Success after dropping out of college can be achieved through a variety of means. Due to their in-demand knowledge and expertise, some people who don’t attend college or community college can succeed in life. Others could have a better chance of success because they can pick up new abilities rapidly and seize opportunities when they present themselves.

So, if you’ve been debating whether to enter the workforce right away or take some time to cruise as a student, take into account these justifications for why you do not need a traditional bachelor’s degree to earn well.

You may learn seven different reasons why an MBA, Ph.D., or BBA is not crucial to becoming successful:

1. College does not provide practical training.

You must look for mentors and role models who can show you the ropes because of this. You’ll be well ahead of the game if you can locate someone willing to mentor you. If you can’t locate a mentor, there are tons of resources online and in libraries that you may use. You can learn what you need to know about the actual world with a little work. If you are an undergraduate and you have some skills to show you can achieve success.

Your preparation for the outside world will not be sufficient after graduation. The real world requires many abilities that you won’t learn in college or community college. It’s not the same as doing them, even though you can study these things in college. And, let’s face it, most college students don’t have the resources—either in terms of time or money—to devote to studying these topics.

 2. High-paying jobs don’t require college degrees.

There are various good-paying jobs without the degree available. There are many high-paying jobs available without a degree. In certain professions, a college bachelor’s degree may provide you with an advantage, but it’s not always required.

You may learn a lot of well-paying occupations on the job or via vocational training. The following are a few instances of well-paying employment that don’t require a college bachelor degree:

Commercial Pilot

The median yearly compensation for a commercial pilot is $78,770, and career prospects are promising. High school graduation and a commercial pilot’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration are requirements for becoming a commercial pilot. You can obtain this license by finishing an approved flying training course.

Construction Manager

Construction project managers oversee work from start to finish. They recruit contractors, plan and schedule work, and ensure projects are finished on schedule and within budget. Construction managers make an average of $91,370 per year, and the employment market is strong.

3. Be your own boss without a degree.

While having a college bachelor’s degree increases your chances of becoming wealthy and finding a job in the future, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who defied expectations and succeeded anyhow.

You won’t develop the skills necessary to succeed as your boss in college. Yes, there are many fundamental talents you can learn to help you in your endeavours, but entrepreneurship is a personality attribute, not a skill that can be learned.

 4. Online education elevates you to the status of an expert.

There are numerous courses available on the internet that will provide you with all the knowledge you need in a short amount of time and allow you to put that knowledge to use by having you complete tasks. You can become a graphic designer, SEO expert, or SMO expert by using the internet. All you require for success in your career is determination and consistency.

 5. Student debt may destroy their aspirations.

If earning a bachelor’s degree or doctorate will leave you deeply in debt with no way out, you shouldn’t pursue it. The figures on student loans are dismal, with over 44.2 million Americans in debt.

The average monthly student loan payment for borrowers between the ages of 20 and 30 is $351, and the default rate is 11.2%, according to information from Student Loan Hero.

Consider what would occur if you missed that loan installment. With $351, you could start your own company or invest in your education to build the sort of job and revenue stream you choose.

 6. Your degree might not be useful. As soon as you graduate

Although it is risky, I’m not absolutely against the college community or any college. You devote a lot of time and money to earning a degree that could or might not be out of date when you’re ready to utilize it. Technology, business methods, and fashions change swiftly. When you spend four years lagging behind your textbooks, it’s difficult to stay up with emerging trends.

 7. You can’t learn grit in college.

Textbooks and test-taking do not teach grit. It is acquired through experience in the real world overcoming obstacles and figuring out how to make things work. You may develop grit on your own by starting a business, becoming a freelancer, finding finance for your venture, or even working remotely while traveling.

In the end, you don’t need a bachelor’s degree or an MBA degree to succeed and earn a lot of money. A bachelor’s degree may help develop your talents and establish new contacts, but it is not necessary to become a leader in your field. If you are an undergraduate you can still achieve Success in life and the product of hard labor, and it may be attained without formal certifications in the field.  

Extra knowledge and some extra skills will eventually help you in your future so if you want you can pursue these colleges as well Dartmouth, Ivy colleges, brown university, and Columbia university or you can find some colleges by searching “colleges near me” on the search engine.

You create opportunities in life to hone your abilities, develop your talents, learn about and investigate various fields of study, and nurture experiences. 

Why You Don’t Need A College Degree To Be Successful is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

But some people still seem to prefer working a 9-to-5 job. In terms of security and a happy life, should you work a 9-to-5 or start a business?

