Archive for Business

Never Check Email First Thing In The Morning

Business Sid Savara a widely regarded personal development trainer published 7 Reasons You Should Never Check Email First Thing In The Morning at his site sidsavara.com.

#1 – Ignorance Is Bliss..fully Productive – When it comes to email, ignorance is bliss. That’s why if you’ve got something important you want to make progress on, the author offers these four words for success:

Don’t check your email.

EmailsAs soon as you get in, work on something important for 30-45 minutes, and only then check email. If you can stand it, wait even longer. The article suggests that as long as you’re ignorant of everything else that’s going on outside, you can concentrate on what you want to work on.

Any new information you get can cause you to get distracted.

#2 – It’s Not Your Todo ListMr. Savara you know what is most important for you to work on the first thing in the morning you should go ahead and do it!

By checking email, you risk doing what someone else wants you to do. Or more bluntly, when you check your inbox, the emails you get are a todo list someone else makes for you.

Who is in charge of your time – you, or the person emailing you?

Changed priorities#3 – It’s An Excuse To Lack Direction – The author says that checking email is a low priority activity and that you may be checking email first thing in the morning because your todo list has gotten off track somewhere. He argues that when you don’t have a clear list of priorities, checking email becomes an urgent activity that you do at the expense of your important ones.

#4 – Reaction vs “Proaction” - When you check your email, you end up with more work to do – and because we’re in “check email” mode, we start replying to them at the expense of the task we were just working on. Rather than actively setting an agenda, email forces you to react to items as they come in – regardless of their true priority.

Mr. Savara says he prefer taking proactive actions, proaction. Work on the things that are important to you, regardless of whether they’re urgent or simply at the top of your inbox. Stop wasteful actions, and focus on productive actions instead.

Social networking sites#5 – Searching For Excuses Blindly checking email (or Twitter, or Facebook, or any number iTime wasters) is usually just searching for an excuse to not do the work that must be done according to the author.

Don’t fall into that trap. Don’t give yourself an out by checking your email for an excuse to fail. He urges, Don’t check your email  – acknowledge the task you need to get done, and do it.

Cross that bridge – it’s not going away.

#6 – There’s No Set Time Limit – Meetings get a bad rap for being a waste of time – but at least you usually know how long a meeting will last. But do you know how long you’re going to spend on email once you open your inbox, odds are you don’t know – or you’ll underestimate it.

The problem is, checking email only takes a minute but you can get sucked into follow-up activities that result from opening your email, and there’s no way of knowing how much time these will take.

You have a set time limit for how many productive hours you have in a day don’t let email suck you in and cause you to devote more time to it than you can afford.

#7 – It Builds Expectation – A lot of people says, “But I have to check my email! People expect a response from me in the morning!” The author believes that there are some requests that need immediate responses, but they’re much less frequent than you might think.

He argues that people expect a response from you in the morning because you’ve always responded first thing in the morning and you’ve built that expectation. The more often you check email, the more often people will expect you to check it. Just stop checking it first thing in the morning, and people won’t expect it anymore.

Mr Savara recommends the following email rules:

  • Only check if there is something specific you are looking for. Most important – don’t go fishing around. Check it with a specific plan, a specific email you’re looking for from a specific person.
  • Separate low value emails via filters (“rules” in outlook) or separate email addresses so you don’t even see them in your inbox when you check
  • Set a time limit. Commit to checking for 5 minutes, just to look for that one piece of information – and have your exit strategy ready. Before you open your inbox, decide what you’ll do if 1) the email is there 2) the email isn’t there 3) the email is incomplete. Don’t be reactionary – proactively decide what action you will take based on the outcomes you expect.
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Best Companies to Work For In Michigan – 2011

Michigan FORTUNE Magzinze recently published the 100 Best Companies to Work For 2011 and there were three Michigan based firms om the list.

26. Plante & Moran
29. Quicken Loans
68. Stryker

rb-

So please note that none of these high performing companies are car companies. I wrote about Michigan leading that nation in new tech jobs here.

