Here are 7 tips to help you do just that, based on nearly eight years of teaching yoga and meditating, and more than a decade as a serial entrepreneur.

1) Turn the sound off.
Noise is distracting. That’s partly why many yoga rooms are silent. If you’re in focused work mode, put your phone on silent, and turn off all the little beeps from Facebook, email and their counterparts. This gives you the control to check your messages when it works for you, and allows your mind to get into a rhythm without interruption. Simply calming the bleeps and pings will do wonders to help you focus.

2) If you work from home, set boundaries around work time and other time.
When working, keep your other tasks, such as housework, family time, and social calls separate – as much as possible. By setting up containers of time for focused work, your clients get the attention they deserve, and so do the rest of your duties when you’re done. The timer on your phone is a great tool to set time-specific work goals, as the alarm will usually go off even when the phone is on silent. A simple kitchen timer will also do.

3) Establish rituals.
When I was running my yoga studio, I would start each work day by checking in with my to-do list, prioritizing what needed to get done, and establishing a loose plan for the day based on what meetings and obligations I had. No matter what was going on, this always got done. It grounded me and helped prevent overwhelm. Business and personal coaches often recommend rituals because they are good for your internal rhythm and help you establish good habits. Establishing rituals will also help you optimize your most creative times of the day. When you’re working, be aware of when you feel most inspired, and create a ritual around it to encourage your genius to flow.

4) Eat whole, low glycemic foods.
Some foods are beneficial to eat before yoga, and some will make your class a frazzled mess, resulting in poor balance, irregular breathing, and a thumping heart rate. The same principle applies to work. Sugar, excessive coffee, and processed foods, although convenient and quick in their energy boost, will result in crashes, depression, increased anxiety and overall stunted focus and creativity. Whole foods are a great alternative.

5) Use technology to stay more present.
Teaching and practicing yoga effectively requires presence of mind. This is partly why a yoga studio is usually clutter free and clear of distractions. Work focus also benefits from less clutter. I use ‘full screen’ and ‘mute’ mode on my MacBook to eliminate visual and auditory clutter. I also use the ‘read later’ option in my browser when I come across an article while researching. Smart mailboxes and alphabetized folders will help you organize your email and documents efficiently, and specific junk filters help prevent an overflowing inbox.

6) Relax.
In yoga, ‘Savassana’, or ‘dead body pose’ is a posture that requires conscious relaxation. Athletes use this principle to optimize their performance in sports, and you can use it to increase your focus at work. Even the New York Times is buzzing with the benefits of relaxation. In order to be in top form with your business, restoration is key.

7) Come back to your breath.
I know, now I really sound like a yoga teacher. But trust me when I say that yoga and focus go hand in hand. Yoga means ‘union’, the marriage between your body and your mind, and your breath is the connection between the two. If you want to channel the entrepreneurial brilliance from your mind into action, you need to get in the zone, and your breath can help you do that. Next time you’re noticing your anxiety or distraction levels rising, stop. Regardless of your deadline, close your laptop or step outside.

Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. No need to visualize, chant or repeat a mantra. Just feel your breath going in through your nose. Exhale slowly, and bring your full awareness to the act. Repeat five times.

When you can bring your full awareness into your moment by moment reality, the focus that ensues will not only increase your productivity, but will set an example for your staff and clients.

Even your errand-running abilities will improve…I promise you that!

Leap of the Week: This week, take your focus to the next level by using these yoga and meditation inspired tips. They will help you improve communication, productivity and profits…and leave more time for YOU to enjoy!

TO VIEW THIS VIDEO ONLINE, CLICK HERE:

This week I want to talk about Evernote. I have used Evernote since 2008 and absolutely love it. It is a great tool for collecting all of your notes, information, and clippings into one place. Better yet, you can access your personal “brain database” from anywhere… your computer, laptop, phone, even the web. If you don’t use Evernote, I recommend that you check it out by reading my previous post about it.

Recently, I have found myself using Evernote more and more.
I wanted to share just a few of the tasks that I use it for and invite you to share your own.

Here are 5 Tasks That Evernote Helps Me With…

1. Notes Across Platforms:
One of my favorite uses for Evernote is taking notes across all of my platforms. Whether I am at work on my laptop, at home on my desktop, or mobile on my phone… all of my notes end up in one place.

