Updated July 11, 2014 6:20 p.m. ET

The rules for running a strong business haven't changed, says Bill Gates. John Keatley for The Wall Street Journal

Not long after I first met Warren Buffett back in 1991, I asked him to recommend his favorite book about business. He didn't miss a beat: "It's 'Business Adventures,' by John Brooks, " he said. "I'll send you my copy." I was intrigued: I had never heard of "Business Adventures" or John Brooks.

Today, more than two decades after Warren lent it to me—and more than four decades after it was first published—"Business Adventures" remains the best business book I've ever read. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer. (And Warren, if you're reading this, I still have your copy.)

A skeptic might wonder how this out-of-print collection of New Yorker articles from the 1960s could have anything to say about business today. After all, in 1966, when Brooks profiled Xerox, XRX +2.58% the company's top-of-the-line copier weighed 650 pounds, cost $27,500, required a full-time operator and came with a fire extinguisher because of its tendency to overheat. A lot has changed since then.

It's certainly true that many of the particulars of business have changed. But the fundamentals have not. Brooks's deeper insights about business are just as relevant today as they were back then. In terms of its longevity, "Business Adventures" stands alongside Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor," the 1949 book that Warren says is the best book on investing that he has ever read.

Brooks grew up in New Jersey during the Depression, attended Princeton University (where he roomed with future Secretary of State George Shultz ) and, after serving in World War II, turned to journalism with dreams of becoming a novelist. In addition to his magazine work, he published a handful of books, only some of which are still in print. He died in 1993.

As the journalist Michael Lewis wrote in his foreword to Brooks's book "The Go-Go Years," even when Brooks got things wrong, "at least he got them wrong in an interesting way." Unlike a lot of today's business writers, Brooks didn't boil his work down into pat how-to lessons or simplistic explanations for success. (How many times have you read that some company is taking off because they give their employees free lunch?) You won't find any listicles in his work. Brooks wrote long articles that frame an issue, explore it in depth, introduce a few compelling characters and show how things went for them.

In one called "The Impacted Philosophers," he uses a case of price-fixing at General Electric GE +1.34% to explore miscommunication—sometimes intentional miscommunication—up and down the corporate ladder. It was, he writes, "a breakdown in intramural communication so drastic as to make the building of the Tower of Babel seem a triumph of organizational rapport."

In "The Fate of the Edsel," he refutes the popular explanations for why Ford's flagship car was such a historic flop. It wasn't because the car was overly poll-tested; it was because Ford's executives only pretended to be acting on what the polls said. "Although the Edsel was supposed to be advertised, and otherwise promoted, strictly on the basis of preferences expressed in polls, some old-fashioned snake-oil selling methods, intuitive rather than scientific, crept in." It certainly didn't help that the first Edsels "were delivered with oil leaks, sticking hoods, trunks that wouldn't open and push buttons that…couldn't be budged with a hammer."

One of Brooks's most instructive stories is "Xerox Xerox Xerox Xerox." (The headline alone belongs in the Journalism Hall of Fame.) The example of Xerox is one that everyone in the tech industry should study. Starting in the early '70s, Xerox funded a huge amount of R&D that wasn't directly related to copiers, including research that led to Ethernet networks and the first graphical user interface (the look you know today as Windows or OS X).

Download a free copy of "Xerox Xerox Xerox Xerox."

But because Xerox executives didn't think these ideas fit their core business, they chose not to turn them into marketable products. Others stepped in and went to market with products based on the research that Xerox had done. Both Apple andMicrosoft, MSFT +0.97% for example, drew on Xerox's work on graphical user interfaces.

I know I'm not alone in seeing this decision as a mistake on Xerox's part. I was certainly determined to avoid it at Microsoft. I pushed hard to make sure that we kept thinking big about the opportunities created by our research in areas like computer vision and speech recognition. Many other journalists have written about Xerox, but Brooks's article tells an important part of the company's early story. He shows how it was built on original, outside-the-box thinking, which makes it all the more surprising that as Xerox matured, it would miss out on unconventional ideas developed by its own researchers.