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Congress Gets Richer While We Get Poorer

Congress money bagsA new analysis from The New York Times shows that members of Congress have gotten richer during the financial crisis, while the people they represent have seen their incomes decline according to Zeke Miller at the BusinessInsider. The median congressional net worth rose from $800,000 in 2004 to $1.2 million in 2010, while that of the general public declined from $108,000 to $100,000.

Congress greedThe BI article says millionaires are also overrepresented in Congress, with at least 250 members worth at least seven figures. Lawmakers aren’t inclined to discuss their personal wealth, but they don’t even want to discuss whether family or friends have been affected by the financial crisis. The NYT asked all 534 members about how close friends and family members weathered the downturn, and just 18 responded, raising questions about whether members of Congress are out of touch with the people they represent.

Nancy Pelosi stays at a $10,000 a day hotelAs further proof of how out of touch Congress is, Henry Blodget at the BusinessInsider points out a report from the Hawaii Reporter (via Drudge), that Nancy Pelosi is spending her Christmas at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu on Hawaii. And this has become something of a tradition for her. For the last two years, she has reportedly stayed in the resort’s $10,000-a-night suite.

CSCO CEO Tries Bribing Shareholders To Get A Tax Break

Embattled Cisco (CSCO) CEO John Chambers recently urged the networking giants shareholders to lobby congress for a big corporate tax break. He tried to bribe promised to increase their dividend if the tax break comes through reported the BusinessInsider.

Cisco SystemsBI explains the CEO was talking specifically about repatriation, the term for when multinational corporations bring cash from overseas back into the U.S. Today they are charged the full corporate tax rate, 35%.

Mr. Chambers has been the poster child for multinationals like Cisco wanting to be granted another so-called “repatriation tax holiday” that would allow them to bring back more than a trillion dollars at a much lower tax rate. He even appeared on a 60 Minutes arguing for the plan. (I have written about Cisco’s efforts to dodge taxes here and here)

Money bagsMr. Chambers made the case that a repatriation tax holiday would be of personal benefit to Cisco shareholders. “Repatriation at a rate of between zero and 2 percent puts us on a level playing field,” he said. If Cisco could bring its overseas funds back it would spend them on beefing up manufacturing sites, jobs and “if approved” the company would “increase dividends,” he said.

“The current tax system was developed when Microsoft (MSFT) wasn’t even public,” the Cisco CEO said. He urged the assembled to “Take time to send a note to members of congress and others,” he urged.

In 2004 Cisco and other multinationals were granted a tax holiday. Opponents of a tax holiday for repatriation aren’t convinced that Cisco needs the tax break now. Some say that multinationals have accumulated offshore cash through gimmicks. They also point out that corporations can borrow against their overseas stash at really low rates and will use this as an ongoing method to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

McAfee’s 12 Scams of Christmas

Christmas elfBefore logging on from a PC, Mac, or mobile device, for the last minute holiday online shopping madness, consumers should look out for the 12 Scams of Christmas by McAfee:

1. Mobile Malware – A National Retail Federation (NRF) survey found that 52.6% of U.S. consumers who own a smartphone will be using their device for holiday-shopping. Malware targeted at mobile devices is on the rise, and Google’s (GOOG) Android smartphones are most at risk. McAfee cites a 76% increase in  Android malware in the second quarter of 2011, making it the most targeted smartphone platform.

New malware has recently been found that targets QR codes, a digital barcode that consumers might scan with their smartphone to find good deals or just to learn about products they want to buy.

Malicious Mobile Applications2. Malicious Mobile Applications – These are mobile apps designed to steal information from smartphones, or send out expensive text messages without a user’s consent. Dangerous apps are usually offered for free, and masquerade as fun applications, such as games. Last year, 4.6 million Android smartphone users downloaded a wallpaper app that collected and transmitted user data to a site in China.

Facebook3. Phony Facebook Promotions and Contests – Who doesn’t want free stuff? Unfortunately, cyberscammers know that “free” things are attractive lures and they have sprinkled Facebook with phony promotions and contests aimed at gathering personal information. A recent scam advertised two free airline tickets, but required participants to fill out multiple surveys requesting personal information.

Scareware4. Scareware, or Fake Antivirus software - Scareware is the fake antivirus software that tricks someone into believing that their computer is at risk or already infected so they agree to download and pay for phony software. This is one of the most common and dangerous Internet threats today, victimizing one million victims each day. In 2010, McAfee reported that scareware represented 23% of all dangerous Internet links, and it has been resurgent in recent months.