Keep Your 9-to-5 Job

A 9-to-5 job provides structure, benefits that entrepreneurship doesn’t (like a 401k, insurance, paid days off, etc). It’s also nice when you prefer having a work/life balance and being able to meet with people on a regular basis. 9-to-5’s do offer the opportunity for growth, and many can help you utilize your college degree if you have one.

Also, a 9-to-5 job can help you build your skills, like communication, marketing, and more. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door, build your network, and start your career.

The con of working a 9-to-5 job is that you only have one stream of income, and if you lose it, you’ll have to find a way to replace it quickly, even with an emergency fund. It’s hard to build passive income when you’re working a 9-to-5 unless you’re side hustling as well.

Are many people happy working the traditional 9-to-5 job? That can be up for debate. Three out of five workers feel like the traditional 9-to-5 is becoming obsolete, and companies are starting to embrace a 32-hour work week versus 40.

However, a 9-to-5 doesn’t have to be an end-all to making more money and following your dreams.  For some, the corporate life is a dream come true. And that’s okay.  Also, you can pursue a career where you can work in an office on different working hours. Some tech companies offer high-paying salaries to their employees and allow a flexible schedule as long as they guarantee to meet the weekly deadline.

Here are some jobs with flexible hours in the tech industry:

1. Software Engineer
2. Web Developer
3. Project Manager
4. Web Designer
5. Database Administrator

Start a Business

If you are a creative and don’t like to do things by the book, then pursuing entrepreneurship may be more your speed. The perks of starting your own business can include working at your leisure, choosing the type of work you’d like to do, and working from anywhere. You could also build multiple streams of income all at the same time, without worrying about adding yet another task to your plate.

However, being an entrepreneur doesn’t come without cons. You’ll have to pay for everything outright, startup costs can be high, and work hours can be long as you start building your business. Many entrepreneurs have discussed going back to work after trying entrepreneurship for a while. However, don’t let the cons make you feel as if you can’t pursue entrepreneurship. It’s possible to build up a business, and succeed when you put in the work.

Overall, becoming an entrepreneur is a great way to boost your income (without an income ceiling), do what you love and make money from it, and have the opportunity to give others the opportunity to work with or for you. Plus, entrepreneurship helps boost the economy.

Do Both

Should you work a 9-to-5 job or start a business? Why not both? It’s possible to start a business while you still work your 9-to-5 job. It takes some extra planning on your part, but it can be done. Many people who have pursued entrepreneurship have started so while working a traditional job.

If you choose to go this route, you could start off with a side hustle or two, or make an investment into something like a rental property to start earning residual income. You could also request to work from home so you have a little more flexibility in growing your business. There are many ways to balance both entrepreneurship and working a 9-to-5 job, that way you can get the best of both worlds. A business that is built to reflect you and your life can be managed and work around your busy schedule, no matter what it is.

Overall, the choice to work a 9-to-5 job or start a business are ultimately up to you. It’s possible to dabble in both and see which one is the best fit for you and your situation.

Should You Work A 9-to-5 Job or Start A Business? is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

There are many reasons you may need to find work abroad. You may be traveling and run out of cash.  You may just find that your savings aren’t enough to finance everything that you want to do and see while maintaining a decent quality of life. Or, you might be planning to live abroad for a substantial amount of time. In which case, you will be looking for a full-time job or perhaps even a long-term career.

However, finding work in a different country can be difficult, especially if you’re not familiar with their language or culture. Here are some top tips to help you.

Think about What You Need

Do you need a little extra cash or a full-time income? Are you looking for a career with plenty of room for progression or a job that lets you have fun and meet new people? All of these options are there, but knowing what you want and need will help narrow down your search and focus your efforts. If you are just looking to make a little extra money for the summer, look at bar jobs, holiday rep positions, and other jobs in the service industry.

If you’re aiming for a long-term career, you may want to consider further study to help you to secure a position.

Tailor Your CV

It’s important to tailor your CV to the job you are applying for instead of using the same one. Have a key skills section at the top and make sure they match the job description without embellishing. Focus on any transferable skills and relevant experience.

Use your travel to your advantage. To travel you must be organized, independent, great with new people, adventurous, and motivated. These are all great skills that employers are looking for in prospective staff.

Learn Some Language

If you are going to work in a different country, in any capacity, it’s important that you know at least enough of their language to be comfortable. But, as learning a language can be difficult and time-consuming, you may want to focus your attentions on the words and phrases you are likely to need in your industry. Then pick up the rest as you go.