Brooks was also a masterful storyteller. He could craft a page-turner like "The Last Great Corner," about the man who founded the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain and his attempt to foil investors intent on shorting his company's stock. I couldn't wait to see how things turned out for him. (Here's a spoiler: not well.) Other times you can almost hear Brooks chuckling as he tells some absurd story. There's a passage in "The Fate of the Edsel" in which a PR man for Ford organizes a fashion show for the wives of newspaper reporters. The host of the fashion show turns out to be a female impersonator, which might seem edgy today but would have been scandalous for a major U.S. corporation in 1957. Brooks notes that the reporters' wives "were able to give their husbands an extra paragraph or two for their stories."

Brooks's work is a great reminder that the rules for running a strong business and creating value haven't changed. For one thing, there's an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn't matter if you have a perfect product, production plan and marketing pitch; you'll still need the right people to lead and implement those plans.

That is a lesson you learn quickly in business, and I've been reminded of it at every step of my career, first at Microsoft and now at the foundation. Which people are you going to back? Do their roles fit their abilities? Do they have both the IQ and EQ to succeed? Warren is famous for this approach at Berkshire Hathaway, BRKB +0.14%where he buys great businesses run by wonderful managers and then gets out of the way.

"Business Adventures" is as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another. In that sense, it is still relevant not despite its age but because of it. John Brooks's work is really about human nature, which is why it has stood the test of time.

— Mr. Gates is the co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the co-founder of Microsoft.

The U.S. Has Good Reason to Be Fed Up With China’s Economic Policy - TIME

http://time.com/2975757/the-u-s-has-good-reason-to-be-fed-up-with-chinas-economic-policy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Michael Schuman @MichaelSchuman
 

5:35 AM ET

    

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew listens during a panel discussion at the North American Energy Summit in the Manhattan borough of New York, June 10, 2014.Adam Hunger—Reuters

Talks in Beijing between American and Chinese officials made little progress on key economic issues

No one expected big breakthroughs from the latest round of the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, held this week in Beijing. But the results didn’t even meet those lowly expectations. After two days of talks with Chinese officials, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew left empty-handed. A much-coveted but long-discussed treaty to boost investment between the two countries only inched forward. Nor did China offer firm commitments to further liberalize its currency — an issue of great importance to Washington. That apparently left Lew searching for something positive to say to his Chinese hosts. “The commitments China has made here in Beijing over the past two days reflect the economic reform goals set forth” previously, Lew said on Thursday, “and we look forward to future progress.”

Washington has been waiting for progress for quite a while. U.S. officials have been repeatedly pressing Beijing to open markets wider to American companies, improve the protection of intellectual property, and make the economy more transparent and market-oriented. But in return, Washington just gets vague pledges and expressions of caution. Meanwhile, the two continue to bicker over trade practices — most notably these days, Washington’s punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panels. The stalemate in economic ties between the U.S. and China is symbolic of the greater strain between the two nations. China has responded angrily to U.S. charges that its military cyberspies on American companies, while officials from both sides have exchanged hostile barbs over China’s territorial disputes with Japan and other neighbors. Relations between the U.S. and China are arguably at their lowest point in years.

That’s bad news. What happens between the world’s two largest economies has ripple effects around the world. Each country, furthermore, needs the other for its own economic growth. U.S. companies require access to Chinese consumers to keep their profits growing, while China badly needs advanced U.S. technology to upgrade its industry. Still, the two sides often look upon each other warily. As China’s clout increases, the U.S. is frustrated that Beijing is not making the Chinese economy more open or playing by the perceived rules of international commerce. Beijing’s policymakers get upset when Washington badgers them on reforms they consider none of America’s business.

But the U.S. has good reason to be annoyed. Many of the issues that matter to Washington have been dragging on interminably with no resolution in sight. Take, for instance, the sticky issue of China’s currency, the yuan. Washington has complained for many years that Beijing manipulates the value of the yuan to promote its own exports, and during this week’s meetings, Lew again pressed his Chinese counterparts to make the process by which it is valued more market-driven. Though I have written on many occasions that the U.S. has exaggerated the impact the yuan’s value has had on the country’s trade deficit with China, Lew has a right to be fed up with the slow pace of change. The Chinese have been blabbering about allowing market forces to determine the yuan’s exchange rate for ages, and the reform is considered an integral part of China’s greater goal of liberalizing capital flows in and out of the country. But the government still wields tremendous influence over the direction of the yuan — a degree of control is has been reluctant to relinquish, promises aside. In this week’s meetings, China offered only more excuses. “If we move too fast, we will be tripped by the demons of details,” Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang cryptically responded to Lew. Instead, Wang said Beijing was looking for “balance.”

