Here’s OUR monthly top picks for you (and your field) for reading, listening to and utilizing in order to stay engaged, informed and one step ahead.
APP / Work & Rest: Focus Pomodoro Timer
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method popularized in the late 1980s, in which a kitchen timer is used to divide work into block intervals, separated by short breaks. The Work & Rest app utilizes this technique, which is intended to create focus and flow by reducing interruptions and scheduling breaks. Using the gamified interface, you can customize your goals and track your progress, thereby increasing your productivity through this simple time management strategy.
Audio Book / Leading with Emotional Courage
Peter Bregman
Based on author Peter Bregman’s popular blogs for Harvard Business Review, Leading with Emotional Courage posits that what really gets results and sets great leaders apart from the rest is emotional courage. This includes having the ability to speak up when others stay silent, remain stable through uncertainty and weather anger without defensiveness. Through practical, real-world advice, Bregman provides ways to build your “emotional courage muscle” as a leader.
BOOK / Radical Candor
Kim Scott
This New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller has been praised around the globe for decoding effective leadership. Author Kim Scott’s experiences working at Google and Apple inspired Radical Candor, which details how to build authentic relationships with team members through caring personally and challenging directly. Scott explains how to avoid common management pitfalls and create radically candid relationships that help you love your work—and those you work with.
APP / HabitBull: Daily Goal Planner
Building or breaking a habit requires training and repetition—and more often than not, powerful extrinsic motivation. HabitBull is a one-stop-productivity shop that keeps track of habits, goals, routines and to-do lists, providing inspiration, reminders and scoring along the way. Simply set up an action and track your progress. HabitBull allows users to compete with themselves in a gamified, private setting, which is also perfect for breaking bad habits like smoking or spending too much time on social media.
WEBSITE / Coursera.org
Founded in 2012 and boasting over 107 million users, Coursera is a proven learning platform that offers online courses from leading companies and universities around the world. Not only does the site offer degrees and professional certifications, but it provides thousands of free courses on just about any topic. Your field can sharpen a variety of skills or broaden their knowledge-base with classes like “The Science of Well-Being” from Yale or “Successful Negotiation” from the University of Michigan.
PODCAST / Rock Your Brand
Scott Voelker
From creating a sales empire on Amazon to producing digital courses, entrepreneur, author and professional coach Scott Voelker has made a career of building businesses online and teaching others to do the same. In his podcast, Rock Your Brand, Voelker imparts his knowledge of business ownership and brand building in free, bite-sized pieces. Podcast episodes cover relatable topics like staying motivated when results are slow and preventing burnout, while also providing marketing tips, such as how frequently to post content and how to generate more sales via email.
From the October 2022 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.