5. Holiday Screensavers – Bringing holiday cheer to your home or work PC sounds like a fun idea to get into the holiday spirit, but be careful. A recent search for a Santa screensaver that promises to let you “fly with Santa in 3D” is malicious. Holiday-themed ringtones and e-cards have been known to be malicious too.

Mac Malware6. Mac Malware – Until recently, Mac users felt pretty insulated from online security threats, since most were targeted at PCs. But with the growing popularity of Apple (AAPL) products, cybercriminals have designed a new wave of malware directed squarely at Mac users. According to McAfee Labs, as of late 2010, there were 5,000 pieces of malware targeting Macs, and this number is increasing by 10 percent each month.

Phishing7. Holiday Phishing Scams - Phishing is the act of tricking consumers into revealing information or performing actions they wouldn’t normally do online using phony email or social media posts. Cyberscammers know that most people are busy around the holidays so they tailor their emails and social messages with holiday themes in the hopes of tricking recipients into revealing personal information.

  • Phony notice from UPS (UPS) saying you have a package and need to complete an attached form which asks for personal or financial details to complete the delivery. The form sends the that will go straight into the hands of the cyberscammer.
  • Banking phishing scams continue to be popular and the holiday season means consumers will be spending more money and checking bank balances more often. From July to September of this year, McAfee Labs identified approximately 2,700 phishing URLs per day.
  • Smishing –SMS phishing remains a concern. Scammers send their fake messages via a text alert to a phone, notifying an unsuspecting consumer that his bank account has been compromised. The cybercriminals then direct the consumer to call a phone number to get it re-activated—and collects the user’s personal information including Social Security number, address, and account details.

Online Coupon Scams8. Online Coupon Scams - An estimated 63 percent of shoppers search for online coupons when they purchase something on the Internet, and October 2011  NRF data shows that 17.3 percent of smartphone users and 21.5 percent of tablets consumers are using their mobiles devices to redeem those coupons. But watch out, because the scammers know that by offering an irresistible online coupon, they can get people to hand over some of their personal information.

9. Mystery Shopper Scams - Mystery shoppers are people who are hired to shop in a store and report back on the customer service. Scammers are using this fun job to try to lure people into revealing personal and financial information. There have been reports of scammers sending text messages to victims, offering to pay them $50 an hour to be a mystery shopper, and instructing them to call a number if they are interested. Once the victim calls, they are asked for their personal information, including credit card and bank account numbers.

10. Hotel “Wrong Transaction” Malware Emails - Many people travel over the holidays, so it is no surprise that scammers have designed travel-related scams to get users to click on dangerous emails. In one example, a scammer sent out emails that appeared to be from a hotel, claiming that a “wrong transaction” had been discovered on the recipient’s credit card. It then asked them to fill out an attached refund form. Once opened, the attachment downloads malware onto their machine.

11. “It” Gift Scams - Every year there are hot holiday gifts that sell out early in the season. Not only do sellers mark up the price of the must have toy, but scammers will also start advertising them on rogue websites and social networks, even if they don’t have them. So, consumers could wind up paying for an item and giving away credit card details only to receive nothing in return. Once the scammers have the personal financial details, there is little recourse.

12. “I’m away from home” Scammers - Posting information about a vacation on social networking sites could actually be dangerous. If someone is connected with people they don’t know on Facebook or other social networking sites, they could see their post and decide that it may be a good time to rob them. Furthermore, a quick online search can easily turn up their home address.

How to Protect Yourself

  • Only download mobile apps from official app stores, such as iTunes and the Android Market, and read user reviews before downloading them.
  • Be extra vigilant when reviewing and responding to emails.
  • Watch out for too-good-to-be-true offers on social networks. Never agree to reveal your personal information just to participate in a promotion.
  • Don’t accept requests on social networks from people you don’t know in real life. Wait to post pictures and comments about your vacation until you’ve already returned home.

Mobile Threats Top Holiday Scam List (pcworld.com)
Five Tips to Avoid Malware in Mobile Apps (pcworld.com)

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