“Balance,” however, has become Beijing-speak for “do nothing.” Currency reform is only one of many changes Chinese policymakers have promised, but never seem to implement. President Xi Jinping and his team have pledged to liberalize markets, fix the financial sector and allow private businessmen a bigger role in the economy. Economists swooned over a bold policy document released in November that committed the leadership to a sweeping reformation of China’s economic system. No one should expect such major changes to happen overnight, of course. But the fact is we’re still waiting for the process to really get started. Meanwhile, the Chinese economy is facing a host of unresolved problems that threaten its future. Growth has slowed, debt has mounted to dizzying levels, the financial sector is fundamentally flawed, and a property bubble appears to be bursting.

What Lew wants to see from China is a true effort to overhaul an economic model that is badly broken. That would be good for China, the U.S., and everybody else.

10 Things You Should Basically Never, Ever Say - TIME

http://time.com/2933430/dont-say-this/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Jeff Haden
 

June 27, 2014

    

What you think and say definitely shapes your behavior. So don’t be your own worst enemy. If you want to succeed – whether as an entrepreneur or in any other professional and personal endeavor – here are ten things you should never say to yourself. Sometimes a small shift in perspective can make a huge difference… if you let it.

“All I need is one great idea.”

Everyone has great ideas, but the only ideas of value are the ideas you execute. If you’re searching for that one big idea that will change your life – or change your business – take a step back and regroup. Spend a few minutes each day searching for a revolutionary idea and put the majority of your focus on developing ideas that help your business execute better. Fix what isn’t working and think of better ways to serve your customers. Those are the ideas you really need.

“I deserve it.”

Sure, you work hard. You sacrifice a lot. But hard work and sacrifice isn’t a result; each is just an element in a process. The only thing you deserve is what you earn. So for example, don’t pull cash out of your business simply to reward yourself because you’ve worked hard and you “deserve it.” Reward yourself after your business has generated – and is likely to keep generating – significant cash. Deserve is not a function of your effort, it’s a function of your bottom line.

“If I could just get my hands on more capital.”

No business has enough capital. According to the Census Bureau 30% of small businesses were started with less than $5,000, and 10% of small business owners used a credit card to partly or fully fund the business. You may have little control on how much cash you have on hand, but you have a lot of control over revenues and costs. Stop worrying about the capital you don’t have and focus on leveraging what you do have – especially your “effort” capital.

“We’ll be fine after we cut a few costs.”

If you’re like me and your background is in operations it’s natural to focus on increasing productivity and minimizing costs. Often it’s impossible to save your way to profitability, though, and sometimes making cuts – especially in marketing and sales – makes it even harder. Sometimes Randolph Duke is right: The answer is to, “Sell, sell!”

“I can count on our customers staying loyal.”

Loyalty is hard to earn and easy to lose. I’m so loyal to my local bike shop I’ll even pay more; otherwise I’d feel guilty. But say I want to buy a bike they sell for $3,000. Would I buy the bike elsewhere for $2,900? No. $2,800? Probably not. $2,500? Absolutely. As it should be, customer loyalty is primarily based on customer self interest. If your prices are higher your service can outweigh those price differences, but only to a point. Plus even as we speak your competitors are working hard to deserve the loyalty of your customers.

“Let’s focus our marketing on building awareness.”

Conventional wisdom says people need to see an advertisement multiple times before they will act. Yet no startup can afford that slow – and costly – an approach. Always work to crafting direct advertising campaigns that work, at least to some degree, the first time. Then tweak and tweak and tweak some more. Besides, “awareness” is almost impossible to measure – but actual revenue always is.

“I want my company to be like one big happy family.”

While you should certainly try to create a friendly, caring, and supportive work environment, your business should neveroperatelike a family. Employees, like customers act, from self-interest. When their interests no longer align with your business, they leave – as well they should. Always be friendly and caring, but never let trying to create a family atmosphere overshadow running a profitable, sustainable business. Without profits, no business “family” can stay together.

