Green i Financial Technology: August 2012

Thursday 30 August 2012

12 Tasks That Killer Employees Always Finish Before Noon

A recent study published in an American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, suggests that early birds are generally happier than night owls.

More than 700 respondents, ranging from ages 17 to 79, were surveyed and asked about their emotional state, health, and preferred time of day.

Self-professed "morning people" reported feeling happier and healthier than night owls. Researchers hypothesize that one of the reasons could be because society caters to a morning person's schedule.

It's certainly true that the working world does. Working "9-to-5" is more than an expression, but a standard shift for many Americans. It also stands to reason that those who like rising with the sun are also the most productive employees in the office.

Do you want to be more like them? Then take note of the tasks these high-functioning, productive, and more awake employees have completed before lunch:

1. They make a work to-do list the day before. Many swear by having a written to-do list, but not everyone agrees on when you need to compose it. According to Andrew Jensen, a business efficiency consultant with Sozo Firm in Shrewsbury, Pa., the opportune time to plan a day's tasks is the night before. "Some people like to do the to-do schedule in the morning, but then they might have already lost office time writing it out," he says. "It helps to do that to-do schedule the night before. It also will help you sleep better.

2. They get a full night's rest. Speaking of sleeping better ... lack of sleep affects your concentration level, and therefore, your productivity. Whatever your gold standard is for a "good night's rest," strive to meet it every work night. Most health experts advise getting a minimum eight hours of shut-eye each night.

3. They avoid hitting snooze. Petitioning for nine more minutes, then nine more, then another nine is a slippery slope that leads to falling back asleep and falling behind on your morning prep. Ultimately it also leads to lateness. "Anyone can be made into a morning person," Jensen says. "Anyone can make morning their most productive time. It could be that for the entire week, you set your alarm clock a little bit earlier, and you get out of bed on the first alarm. It may be a pain at first, but eventually you'll get to the point where you're getting your seven to eight hours of sleep at night, you're waking up with all your energy, and accomplishing the things around the house you need to before going to the office."

4. They exercise. Schedule your Pilates class for the a.m. instead of after work. "Exercise improves mood and energy levels," Jensen says. Not only that, but "there have been studies done on employees who've exercised before work or during the work day. Those employees have been found to have better time-management skills, and an improved mental sharpness. ... Those same studies found these workers are more patient with their peers."

5. They practice a morning ritual. Jensen also recommends instituting a morning routine aside from your exercise routine. Whether you opt to meditate, read the newspaper, or surf the Web, Jensen says "it's important to have that quiet time with just you."

6. They eat breakfast. Food provides the fuel you'll need to concentrate, and breakfast is particularly important since it recharges you after you've fasted all night. Try munching on something light and healthy in the morning, and avoid processed carbs that could zap your energy.

7. They arrive at the office on time. This one is obvious, right? Getting a full night's rest and keeping your sticky fingers off the snooze button should make No. 7 a cakewalk. If you're not a new employee, then you've already figured out the length of your average commute. Allot a safe amount of time to make it to work on schedule.

8. They check in with their boss and/or employees. We all know the cliche about the whole only being as good as the sum of its parts. In other words, if your closest work associates aren't productive, then neither are you. Good workers set priorities that align with their company's goals, and they're transparent about their progress.

9. They tackle the big projects first. You can dive right into work upon arriving in the office, since you made your to-do list the night before. And Jensen suggests starting with the hardest tasks. "Don't jump into meaningless projects when you're at your mental peak for the day," he says.

10. They avoid morning meetings. If you have any say on meeting times, schedule them in the afternoon. "You should use your prime skills during the prime time of the day. I believe that mornings are the most productive time," Jensen says, also noting that an employer who schedules morning meetings could rob his or her employees of their peak performance, and ultimately cost the company.

The exception to this, he adds, is if your meeting is the most important task of the day. "Sometimes you have to schedule a crucial meeting, or a client meeting, in which case you'd want to plan for a time when employees are at their peak."

11. They allot time for following up on messages. Discern between mindless email/voicemail checking and conducting important business. Jensen's company, Sozo Firm, advises clients that checking their inbox every couple of minutes takes time away from important tasks. Instead, set a schedule to check and respond to email in increments. Consider doing so at the top of each hour, to ensure that clients and colleagues receive prompt responses from you.