Network

Networking is always one of the best ways to find work or advance your career. Get out there and meet people in the industry. Look at people you know: are there any potential connections there? Ask for introductions or referrals.

Go Online

There are many ways the internet can help you to find work abroad. These include:

• Online job sites
• Applying online
• Online courses
• Language courses
• Social media
• Joining groups and forums

If you plan to use social media for any networking, make sure your profiles are professional and your email address is sensible.

If you are looking to live and work abroad then studying an international relations degree from Norwich University could give you some fantastic options. A masters in international relations could lead to a career in international business, law, trade or diplomacy among others and could be a brilliant investment in your future which allow you to see the world.

Do you have any more tips? Let us know in the comments.

Top Tips for Finding Work Abroad is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Editor’s note: This guest post was written by Jon Dulin of PennyThots.com

We are not afraid to admit that there are thousands of ways to make money on the side that can help you with your budgeting and getting out of debt. But we are also not afraid to admit that a number of these money-making schemes are not on the up-and-up.

While there are some very legitimate ways to make money (delivering pizzas or newspapers, doing some freelance work online, starting a small business), there are some that are illegal (prostitution, selling drugs, robbing banks), and there are those which kind of toe the line between legit and not-so-much.

We all know that just because some scheme is legal doesn’t always mean it’s right. Working a business and making money can and should have an ethical and moral component to it. But there are times when the love of money overrules ethics, morality and common decency. Even if legally the person can get away with it.

This is why we always say if something seems too good to be true, you should always ask questions and do research before getting involved in something that might be a little loose with ethics if not the law.

Now, to be clear, while we advocate finding ways to make extra money to help get your financial house in order, we are not writing about unethical money-makers as an encouragement to you. This is more for educational and informational purposes that there are some unethical things out there, and you should be aware of these so you can decide for yourself if doing something similar will work for you or not. If you have ethics, then you will pass and not get involved in anything like these. However, are any of these things truly wrong, in your view?

1. Domain Market

There are literally trillions of website domain names out there, many of which have yet to be bought. A couple of schemes in this area involve buying up similar domains as popular brands (or perhaps trending brands that haven’t caught fire yet), holding them and selling them either to the company or someone else for a profit.

A major brand tries to buy as many related domain names as possible, and if you get in first with the brand name, the actor’s name, or maybe the title of a blockbuster movie, you may get a letter from an attorney representing that entity, and there may be an offer on the table for your domain name, which you might have paid $10 or $20 a year to hold but make multiples of that at the end of the day.

You can also look up some popular misspellings of major website addresses and build a domain name there. There were a couple of old porn sites that took advantage of misspellings of “espn.com,” for example.

You could make money by generating a lot of traffic through these misspellings (or even mistypings, such as when a “dot” is left out of an address or there is an extra letter or number in the intended domain) and you can either create a page with a bunch of ads on it – relevant or not to the intended domain – or you can create a page with tips or advice related to the subject matter of the domain.

For example, if you have a site related to purchasing a car, such as a misspelling of “Chevrolet” or “AutoNation,” you could provide advice about negotiating a good car deal or knowing which optional features should be standard for your car, or how to pick the right insurance policy for your new purchase.

2. The Life Settlement

Now, there are a couple legitimate companies in this area, but this is a growing industry that is becoming riddled with unethical actors. This scheme involves buying a person’s life insurance policy for the cash value or less. The buyer then continues to pay the premiums, and then collects on the insurance policy when the seller dies.

On the one hand, this is capitalism. There is a product being sold, and there is a market for those products. But what makes it a tad unethical is the fact that usually a person will only sell the life insurance policy because he or she can’t afford the premiums anymore, or he or she gets cash-strapped and would rather use the cash value from the policy. Ethics don’t usually put you in a position to take advantage of someone in desperation.

3. Payday Loans

I am not referring to the actual payday loan industry, which is legitimized loan-sharking (though several states have outlawed it or great regulated its terms). What I am referring to is similar in nature except it’s done with you as the lender.

For example, let’s say you have a friend who has a very important job interview, but asks to borrow $100 from you to buy a new suit for the interview. You agree to loan him the money, and you charge him $4 interest every week. You are charging a 208 percent annualized interest rate, which is payday-loan-esque. However, if your friend gets the job and is making decent money, he won’t complain about paying you back $132 after two months.

4. Amazon.com Reviews

Amazon.com is a very large online marketplace, which offers many different items in the same subject area. Oftentimes, consumers rely on the customer reviews for each product to decide which one to buy.

