Survive the 9 to 5

Find a way to do what you enjoy before retirement! There's no guarantee you will live until retirement You might not “like” retirement – it could be a hard adjustment after a lifetime of 40 hour workweeks A “mini-retirement” is taking off 1 to 6 months...

401Ks have been around since the early 1980s, and have replaced pension plans for many employees. Make the right decision for you, but if your company has a 401k match, you should at least try to take advantage of that match.

You are responsible for taking control of your work/life balance.  No one will do it for you! Company – Max Barry https://maxbarry.com/company/ “The problem is it's a myth.  We've run the numbers and it doesn't check out.

Plan ahead for your performance review!  Find out if it is directly related to a merit increase (raise = more money).  You should keep track of your progress and communicate with your boss throughout the year so there are no surprises. Positives A great way to set goals It is a tool to help you get promoted Negatives Career Counselor/Boss might not be “great” Time consuming and tends to be viewed as a chore Preparing for your Performance Review Keep track of your “kudos” Take credit for team accomplishments, within reason Don't blow off your self-assessment Give yourself all meets or exceeds expectations Give specific examples of accomplishments Know the metrics you are evaluated against in advance Be prepared to accept any opportunities for improvement without arguing.  You won't change his/her mind – focus on how to improve the aspect of moving forward. Use the Goals section to your advantage! Links and Resources https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/03/30/how-to-accomplish-more-on-your-most-important-goals/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria https://hbr.org/2013/03/how-to-write-the-dreaded-self-appraisal https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-push-against-performance-reviews Dilbert Performance Review – https://youtu.be/XqfwYkpOLg4

There is no magic one way to get promoted!  Find out what will work for you and your corporate culture. WHAT DOESN'T WORK – “COMMON ADVICE”: Doing your job – that's enough Work overtime Volunteering to do more/extra work General Networking WHAT DOES WORK: Get a mentor two levels up Volunteer to Plan a Charity Event Market Yourself Plan Ahead Even if you aren't trying to get promoted right now, the four points above are always good things to do. Other links: Office Space https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Space TPS Reports https://youtu.be/jsLUidiYm0w Links to other advice articles: http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/26/pf/getting-a-promotion-at-work/index.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/10/14/do-this-today-and-get-promoted-faster/ https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/17/fastest-ways-to-get-promoted.html https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-to-ask-for-a-promotion

In this episode, our hero interviews Dave Young from Drone Launch Academy. Dave has a cool story, hear us talk about his transition from the FBI to his side hustle. Here are some of the things we talk about: How Dave used his expert knowledge as a pilot to drive his business How Mastermind groups […]

Our heroes talk about side hustles and how they can be really positive. Doug talks about how he got into side hustling and affiliate marketing.

We talk about how to figure out what to work on when you have so much to do. We also talk about the Eisenhower Matrix. This is the fourth episode in the Productivity Series. If you want to check out Doug’s course on productivity, you can learn more here.

Our heroes talk about focusing on deep work. We reference Cal Newport’s Deep Work a lot in this episode. You should check it out if you haven’t read it before. The main idea is that you can’t really get big, important things done if you’re distracted. So multitasking is bad. Notifications on your phone are […]

Our heroes talk about dealing with emails. Doug gets behind on emails sometimes, but he normally catches up. Back in his corporate days, he was an email ninja, but not for the reasons you might think. Elizabeth runs her inbox thin and never gets behind. We talk about: Gmail Outlook Sorting, Searching, Folders Inbox Mgmt Multiple […]

We talk about project management in this episode. I’ve managed a bunch of projects over the years and earned my Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification back in 2008. This is part 1 in a 4 part series on Productivity. If you’re brand new to project management, this episode is perfect for you.

A couple episodes ago we talked about traveling for work and working remotely. But most people work in the office 5 days a week. We’ve both spent time living it up, not working in the office, but we’ve put in our time sitting in cubicles too. That’s what we’re talking about today. Discussion Cube life […]

We talk about having to drive to work. Blah! For most people, the commute is the worst part of the day. It’s funny — we started this episode intending to discuss what it’s like to work in the office. It quickly fell to dealing with the commute. I’ve spent so many hours in the car […]

Elizabeth and I worked remotely for a few jobs over the years. A lot of times travel jobs have a small component of working remotely, and that’s how remote work started for us. But after some time moving up the corporate ladder and some cultural changes at corporate jobs, working remotely became more common. So […]

What’s the median household income for business travelers? Workers who travel for business tend to bring in a bigger salary than those who don’t. The median household income for business travelers was $87,500 in 2012 compared to $52,800 for the rest of the U.S. population. — https://www.creditdonkey.com/business-travel-statistics.html Pros Loyalty points Visit new places Feel important […]

In this episode, we share some silly stories from our first jobs. We thought we were hot shit and actually knew what we were doing. Now we see how inaccurate that is.  Leave a comment below about your first job! Doug’s first job Consulting in a warehouse His project would eventually determine layoffs He clogged […]

Personally       Moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Bozeman, Montana in 2015       Less people…less traffic…more mountains!       We love our dog…Georgie! (http://Instagram.com/georgiethebordercollie) Elizabeth       Educated at Georgia Institute of Technology, Bachelors and Masters, Industrial Engineering       Worked in consulting, healthcare technology and healthcare finance       MISTAKES – Switching jobs didn’t really build on past skills and experience Doug       Educated at Georgia […]

Find a way to do what you enjoy before retirement! There’s no guarantee you will live until retirement You might not “like” retirement – it could be a hard adjustment after a lifetime of 40 hour workweeks A “mini-retirement” is taking off 1 to 6 months every couple of years to take a break! Test […]

401Ks have been around since the early 1980s, and have replaced pension plans for many employees. Make the right decision for you, but if your company has a 401k match, you should at least try to take advantage of that match.  Pay attention to the vesting schedule, because you may need to stay with your […]

You are responsible for taking control of your work/life balance.  No one will do it for you! Company – Max Barry https://maxbarry.com/company/ “The problem is it’s a myth.  We’ve run the numbers and it doesn’t check out.  The amount you gain from reduced absenteeism and error rates is swamped by what you lose to reduced […]

Plan ahead for your performance review!  Find out if it is directly related to a merit increase (raise = more money).  You should keep track of your progress and communicate with your boss throughout the year so there are no surprises. Positives A great way to set goals It is a tool to help you […]

There is no magic one way to get promoted!  Find out what will work for you and your corporate culture. What doesn’t work – “Common Advice”: Doing your job – that’s enough Work overtime Volunteering to do more/extra work General Networking What does work: Get a mentor two levels up Volunteer to Plan a Charity […]