2. White Boards:
Do you ever take photos of whiteboards at work? Where do those pics end up, in your photo roll? Inevitably, they get lost among the photos of your friends, family, etc. I take meeting whiteboard pics straight into Evernote. When I need to go look for a meeting pic, I can search for it from within Evernote.

3. Solutions to Problems:
When I solve a problem, I save the solution to Evernote. If I encounter that issue again, I have the answer at my fingertips. I recently needed some computer settings that I had solved long ago, and I was able to find my note from 2009 in just a few seconds. Can you find your notes from 4 years ago? (No matter where you are?)

4. Reference Docs:
I keep my main document library at home and backed up to the cloud. However, for documents that I may need to reference on the go, I send them straight to Evernote. (You can even do this via email.) A recent example is my son’s baseball schedule. I have it right in Evernote for handy reference.

5. Web Clippings:
If I see something on the web that I might want to use in the future, I clip it right to Evernote. No cutting and pasting, simply use Evernote’s browser extension. Makes it easy to save those great ideas that you see on the web.

Getting Started With Evernote
If you are new to Evernote, or just want better tips on using it, I highly recommend Brett Kelly’s book, Evernote Essentials.
Brett wrote the book on using Evernote and he has just updated it for the latest features.
(Great back story, Evernote liked Brett’s book so much that they hired him!)
So, check out Evernote Essentials.

How Do You Use Evernote?
Craig and I would love to hear how you use Evernote.
Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting us at @TMNinja and @LeapZone

Leapers! This week’s blog post will be short…but the topic is important.
I want you to take out a piece of paper and do one thing:

The question is, “What decision do you need to make?”
Write that decision topic on the piece of paper now.
Make Your Choice

Often, we avoid decision.
Maybe it is out of fear of making the wrong choice.
Or of missing out on something else.
But, not making decisions is one of the worst forms of procrastination.

By delaying, you put your life on hold. You weigh down your mind with unfinished business. And ultimately, you let life make decisions for you.
Whatever decision you need to make, I urge you to make a choice and move forward today.
Your decision doesn’t have to be a big life-altering one. Often, the small ones are the ones that keep us up at night.
So, big or small… make a choice today.
You will feel a sense of peace and accomplishment by just making your choice.

And…of course, the next step is to act on your decision…

Make it a productive week!

PS - We would love to hear what decision you have made. Simply comment below if you want to share your choice.

TO VIEW THIS VIDEO ONLINE, CLICK HERE:

There’s no question that women are making large strides in U.S. business and technology fields. Today’s generation of women professionals are more likely than any other to found, lead or advise a major U.S. firm. But while women continue to secure increasingly high-level leadership positions, there are still some glaring imbalances. For one, only twelve Fortune 500 companies are now headed by women. And numbers on the proportion of female tech startup founders are not any more encouraging; many high-profile incubators report that women founders receive less than 5% of their annual grant awards.

But recent research from the Harvard Business Review and others suggests something that most of us already know–firms without women in high-level leadership positions are missing out on some meaningful growth opportunities. According to the research, women that excel in business often prove to have more highly developed communication skills than their male colleagues. Women are also often more likely to take initiative and make changes to the status quo. In fact, the study showed that firms with women on their boards saw 42% higher sales returns, a 66% higher return on invested capital and a 53% higher return on equity over firms that did not.

Learn more about the skills and perspectives that women bring to business by checking out Online MBA’s latest video.

Video Transcript

A Harvard Business Review study showed that a business group’s collective IQ went up when there were women on the team. And yet, only 12 of the Fortune 500 companies are run by women. So what are the other 488 missing out on?

Communication: Firms with more women on their boards have 42% higher sales returns, 66% higher return on invested capital, and 53% higher return on equity. Take Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer who laid out a strategic outline for the declining company and watched the stock gain 5.7% closing at $16.67, its highest level in over a year. These success rates are often linked to superior communication skills. Studies show while women speak fewer words in a day than men they actually have a better command of the language for getting their point across.

Initiative: In a study by Harvard Business Review, women in management were rated 11.58 percentile points above their male peers at taking initiative in the workplace. Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. forged ahead with a plan to focus on more nutritious drinks despite criticism. It’s a risk that could turn a 10 billion dollar business into 30 billion dollars in just ten years.

Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman, author of “The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights,” states that truly effective leadership is distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence. And according to Goleman women on average outdo men when it comes to sensing a person’s feelings in the moment. Meg Whitman, former CEO of ebay and current CEO of HP was featured in Psychology Today for leading with emotional intelligence. Under her eight year reign, ebay was the fastest growing company in history. In her book The Power of Many, she writes: “I believe that being willing and able to actively listen is a vital skill for any leader. Not only is listening the right thing to, an antidote to arrogance, it also leads to all sorts of competitive advantages.”

Getting impressive customer testimonials on your website or marketing collateral is a very powerful way to win new business. But how do you get them?

If you’ve ever tried to get a client to write a testimonial for you, you’ll know how difficult this can be – even if they’re your number one fan. The problem is, most people hate writing, and a non-urgent task like this will always go to the bottom of the list.

The trick to getting customer testimonials is to make it so simple for them that all they have to do is say ‘yes’.

So how can you do this?
Write the testimonials yourself.

But, before you start writing this off as deceptive advertising, let me explain. I’m not talking about the canned, carefully scripted ‘testimonials’ you see on cheesy sites signed off by some bloke known only as Bill from Oxford. I’m talking about sincere quotes signed off by your real clients with their full names. Here is a simple method to get client testimonials that definitely works – assuming of course, you do have a few genuinely happy clients! If so, this method should get you half a dozen solid testimonials over the next few weeks.

Step 1:
Flick through some of your past emails and see if you can find a few with something nice to say. Usually at the very least there’ll be a few comments like “Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted!”, “I appreciate you doing this so quickly for me”, or even just “Looks good!” Then, if you’re lucky, you might find a few with a bit more detail. If there are no emails, recall any positive verbal feedback you have received.

Step 2:
Based on these comments and what you’ve provided for these clients, start jotting down a few quotes that paraphrase or summarise their thoughts. If necessary, expand the content to explain what you delivered. For example, if their email simply says “Thanks so much! A great job as usual”, you could make this into a very useful quote without changing the sentiment just by saying “Thanks so much for organizing and managing our huge product launch event. A great job as usual!”

Step 3:
Try to make sure you select a range of comments that cover some of the main attributes you’d like to get across such as reliability, creativity or great value.

Step 4:
Then put together an email something like this:

SUBJECT: I need a favour!
Hi Jo, Thanks for all the work we did earlier this year. Just a quick note to ask you a favour. I’m looking to update my website shortly and am hoping to include some testimonials from my clients. I was wondering if you’d mind me including one from your business – it would just be a short quote with a link back to your website.

I know these can be a hassle to write, so I have taken the liberty of drafting something up for you below based on some of your kind comments. I want you to be 100% comfortable with the quote, so please feel free to add or delete any part of it as you see fit. And, if you’d prefer not to have a quote that’s totally fine too.

Possible quote for review: “Thanks for all your great design work advice for our website launch (especially given such tight timeframes!). It’s been really well received and I look forward to working with you again.” Jo Sample, Marketing Manager, Sample Works

Thanks for considering this, Jo. Hope all is well with you and your business and speak soon.
Cheers, Peter

I’ve used this approach myself with a number of clients, and I’ve always found that as long as your quote is something your client will be comfortable with (i.e. you’re not trying to gild the lily), then they are genuinely pleased to help. Particularly if all they need to do is to say ‘yes’ or make a few little edits.

Good luck and have fun with it!

Looking ahead to this week, what do you need to do?

What is on your list?
You are looking ahead… right?
You do have a list, right?
No? Stop.
Don’t do anything until you have made your list.

Making Your List
Often we charge right into our week after the weekend.
But, starting your week without knowing what you need to do is a recipe for ineffectiveness.
That’s where your list comes in.
It lets you see an overview of all your tasks, so that you can choose wisely what you are going to accomplish. (And not accomplish!)