And it turns out many product sellers who use the Amazon.com Marketplace to sell their wares also rely on reviews to get consumers to buy their products. So the sellers (or an agency they hire) will pay people money to write fake Amazon.com reviews and post them on the site.

There are freelancer websites out there where people will promote jobs writing product reviews on Amazon.com, paying people a couple dollars apiece to write 100-200 words promoting a product, and there might be 100 or more products to be written about. Even if you won’t buy them or use them yourself. It is estimated that one-third of all product reviews are fake. You can make some money writing these reviews, and if the seller gets better sales from your work, he or she may hire you back again to do more.

5. Emergency Relief

Now this scheme can be illegal, but there are ways to toe the line and “only” be unethical. Let’s say you had a major weather event and you are cleaning up. You sometimes cut tree branches as a freelance landscaper around town, and you are being asked to “pitch in” and help with the cleanup around the neighborhood. Though you normally charge $25 per hour to cut branches from trees, because of the “emergency” situation, you charge your neighbors $50 per hour for the work.

Again, this isn’t anything inherently illegal, since the weather event has created a very high demand for the service you provide, and you have a limited amount of time in order to meet everyone’s needs.  However, you can admit that it’s a little unethical to take advantage of a crisis or emergency situation to justify a rate increase.

Think long-term and don’t unethical

In the end, there are ways to make extra money that are legal but toe the line when it comes to ethics. And since each of us has his or her own moral code, it is up to you to ultimately decide on what you consider to be ethical or not.

But we all can agree that there are some shady ways to make a quick buck. Unfortunately many times, these options for making money dry up fast and we are left with needing to find new ways to bring in some money. If you want to increase the chances that you can bring in extra money for the long term, look for a legal way to make money that doesn’t toe the line ethically.

Jon Dulin blogs at Penny Thots, a personal finance blog that helps readers improve their finances one day at a time.

5 Unethical Ways to Make Money is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Like most teenagers, I had summer jobs and worked after school so I could have some spending money and save for college. I didn’t really consider myself an entrepreneur, but I guess I was.

For the most part, they were jobs where I worked for a small business owner. Except for selling newspapers outside a subway station, I wasn’t an entrepreneur and didn’t work for myself. Even the newspaper gig required me to rely on a big company to provide the product I sold.

Being an entrepreneur and working for yourself — as I’ve done since being laid off as a newspaper editor in 2008 — is a job skill I’ve grown into and enjoy. I only wished I learned about it back when I was in school so that I could at least be a part-time entrepreneur during my working life. At the very least, it could serve as a backup or secondary income.

It’s a skill set that I think all children should at least have a taste of so they can decide if it’s something they’d like to do.

The first taste of entrepreneurship for most children is a lemonade stand. Even if their parents pay for the sugar, lemons, cups and other supplies, a lemonade stand can be an hourly lesson in how to set prices and make change, and show the importance of having a great location and product.

But after that, unless kids find the entrepreneurial bug on their own, they may lose the drive to work for themselves. Here are some ways to teach your kids to be entrepreneurs, or at least get started thinking about it:

Point out benefits of working for themselves

For children who don’t like being told what to do, this can be one of the first benefits worth pointing out to them about being an entrepreneur. By working on their own, they’ll be the boss and can determine what gets done when. No more taking orders from someone else.

Let them take things apart

If your child can build almost anything with Legos, or likes to take apart old phones, remotes or anything else you let them work on, it could be a sign that they could make a good entrepreneur.

It’s part of the process of learning new things — another skill important to being an entrepreneur.

Meet new people as an entrepreneur

A big part of working for yourself is talking to everyone you meet. Why? Because everyone is a potential customer, or you could help each other in some way with your businesses.

Help your child learn the skills to meet new people, and they could someday use them in the workplace.

Compare and set prices

One of the first thing a good entrepreneur has to do is set their prices for their service or product. This is usually done by seeing what the competition is doing.

One easy way to help kids learn how to compare prices is to take them to your local farmer’s market and buy a few things. Then go to the grocery store and buy the same things. Compare prices and do a taste test, seeing if the more expensive tomato tastes better than the other.

Give them chores

Household chores for an allowance should be a part of every child’s weekly duties, showing them the connection between work and pay. But that’s only part of the equation.

They need to learn what a dollar is worth and given the responsibility to spend their money on things their parents used to buy them. This can come in handy when they want something that costs a lot more than their allowance — such as a new computer tablet.

By doing extra chores and saving their money, they can learn how much work it takes to earn that tablet, and help determine if it’s really worth all of that work. Working for yourself really shows you the value of your time and if that new gadget you want is worth working extra for.