12. They take a mid-morning break. Get up and stretch your legs. Or stay seated and indulge in a little Internet surfing. According to Jensen, it's actually good to zone out on Facebook and Twitter or send a personal text message or two. "You should take 10-minute breaks occasionally," he says. "Companies that ban any kind of Facebook [use], texting, or personal calls can find it will be detrimental. Those practices increase employee satisfaction."

Just be sure not to abuse the privilege. "The best employees will respect their employer's time, and the worst-performing employees will find a way to waste time even if the company forbids personal Internet use," Jensen explains.

Monday 27 August 2012

For Those Who Want to Lead, Read

by John Coleman

When David Petraeus visited the Harvard Kennedy School in 2009, one of the meetings he requestedwas with author Doris Kearns Goodwin. Petraeus, who holds a PhD in International Relations from Princeton, is a fan of Team of Rivals and wanted time to speak to the famed historian about her work. Apparently, the great general (and current CIA Director) is something of a bibliophile.

He's increasingly an outlier. Even as global literacy rates are high (84%), people are reading less and less deeply. The National Endowment for the Arts (PDF) has found that "[r]eading has declined among every group of adult Americans," and for the first time in American history, "less than half of the U.S. adult American population is reading literature." Literacy has been improving in countries like India and China, but that literacy may not translate into more or deeper reading.

This is terrible for leadership, where my experience suggests those trends are even more pronounced. Business people seem to be reading less — particularly material unrelated to business. But deep, broad reading habits are often a defining characteristic of our greatest leaders and can catalyze insight, innovation, empathy, and personal effectiveness.

Note how many business titans are or have been avid readers. According to The New York Times, Steve Jobs had an "inexhaustible interest" in William Blake; Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that in it you have to take off your shoes and bow; and Harman Industries founder Sidney Harman called poets "the original systems thinkers," quoting freely from Shakespeare and Tennyson. In Passion & Purpose, David Gergen notes that Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein reads dozens of books each week. And history is littered not only with great leaders who were avid readers and writers (remember, Winston Churchill won his Nobel prize in Literature, not Peace), but with business leaders who believed that deep, broad reading cultivated in them the knowledge, habits, and talents to improve their organizations.

The leadership benefits of reading are wide-ranging. Evidence suggests reading can improve intelligence and lead to innovation and insight. Some studies have shown, for example, that reading makes you smarter through "a larger vocabulary and more world knowledge in addition to the abstract reasoning skills." Reading — whether Wikipedia, Michael Lewis, or Aristotle — is one of the quickest ways to acquire and assimilate new information. Many business people claim that reading across fields is good for creativity. And leaders who can sample insights in other fields, such as sociology, the physical sciences, economics, or psychology, and apply them to their organizations are more likely to innovate and prosper.

Reading can also make you more effective in leading others. Reading increases verbal intelligence (PDF), making a leader a more adept and articulate communicator. Reading novels can improve empathy and understanding of social cues, allowing a leader to better work with and understand others — traits that author Anne Kreamer persuasively linked to increased organizational effectiveness, and to pay raises and promotions for the leaders who possessed these qualities. And any business person understands that heightened emotional intelligence will improve his or her leadership and management ability.

Finally, an active literary life can make you more personally effective by keeping you relaxed and improving health. For stressed executives, reading is the best way to relax, as reading for six minutes can reduce stress by 68%, and some studies suggest reading may even fend off Alzheimer's, extending the longevity of the mind.

Reading more can lead to a host of benefits for business people of all stripes, and broad, deep reading can make you a better leader. So how can you get started? Here are a few tips:

Join a reading group. One of my friends meets bimonthly with a group of colleagues to read classics in philosophy, fiction, history, and other areas. Find a group of friends who will do the same with you.

Vary your reading. If you're a business person who typically only reads business writing, commit to reading one book this year in three areas outside your comfort zone: a novel, a book of poetry, or a nonfiction piece in science, biography, history, or the arts.

Apply your reading to your work. Are you struggling with a problem at work? Pick up a book on neuroscience or psychology and see if there are ways in which you can apply the lessons from those fields to your profession.