“I’m just one small piece of the puzzle…”

True, but only to a point. All employees are important, but you are more important… if only because you have the greatest authority and therefore the greatest responsibility. Ultimately your business is a reflection of you; fail to recognize that fact and you give up the responsibility that is naturally yours.

“Word of mouth will definitely grow our business.”

Word of mouth is relatively passive and largely outside your control. No matter how many incentives you create, most of your customers won’t become raving fans and spread the “gospel of you” to everyone they meet. Except in rare cases the only way to grow a business is to actively market and sell. Someday word of mouth and referrals may drive significant business, but until that happens, focus on hunting, not gathering.

“If we just leave it alone… things will eventually get better.”

Sometimes you can’t afford to let others struggle. Allowing employees to learn from their mistakes is fine, but sometimes you have to step in. Before you delegate a task, decide how far you’re willing to let an employee go. Then track their progress and take over when necessary. Employees can still benefit from an abbreviated experience as long as they stay involved after you take back some of the control. Learning experiences are great… but never at the expense of results.

5 Ways to Stop Getting Completely Burned Out at Work - TIME

http://time.com/2906082/5-ways-to-stop-getting-completely-burned-out-at-work/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Martha C. White
 

June 23, 2014

    

Sure, everybody’s had those weeks where you just want to get home from work and flop onto the sofa until your headache subsides. But if that’s happening every week — well, you’ve got a lot of company, for one thing, but it shouldn’t be like that. Yes, we’re all working harder and getting little (or nothing) extra for our efforts, but on-the-job burnout doesn’t have to be inevitable.

MORE

9 Terrible Habits You Need to Stop ImmediatelyHow the Best People Handle Setbacks and CriticismWednesday's Top 6 News StoriesNBC NewsRaju The Elephant Cries After Being Rescued Following 50 Years Of Abuse, Chains Huffington PostSummer Camp Tragedy: Child Among Five Killed by Violent Storm NBC News

That probably comes as new to many Americans. New research from jobs site Monster.com finds that a staggering four in five workers experience burnout in their jobs. Among millennials, the figure is even higher: 86% report feeling burned out at work. That’s not surprising, given how tough it’s been for millenials to land jobs at all.

POPULAR AMONG SUBSCRIBERS

Burnout is different than regular bad-day stress, and it can be dangerous, say the experts at the Mayo Clinic. “Job burnout is a special type of job stress — a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work,” its website says. It warns that burnout can contribute to insomnia, depression, alcohol abuse, high cholesterol and a host of other health problems.

If the Monster data is any indication, odds are your chronic stress might be work burnout, especially if you’re a young adult. Here are some ways to send burnout packing.

Stop trying to do it all right now. Studies have shown that multitasking isn’t the productivity silver bullet it’s cracked up to be. In fact, sometimes trying to focus too much stuff at once can actually sap your momentum. “Try to block off time to focus and have uninterrupted productive time to get your work done,” says Joanie Courtney, Monster’s senior vice president of careers and employment. “Don’t let office or Internet distractions take you off task because they can lead to increased stress if you can’t get your work done.”

Take a break. Be sure to build in time for both physical and mental breaks. “Burnout is the result of a reduction in motivation from overwork. If you’re feeling this way, you have to budget in some time to take a break,” Courtney says. This is especially the case if your job involves repetitive tasks. A study published in the scientific journalCognition finds that people who take breaks can “recharge” their concentration and return to a task with renewed focus. Flip through a magazine, read up on a favorite hobby or take a walk around the block.

Tackle fixable problems. If you can identify a source of burnout — say, a grueling commute or feeling like you’re not getting feedback you need — try to fix it. “Discuss specific concerns with your supervisor. Perhaps you can work together to change expectations or reach compromises or solutions,” the Mayo Clinic suggests. For instance, if you’re spending three hours a day behind the wheel of your car, maybe you could work from home one day a week. If you feel like you’re not getting the training or guidance you need, try to schedule a standing meeting with your boss to go over your assignments.

Pat yourself on the back. One hallmark of burnout is feeling overwhelmingly cynical and not deriving any satisfaction from your achievements. If that sounds like you, make it a point to take the time to recognize the effort you’re putting in at work, says Heidi Golledge, CEO and co-founder of CareerBliss.com. “Each night, make a list of things you accomplished today and what you want to accomplish tomorrow,” she suggests. Even if you’re burnt out because no one else appreciates what you do, take a few minutes to be your own cheerleader.