Open a bank account

Having your child contribute part of their allowance and any other money they get to a savings account will help them learn how to be a saver.

As any entrepreneur knows, there are good months and bad months, and saving for a rainy day is a smart move at any age.

Try out new ideas

One of the things I like the most about working for myself is that I can try new ideas without having to go through a boss. If they work, great. If not, then it usually wasn’t much work to try them out.

Let your children learn about entrepreneurship through trial and error, and let them try new ways to make money. If they want to start a website so they can subcontract out other kids to mow lawns, it’s fairly easy and inexpensive to set it up.

A parent, just like their kids, should be open to trying new things and seeing what works. Helping your children learn the value of working for themselves is a gift they’ll hopefully enjoy throughout their lives.

Teach Your Kid to be an Entrepreneur and Make Money is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Here are my four favorite apps for running my business:

Unroll.me

I get dozens of emails every day, many from public relations firms pitching me story ideas. I also subscribe to too many emails from businesses, many of which I found it difficult to unsubscribe from.

Unroll.me takes care of this easily for the two email accounts I have. With one click on Unroll.me’s website or app on my phone, I can choose to either unsubscribe from an email, “roll it up” into an email that Unroll.me sends me every day and read in a digest format, or keep getting the email.

For my business email I’ve so far unsubscribed to 397 emails, rolled up 44 in its “rollup,” and kept 46.

The numbers are less impressive in my personal email account: 169 unsubscribed, 68 rolled up and 137 kept.

That adds up to 566 emails that I’ve unsubscribed to very easily. The phone app lets you do it with a swipe, kind of making it a game. That’s a lot easier than going through each email individually to unsubscribe, and the ones I want to keep getting but don’t want to read one at a time are sent to me in a daily email list.

I no longer fear opening my email in the morning. It’s easily one of my favorite apps.

Karma Go

This is less of an app and more of a physical product, but it’s so important to running my business as a freelance writer that it’s becoming invaluable to me. And I’m just starting to use it more and more.

Karma Go is a mobile hotspot. I’ve written about it before and haven’t been too pleased with how much sharing of WiFi it offers. But on a recent road trip we used it in the car at 70 mph and it worked perfectly.

I’m thrilled with the hand-sized device for many reasons, but mainly because it gives me reliable Internet access without paying a monthly fee. I bought the device for $150 and pay for WiFi access in bundles as I need it.

The Karma app allows users to monitor how many GB they’ve used, and which devices are connected to their mobile hotspot. While I don’t use the app much, the device itself is worthwhile and allows me to work away from home and avoid spotty Wifi at hotels and airports and get a strong signal on my own.

Hilton HHONORS app

I rarely travel for business, but when I do, the Hilton HHONORS app on my phone makes it incredibly easy to find and book a hotel room.

I’ve often used it to plan family vacations — where I can work for a few hours if needed — and have used the app to choose a room and check in to my room before arrival.

Everyone has their favorite hotel chain, and having a Hilton credit card that gives me reward points to use for free hotel stays is a major benefit. I’m a fan of its Embassy Suites hotels, which have a separate living room with fold-out couch for kids to sleep on.

If you regularly use a hotel chain, consider getting a credit card that offers rewards at your favorite hotel, and then using its app to search for rooms. It may quickly become one of your favorite apps.

Check deposit among favorite apps

This is something I wanted 20 years ago when I closed my Bank of America accounts because it wanted to charge me to bank online on a computer. I switched to another bank that offered free Internet banking, though I’ve since returned to BoA as a customer.

No matter which bank you use, Internet banking is an easy way to get things done. I recently upgraded to a new phone, allowing me to use the check deposit app on my phone for Bank of America. It’s one of my favorite apps.

I just sign the back of the check and write my account number on it, as I normally would, and then use the phone’s camera to take photos of the front and back of the check. I then hit “deposit” and the check is deposited into my account.

I know this mobile check deposit app isn’t earth-shattering news among favorite apps, but it’s a simple app and a simple task that makes my business life a lot easier. I no longer have to visit an ATM to deposit checks, giving me time for plenty of other things.

Other favorite apps

As you can tell from this short list, my favorite apps don’t include common ones such as Dropbox, Evernote and others. Why? While I occasionally use them, I operate a pretty simple workflow.

I keep almost everything on my laptop MacBook Pro, using the programs already installed on the Mac such as Pages to write and Numbers to keep track of income and expenses, that mostly sync with my other Apple devices. I also use a paper notebook to take notes — crazy, I know. I use Google docs and its spreadsheets to share info.