Encourage others. After working on a project with colleagues, I'll often send them a book that I think they'll enjoy. Try it out; it might encourage discussion, cross-application of important lessons, and a proliferation of readers in your workplace.

Read for fun. Not all reading has to be developmental. Read to relax, escape, and put your mind at ease.

Reading has many benefits, but it is underappreciated as an essential component of leadership development. So, where have you seen reading benefit your life? What suggestions would you have for others seeking to grow their leadership through reading?

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2012

Thursday 9 August 2012

Overlooking disability insurance can be costly

CHICAGO (AP) — Long-term disability insurance is the forgotten insurance.

The importance of auto, health, homeowners and life insurance is well known. But disability coverage, which replaces lost earnings if you can't work, tends to be ignored — until you need it.

Government studies show that a 20-year-old worker has a 30 percent chance of becoming disabled before reaching full retirement age. Yet only about a third of employees in private industry have long-term disability insurance, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"It could be argued that the disability of a breadwinner is worse than the death of a breadwinner," says James Hunt, insurance actuary for the Consumer Federation of America, "because the disabled person is still soaking up money."

That's why it makes sense to purchase individual coverage if you're self-employed -- or not covered sufficiently or at all by your employer.

A look at what you need to know about disability insurance:

Q: How does disability insurance work?

A: Disability insurance protects from a loss of income resulting from an inability to work due to an accident or illness. You typically receive disability checks starting three to six months after you become unable to work.

There are three sources of this coverage: The Social Security Administration, employers and private insurers.

— Social Security Disability Insurance is the bedrock protection against disability. About 153 million workers are insured by the program through FICA taxes. But it has a very strict definition of disability and it can take two years or more to be approved for benefits.

— Many employers offer disability coverage through a group plan, which pays a specified portion of your salary.

— Private insurance coverage is most often sought out by high-income professionals such as doctors and lawyers who have made a huge investment in their earnings potential; self-employed workers, and executives looking for supplemental coverage.

Q: Do you need to buy coverage if you receive disability insurance through your employer?

A: It depends whether you could get by on the benefit checks. A typical group plan replaces just 40 percent to 60 percent of your salary, up to a maximum $5,000 a month or $60,000 a year. And if the employer pays your premiums, the checks will be taxable.

Benefits can last for either a set number of years or until retirement age. Check your plan's details closely. Company benefits have been steadily shrinking in recent years. Group policies often limit the duration of benefits to only two years if you can't perform your job duties.

If your policy looks insufficient, ask your employer whether you can pay for additional coverage. Otherwise, consider getting extra insurance from a private insurer to extend the duration or bring the coverage up to 70 percent or 80 percent of income.

Q: Why can't you count on Social Security Disability Insurance to cover your needs if you are disabled?

A: The average disability benefit is just $1,111 a month, based on payments by the Social Security Administration this month to 8.8 million beneficiaries. And you only qualify for it if you are unable to work in any capacity, not just at your chosen occupation. A list of conditions that are considered disabling is available by doing a search for "disability evaluation" at the agency's website, www.ssa.gov .

Q: What should you look for in a policy?

A: If you have a highly specialized job or can simply afford to pay the premiums, it's worth paying extra to have an "own occupation" policy. This coverage pays benefits if you are unable to perform the major duties of your own occupation. To trim some of the costs, it may be advisable to obtain "own occupation" coverage for one or two years and "any occupation" coverage after that.

The length of benefits is key, and will affect the cost of premiums significantly. Some policies pay benefits until age 65 or until your full retirement age for Social Security benefits, others for two or five years. Seek out a non-cancellable policy.

You probably also want a policy that will pay "residual" benefits, which will compensate for a decline in income if you are able to work at a new job that pays less.

Q: How much does disability insurance cost?

A: Prices vary based on age, gender, occupation, amount of coverage and health status. Check with a broker to get quotes from at least three different insurers.

For someone who does not have coverage at work, a plan with all the extras including inflation protection costs roughly 2 percent to 2.5 percent of annual salary for a man, and 3 percent to 4 percent for a woman. Women pay more because they file claims more frequently and for a longer duration than men.

If someone has coverage at work but wants earnings to boost benefits to 80 percent salary replacement, the annual cost is typically about 1 percent of the worker's salary.

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Personal Finance Writer Dave Carpenter can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/scribblerdave

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