So, Get Your List in Order:

• Review Your List – What is on your list currently? Maybe there is something that needs advance action or preparation. Maybe there are stale tasks that need to be removed. If you don’t have a list, start it now. Capture any todos that are floating in your head and write them down so they don’t slip your memory.
• Check Your Calendar – When updating your list, don’t forget to also check your calendar. Don’t let unexpected (yet scheduled) appointments derail your efforts to get work done. Make sure you know what is on your event list this week.
• Review Your Goals – This is an important step. Just capturing the urgencies in front of you will ensure that you’re always working on today and not tomorrow. Review your goals and always make sure that you have several tasks on your list to take steps towards your goals.
• Get Your Priorities Straight – OK, so you have your list. It’s updated. Now, make sure that you prioritize it. Pick out the 1- 5 things that must be done this week. Prioritize them. Highlight them. Whatever it takes to make sure that your most important tasks are front-and-center. If you can’t do it all this week, make sure you get those items done.

LEAP OF THE WEEK: Leapers! Isabelle here. First, I want to thank Craig Jarrow from Time Management Ninja for this great reminder….and for inspiring me on a weekly basis with his valuable content. AND I want to add a link to a simple tool that I have created for myself and have been using for many years with my clients. Have a look. I think you might find the concept very useful.

Here is the link: http://www.myleaptools.com/templates/my-week-planner/
Enjoy!

TO VIEW THIS VIDEO ONLINE, CLICK HERE:

Margarita and I I just got back from our road trip. Went to spend Christmas with my parents in Arizona and then drove to San Francisco to spend the New Year with friends. Yup! That’s a lot of driving folks…a little more than 5000 km actually!!! Best part of a road trip? Loud music, junk food and “I spy with my little eye”!!!

Needless to say that we are still recovering from the Holidays…and are getting back into our “healthy groove” slowly but surely. The return has been difficult I have to admit.

How about you? Are you still recovering from the holidays and your time off? Or are you rearing to go?

As my friend Craig Jarrow from Time Management Ninja would say…and I thought it was very appropriate with my road trip theme this year:

To get your year started on the right track:

• Check the Rearview Mirror
Now, is the time to look back at what you accomplished in 2012. What were you most proud of? What do you wish you had done better?

• Check Your Instruments
Are your systems and tools ready for another year of action? Do you need to do any tweaks or upgrades before you get started again?

• Scan the Road Ahead
Do you know where you are headed? This is a good time to plan the next few months or quarter.

• Choose Your Goals:
What do you want to accomplish this year? I recommend goal setting that looks 90 days out. Then you can evaluate your progress and correct your course.

• Ensure Your Support System is in Place:
Who is going to help you reach your goals this year? Instead of going it solo, maybe you need to find a partner or mentor to provide additional input, support, or simply advice along your way.

I hope that your year is already in gear and most of all, I wish for 2013 to be your best year yet!

Cheers,
Isabelle

Here are 4 easy ways you can sneak exercise in to your workday.
(You don’t have to exercise in one continuous bout to count toward the weekly recommendation.)

 1. Set a timer on your computer or smartphone to ring every hour.
Perform a very short exercise circuit each hour. For example, do 10 push-ups, 10 crunches, and 10 bodyweight squats. That’s 80 reps each after an 8-hour workday! In a former life as an office employee, I used to get all my coworkers to join me every hour. You can do this with your employees or business partners, if you have them.

2. Take short walks.
Short walks throughout the day don’t just increase your physical activity level, they can also increase your concentration and thus productivity. Take three brisk 10-minute walks during a workday, and you’ve achieved that day’s physical activity recommendation.

 3. Say “NO” to escalators and elevators.
Whether you work in an office building or you run your business from home, say “no” to escalators and elevators! Taking the stairs (at work, at the mall, on transit, etc.) instead will burn calories and increase your overall activity level.

 4. Set up a simple piece of exercise equipment close to your workspace.
Use it every time you pass it (e.g. when you get up to grab a snack or go to the bathroom). You can do shoulder presses with dumbbells, crunches on an exercise ball, biceps curls with a resistance band, or – my favourite – chin-ups on a pull-up bar that attaches to a doorframe.

Several short bursts of exercise are just as effective as one longer session. Even as busy entrepreneurs, we can all prioritize health and make simple changes that’ll have a lasting impact!

Leap of the week: Choose one of the four strategies to set in action this week. Which one will it be? Got suggestions of your own? Please share in the comments section!