Since I’m a two-person team, with a lot of help from a fantastic virtual assistant, there isn’t a big need for a lot of apps to share our work. Email and some Google apps help solve most of it.

There are plenty of phone apps I use in my personal life, but they’re regular ones that are used by millions of people. They save me time every day, but don’t really have a business purpose for me.

I also use a lot of apps within WordPress on my websites, though I’m not expert enough to share them confidently.

What are your favorite apps for work?

4 Favorite Apps for My Business is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

If you’re looking for ways to become more productive, read our tips on preventing stress and making your work day as dynamic and fruitful as possible.

Set Priorities Each Week

Take the time each Monday morning to set your priorities for the week. This will allow you to schedule time for all the responsibilities you have, and help you accomplish the larger duties that may take you longer. If you block out time to complete the things that need finishing, you’ll know to avoid other commitments like office meetings.

When setting your priorities, list them. Checking off each will relieve you of stress bit by bit, and will make a heavy workload seem more manageable even during your busiest weeks.

Keep a journal with you, as keeping a mental checklist can be more exhausting than you realize. That way, whenever a thought comes up, you can jot it down for further consideration at a less busy time.

No More Smoke Breaks

If you’re a smoker and constantly heading outside to get your fix of nicotine, you likely miss out on a lot of work time and blow your concentration multiple times a day. Besides the obvious health consequences of tobacco products, improved productivity should have you considering switching to vaping.

E-cigs or vape devices filled e-cig juice taste great, are 95% safer than tobacco products, and can be used right at your desk—they don’t produce any smoke. Keep up your productivity and stay indoors during the cold winter months.

Take a Walk

New studies suggest that sitting for eight hours a day can have devastating effects on your health, and a standing desk isn’t always enough to fight the effects of being sedentary for the most of your week.

Every hour, get up and walk around the office or take a walk around the block outside. It will give your mind a break while keeping your body active and you’ll come back to your desk reenergized and ready to get back to work. Get a Fitbit and track your steps during the day. It will make you realize just how little activity you get sitting in the office hour after hour.

Put Your Phone Away

It’s going to be tough, no doubt, but putting your phone away will have a huge effect on your efficiency. Avoiding the allure of pop-up notifications, funny texts, or your Instagram feed will improve your productivity more than you can imagine.

If there really is an emergency, the person trying to get in contact with you will call your office. You can set aside a time where you can grab your phone and check through notifications, social media happenings, and the like—your lunch break would be perfect.

Make Your Desk Alluring

You likely have to spend a minimum of 40 hours a week at your desk, so make sure you’re happy with how it looks. Studies show that outfitting your office space with decorations like plants, pictures of loved ones, and personal décor items will help you stay happy and organized.

A little hint — make sure you add yellow into your décor. This color helps to decrease sleepy hormone melatonin, inspires happiness and alertness, and will help you battle off those afternoon dozes.

Multitasking Isn’t the Answer

Although many say multitasking is the key to success, it can actually have the opposite effect on your productivity. Turning from one task to another interrupts essential brain functions and increases stress. This can make your overall work cloudy and ruin brain cells. Finish one task before moving onto the next task if you can.

Exercise Before Heading to the Office

Head to the gym in the morning. Working out has been proven to improve brain function, especially for the two hours after you sweat it out. Plus, you’ll have your exercise done for the day and not have to worry about convincing yourself to go after a long eight hours (or more) of work.

Make Your Own Deadlines

While following work deadlines imposed by your supervisors is key to maintaining your position, you can actually encourage yourself by setting personal deadlines for the same tasks. Race against your own clock, and you’ll be surprised at the motivation you give yourself.

If you’re looking to make your work day more productive, try out these easy tactics and impress your boss and colleagues with the amount of things you’re able to achieve.

How to Make the Most of Your Workday is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

I not only wanted to spend this year as a consumer exploring services from individuals that were previously only offered by businesses, but to sell my services too. Heck, I’ve watched friends’ dogs for free for years, why not make some extra money at it as a dog sitter?

The extra cash isn’t worth the time, for the most part.

While I don’t consider myself an expert as a service provider in the sharing economy, peer-to-peer, collaborative or whatever else this area is called, I have used it plenty and have an idea of what to expect as someone on the selling end. I’ve used Lyft, Webvan, DogVacay and have sold or given away a few things on Craigslist.