Realize when you’d be better off leaving. As the song goes, know when to fold ‘em. “It’s OK to admit to yourself that there could be a better job out there,” Courtney says. You might be in the wrong job, or you might have outgrown your job and not have any chance to move up. If this is the case, “Begin to build an exit strategy from your job, and find a job that will meet your work needs,” she says. It’s easier to find a job when you’re already working, so start your new job search while you’re still on board rather than quitting in frustration.

9 Terrible Habits You Need to Stop Immediately - TIME

http://time.com/2954696/stop-bad-habits/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Inc.
 

July 7, 2014

    

Guy checking internet with laptop at late night with dark room, view from above.Artur Debat—Moment Editorial/Getty Images

Author Tim Ferriss suggests some common bad habits you should definitely add to your not-to-do-list.

Perhaps you’ve heard of a “not-to-do list.” CEOs and productivity experts recommend the idea highly as a huge productivity booster that will help you free up time and headspace for all the things that really matter.

Sounds great. But what should go on it? Best-selling author Tim Ferriss has some ideas. In a recent short podcast he offered nine suggestions of bad work habits that many entrepreneurs and others desperately need to eliminate (chances are you are doing at least a couple of these–I’m personally massively guilty of two and five), so there is almost certainly something here that can boost your output.

Don’t overwhelm yourself, Ferriss says. Just tackle one or two at a time, eliminating counterproductive habits step by step, and eventually you’ll reclaim impressive amounts of time and energy.

Do Not Answer Calls from Unrecognized Numbers

Ferriss gives a couple of rationales for this one. First, the interruption will throw your concentration, costing you far more in time and brain power than just the conversation itself, and second, if it’s important, you’ll find yourself in a poor negotiating position, scrambling to formulate your thoughts when the caller is already well prepared. Instead, use Google Voice to check your messages or a service likePhoneTag to have them sent to you as email.

Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night

“The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item.

Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time

“If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.’”

Do Not Let People Ramble

Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?”

But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally.

Do Not Check Email Constantly

Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help.

Do Not Over-Communicate With Low Profit, High Maintenance Customers

“Do an 80-20 analysis of your customer base in two ways,” Ferriss advises. “Which 20% are producing 80% or more of my profit, and which 20% are consuming 80% or more of my time? Then put the loudest and least productive on auto-pilot, citing a change of company policy.”

What should those “new policies” look like? Ferriss suggests emailing problem clients with things like guidance on the number of permissible calls and expected response times. If that sounds like it might annoy your loudmouth customers, his response is, essentially, who cares? Point them to other providers if they don’t like the new rules. “Sometimes you really have to fire your customers.”

Do Not Work More to Fix Being Too Busy

The cure for being overwhelmed isn’t working more, it’s sitting down and prioritizing your tasks, Ferriss believes. So don’t make the mistake of working frantically if you’re swamped. Instead, sit down and decide what actually needs doing urgently. If that means apologizing for a slightly late return call or paying a small late fee, so be it, as long as you manage to get the important things done.

“If you don’t have time, the truth is you don’t have priorities, so think harder, don’t work harder,” he says.

Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7

At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit.

Do Not Expect Work to Fill a Void That Non-Work Relationships and Activities Should

“Work is not all of life,” says Ferriss. This seems obvious, but the sad truth is that while nearly everyone would agree to this in principle, it’s easy to let things slide to a point where your actions and your stated values don’t match up. Defend the time you have scheduled for loved ones and cool activities with the same ferocity you apply to getting to an important meeting for your business

How Well Do You Know The iPhone? - TIME

Please copy & paste the following link to access the quiz

file:///Users/josephcheng/iPhone%20Quiz.webarchive

• Victor Luckerson @VLuck
 

June 27, 2014

    

On the 7th birthday of the smartphone that changed phones forever, see how knowledgeable you are about Apple's revolutionary device

TECH INNOVATION

How Well Do You Know The iPhone?

• Victor Luckerson @VLuck
 

June 27, 2014

    

On the 7th birthday of the smartphone that changed phones forever, see how knowledgeable you are about Apple's revolutionary device