Mary Vinnedge
Got Debt? Take These 5 Steps to Get It Under Control
University of South Carolina and UCLA researchers found that the more 25- to 31-year-olds owed in student loans, the greater their depressive symptoms. “We speculate that part of the reason [student] loans are so stressful is the fact that you cannot defer them; they follow you for the rest of your life until you pay…
3 Tips to Carry Yourself With Confidence
Fear, insecurity, self-doubt and the like can be the biggest obstacles many of us face in life. To overcome that negativity, many people turn to unhealthy or compulsive behavior. This undesirable behavior “may temporarily numb that negativity, but it won’t put you on a healthy and wholesome path,” says Darlene Hunter, a renowned speaker and…
How to Deal with Obnoxious People
What do you do when a person is annoying, deliberately offensive and making people uncomfortable—someone who continually pulls pranks, disrupts meetings, or makes racist, sexist or ageist remarks? Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of The Search for Fulfillment, counsels you to try…
7 Quick Tips to Write Better Emails
Gisela Hausmann, author of Naked Words: The Effective 157-Word Email, says short (but not too short) emails are best. The beauty of them? That they can be read without having to scroll. Their brevity allows the reader to grasp content quickly. Here are more tips from Hausmann, who has analyzed more than 100,000 emails: •…
5 Crazy-Cool Guerrilla Tactics to Generate Buzz
Guerrilla marketing, by definition, is surprising and unconventional (think of the viral flash mobs of the recent past). It aims to woo customers by being memorable and by fueling buzz through online and in-person conversations—possibly even by attracting news media coverage. Usually guerrilla marketing is fun. Remember when Starbucks attached its logo cups to the…
7 Ways to Think Like a Negotiator
Eldonna Lewis Fernandez—author of Think Like A Negotiator and CEO of Dynamic Vision International, a company that helps individuals hone negotiation skills—points out these keys to successful bargaining. 1. Negotiate using the right mindset. Be confident—a trait you can project only if you’ve done your homework to learn both the strongest motivations and likeliest objections…
Need a Burst of Creativity? Get Up and Get Walking
Stanford psychologists have discovered that when people walk, they increase their creativity by 60 percent compared to when they sit. Benefits occurred whether walking on a treadmill in a room facing a blank wall or striding outdoors in fresh air. After four experiments involving 176 college students, the researchers also learned that: • Taking a…
Here’s How You Become a Biz Whiz
Scratching your head about challenges to your company? The nation’s 900 Small Business Development Centers, which are funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, have solutions. The philosophy behind these centers is akin to the idea of teaching a man to fish so he can feed himself for life: SBDCs offer free and…
Practice On-the-Job Mindfulness
People who practice mindfulness (being fully focused on the moment) at work—instead of multitasking—increase their productivity while decreasing their stress, says neurologist Romie Mushtaq. “You’re sharper, more efficient and more creative,” says Mushtaq, an expert in mind-body medicine and Mindful Living. She offers these suggestions on how to go about it: Concentrate on one task…
Pass the Popcorn, Save a Marriage
Want to shore up your marriage? Then see a relationship movie and talk it over, according to a University of Rochester study that worked with 174 newlywed couples divided into four groups. Researchers were surprised that couples who watched and discussed five movies about relationships during a month-long period benefited just as much from this…