I’ve worked for DogVacay.com and Rover.com as a dog sitter for a year, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not the money-making story I thought it would be. I’m not saying that the sharing economy leads to income inequality, or that it is the best way for anyone to make some extra money. But for me, it comes down to the payout versus my time.

Sharing economy numbers

Here are some numbers from my workload in the sharing economy: I charge $45 a night for boarding a dog for a night. Of that, I get $38.25 per night and DogVacay gets $6.75.

I don’t begrudge DogVacay its cut. That’s fine and acceptable. Their online booking process is fantastic and leads to some gigs every few months.

The $38.25 a night that I collect, however, isn’t always worth it in the long run. I haven’t dropped out of DogVacay yet, but getting up in the middle of the night to deal with a barking dog that misses its owner is a hassle I’d rather not deal with. It makes for a long, tiresome day the next day, when I’m supposed to be writing for someone and not taking a nap.

And I don’t expect to charge more than $45 per night, based on what other dog sitters charge in my area. As a dog owner myself, I see how crazy it is to even charge that much. I might as well rent a motel room for my dog.

Could I earn $4,800 a month?

I like to think that my dog sitting service is worth the price. I only watch one guest dog at a time, only accept small dogs, I’m home all day to be with the guest dog, and it has my dog and daughter to play with all day. I’ll walk the dog and give it plenty of exercise, and we generally have a fun time.

Except when it barks nonstop at any noise outside, pees in the house, won’t sleep in its kennel, or howls in the middle of the night. Then, that $38 and change seems like a steal for the dog owner.

I have adapted by vetting dogs better with a meet-and-greet where I try to learn the dog’s habits and loneliness factor, and I require a crate for it to sleep in at night so it isn’t wandering my house looking for a spot to relieve itself.

One thing that got me interested in being a DogVacay host in the sharing economy, besides it fitting in my schedule as a freelance journalist at home, was when I had my dog boarded at a DogVacay sitter’s home. He had a big back yard and had about six dogs roaming the yard and through an open screen door into his living room.

At about $40 per head, he was making at least $240 a day. My dog was there for five nights, as I suspect many of the others were, earning him about $1,200 a week. That’s $4,800 a month. Do that year-round and you’re making $57,600 per year.

Repeat business

I didn’t want six dogs at my house per night, but one dog for a week per month, for example, and I’d be making about $280 per month. That could be some fun money my family could use, or we could put it aside for something else.

I’m still on the fence on my part in the sharing economy, but I’m leaning toward saying goodbye to my attempt as a dog sitter. I don’t expect to drop out of the sharing economy entirely as a seller of services, but if I do leave DogVacay it will be a big step toward it.

A dog that has stayed at our house before is coming over in early April for nine nights, which I expect will go fine because he was well behaved on a previous visit. As any hotel or AirBnB host will tell you, repeat customers are the best.

Have you sold anything in the sharing economy? Were the hassles worth the income? Respond below in the Comments section.

Why I May Drop Out of the Sharing Economy is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

The research that has gone into this subject is not new and there is a large scientific body of work that demonstrates how happy employees make more successful companies.

The truth is, a little fun in the office can go a long way to improving office efficiencies, by helping employees work more cohesively together, enhance the sense of urgency and purpose in their tasks, and perhaps this last one is the most encouraging – attract the right kind of staff.

Taking work seriously is one thing, having fun while doing so is quite another. But at the end of the day, “employee benefits” reach far outside your businesses’ employee benefits program. There are a number of cost-free ways to keep the gears of business humming along.

These suggestions aren’t for your father’s workplace. No, sir.

Fish Philosophy

One successful tool in creating a healthy workplace culture that is rooted in employee satisfaction and a results-based mentality is a video series called “Fish Philosophy.”

Fish Philosophy was inspired by the high-energy, fun loving work environment at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington state, and reiterated in a series of workplace videos published by Chart House Learning.

The premise of the video is simple: to make work more rewarding, seek ways to add a little fun into each process.

In the case of Pike Place Fish Market, employees would sing while they work, call out orders with a sense of humor, not a limiting sense of stoic professionalism, and allowed employees to let their hair down, engage with customers in a fun albeit politically correct way, and introduced an element of “gamification.”

Now this isn’t to say that yelling “Incoming!” before throwing a stack of files onto a neighbouring desk is appropriate in any office. However, through implementing a series of “gamified” ways to reach internal KPI’s can keep employees happier and on-task.

Anyone who has ever trained their dog, or helped a child with their homework knows that rewards that appeal to subjects often create positive results. You do not need to purchase the expensive Fish Philosophy video set to achieve this.

Here are a few simple tricks to help improve morale and create an environment that rewards positive results in positive ways that employees appreciate more than a pat on the back, or the infamous “feather in your cap.”

Play Games

Instead of using fear tactics as was the status quo of previous workplace culture iterations, make project-based KPI’s into a game of sorts through rewards.

Reward the best, instead of punishing those who need improvement. Eventually the best of the best will shine, and those possibly not cut out for the job will eventually catch on or leave on their own accord.

Rewards can include simple low-cost items, like popular DVDs, gift certificates, or a free lunch in the company cafeteria. Make a big deal out of the winners and you’ll find by doing so, you may also thin out the less productive in your employee roster.

De-stress

When I was young, I once worked as a manager in a high-stakes, soul-crushing call center which served high-end clients with big budgets. Focus on details was key and upon discovering that mistakes were being made on a company-wide basis, the top brass decided to evaluate staff and try to figure out what was the matter.

What came next shocked and inspired everyone.

Instead of employee interviews with loaded questions like “So, what exactly is it you do, here?” — the company threw a summer dance party and BBQ for all staff. The next day we came into the office, there were foam balls, free energy drinks, and a revamped lunch menu. Employees were encouraged to have a little fun and release stress throughout the day.

Within three business days the results were remarkable.

Staff suddenly cared again, and those details that were once overlooked or ignored became opportunities for employees to show gratitude to their employer for not taking the “dark path” to employee layoffs and consequences.

Invest in People

Online internal training programs which educate staff about their own job further, or allow them to learn about other department jobs and processes on their own time will also provide remarkable results.

Some of these results include:

1. Allowing the employer to identify where employees are stronger and weaker, so they may be promoted to a department or task that better suit their skill set.

1. Employees are given an opportunity to see the bigger picture, and how their job affects those in other departments. Internal Training Programs (ITP for short) will allow your team to invest in themselves, while working more cohesively inter-departmentally as a whole.

Image by Nguyen Hung Vu via Flickr

Boost Your Bottom Line With These Morale-Changing Tips is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

When companies have takeovers or re-organizations, when your job changes or there are new people in them, it sends many people into a panic.

People decide to retire early in the face of work change; others consider finding another job. There are a few that seem excited about the change in a positive way.

But there seems to be a pattern of a lack of change management initiatives to help ease those more resistant people into the change when companies go through a big change. Perhaps there would have been less panic if some initiatives were set forward to help some of the employees with the redesign.

I’ve studied in various courses throughout my education the theory and science of change management, and  employing these methods have helped me embrace and become excited about the change.

Ask Questions

Perhaps this is naive, but people who design changes and who implement them are typically high up in an organization and know what they are doing.

They are professionals. They’re all educated, experienced, and the process was analyzed, tested, and reviewed by many members of the organization.

It’s important to trust that people know what htey are doing, but it’s still hard to completely accept something if you have a bunch of questions floating around.

Ask them! The organizers of the change are more likely to be relieved that there is conversation about the change, than angry at the questions. Ask the right people, and you’ll get answers. Maybe the answers will help you understand why the change had to take place, which is the first step to accepting it.

Identify Opportunities

I find that the people who get excited about change are those who could identify opportunities for themselves within the message.

At the end of the day, there should be opportunity for everyone within a change. Even if the only opportunity that you can pull from a change is the ability to adapt to it and learn from it, that’s great. Especially for when you go to further your career.

Confront Your Scepticism

Self awareness is key to accepting change. If you do not know that you’re bristling at the thought of it, how will you be able to fix your attitude?

If you start to panic, think about whether or not you’re resisting the change. Be truthful to yourself.

Find Your Position

Once you’ve accepted the fact that you are resisting the change (you probably are), figure out why. What’s behind your resistance? Be honest with yourself.

Many people are scared that they won’t be able to adapt to the new, additional duties added to our roles. For instance, I knew somebody who was scared to have a new technology added to the organization. She was in her early 60’s. She’s lamented before that she has a hard time learning the new systems that were provided to help with the position, and she refuses to use a couple of them because they didn’t provide us adequate training for those systems.

Underneath everything we do outwardly, there is something underlying. This is our “position”. When dealing with conflict, a person is supposed to be moved off of his or her position. Until we know what our position is, we can’t properly deal with our resistance. Find the driving factor to your resistance.

Once you’ve found it, confront it.

Do you struggle with accepting change? What methods have you used to help yourself or others accept change?

How to Step Up to Change – Coping Mechanisms For Those Who Are Resistant is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.