VENTURE INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY

5 Ways to Drastically Increase YourProductivityby Matt Mayberry Matt_Mayberry MAY 18 2016 800 AM EDT

Jordan Siemens Getty Images

These simple tips could go a long way in helping you get more done

Regardless of how successful they already are most entrepreneurs and business leaders would like to become more productive and efficient Of course the

busyshyness of running a company and managing others can create a great amount of stress which leads to exactly what we donrsquot want decreasing productivity

levels

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levels

Here are 5 proven ideas and strategies for increasing your productivity that have tremendously benefited my life as well as the hundreds of thousands of people

that I speak to each and every year

1 Use your calendar to your advantage

Most people use their calendar as a tool to simply remember birthdays and special events but this is greatly undermining the true power that your calendar

can serve to increase your productivity A simple strategy that can work absolute wonders is to schedule your major tasks for the day Thatrsquos right donrsquot just

create a toshydo list of all the things you have to do the next day but time block all of your most important tasks and projects that need to get done The saying

ldquoWhat gets scheduled gets donerdquo holds an incredible amount of truth to it Give it a try

2 Plan your day in advance

Sounds like such a simple thing to do and a noshybrainer but you would be surprised at the number of people who wake up in the morning without a plan of

action for the day ahead Planning your day in advance helps you to get a good nights rest as you no longer have to stay up all night trying to remember all of

the things that you have to get done the next day It also helps you to wake up passionate and excited to attack your day as you already know exactly what you

have to do instead of pondering and wasting precious time trying to make a plan

3 Perfect your morning routine

Perfecting your morning routine is crucial for you to take your productivity to the next level and set yourself up for a massively successful day How we start our

day is a great indicator on how the rest of our day is going to go Most of the successful people Irsquove met have at some point brought up their morning routine

and how much it meant to them Find something that works for you and start scheduling it in your calendar An example of what mine looks like is getting a

great workout in first thing in the morning then reading an inspirationaluplifting book for 15shy20 minutes meditating taking a look at my daily and yearly

goals and then writing in my gratitude journal Get serious about your morning routine

4 Develop a sense of urgency

A lack of urgency hinders so many people from not only increasing their productivity levels but also from reaching their full potential and achieving their

biggest goals and dreams I have written down on a notecard ldquoDO IT NOWrdquo that I take with me everywhere I go and I look at this notecard anytime I notice

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biggest goals and dreams I have written down on a notecard ldquoDO IT NOWrdquo that I take with me everywhere I go and I look at this notecard anytime I notice

that Irsquom second guessing myself or procrastinating on a certain task or project When I glance down at this notecard it instantly reminds me the power of

taking action and moving forward with a sense of urgency Create a trigger for yourself that works for you Whether itrsquos writing a reminder on a notecard or in

your notes section on your smartphone try to constantly remind yourself to get moving

Related Why Itrsquos Okay to Stop Checking Email on Vacation

5 Become obsessed about limiting distractions

We live in such a noisy and distracting world that if you donrsquot make an intentional effort to limit the amount of distractions when itrsquos time to work itrsquos a

guarantee that your productivity will take a hit A typical day for a huge majority of the population consists of logging onto their computer first thing in the

morning checking their Facebook sending out a few emails taking a coffee break chatting with coworkers and then getting some tedious work done for the

rest of the day Keep breaks to a minimum limit the chatter with coshyworkers and stop searching the internet when itrsquos actually time to get some meaningful

work done

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ENERGY OIL AND GAS

ExxonMobil Chevron Face a ChangingShareholder Climate

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See all newsletters

by Reuters MAY 24 2016 919 AM EDT

Exxon has come under increasing pressure from investors who fret that climate change will erode its value

Photograph by Andrey Rudakov mdash BloombergGetty Images

Investors want oil giants to come clean about risks

Exxon Mobil Corp ( xom ) and Chevron Corp ( cvx ) will face their toughestshyever push by shareholders concerned about a warming world at annual

meetings on Wednesday as the Paris accord to tackle climate change ratchets up investor pressure on two of the worldrsquos largest oil companies

The tension is most acute at Exxon which has denied accusations from environmentalists that it purposely misled the public about climate change risks The

New York attorney general is investigating Exxon and it has complained of being unfairly targeted by special interest groups

The raft of proposals up for vote at the two companies more than doubled to 11 this year the latest sign that environmental concerns once considered

peripheral by many investors have become mainstream Even the most traditional shareholder groups are now urging companies to detail how they will plan

for the future after 195 governments agreed in December to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) through

combined national pledges to cut carbon emissions from fossil fuels

ldquoCompanies like Exxon and Chevron theyrsquore clinging to bygone assumptionsrdquo said Anne Simpson of CalPERS which holds Exxon shares worth about $1

billion and has supported some of the measures ldquoThis is their Kodak moment If they want to still be in business in 30 years they have to understand the

changes that are taking placerdquo

Though ldquoKodak momentrdquo was originally an advertising slogan for film and cameras it can now refer to Eastman Kodakrsquos plunge into bankruptcy in 2012 after

it failed to capitalize on the digital camera revolution Simpson said Exxon and Chevron should ramp up investments in clean energy to avoid being caught by

sudden technology shifts

While BP Plc ( BP ) Statoil ASA ( stohf ) and other European oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell ( rdsa ) have begun releasing myriad data

points on how their businesses will respond to climate change Chevron and Exxon have lagged them critics say

Success of any one of the climateshyrelated votes at Wednesdayrsquos meetings is not certain

Exxon shareholders have never approved a climate changeshyrelated proposal and last year they rejected by 79 percent a request that a climate expert be

appointed to the companyrsquos board

Another measure which would have the companies increase payouts to shareholders and stop investing in oil and gas deposits appears doomed to fail

Still environmentalists and some investors sensing the tide turning in their favor hope to notch at least some victories

Already proxy advisory firm ISS has recommended shareholders of both companies support the resolutions a key voice of support

Exxon lost a public battle with New York Statersquos comptroller earlier this year when the US Securities and Exchange Commission ruled it must let

shareholders vote on a proposal that would require it to detail how its business will be hurt as governments crack down on carbon emissions

ldquoWe believe itrsquos incumbent upon us as owners to find out what theyrsquore doing (on climate research) and how that will affect their longshyterm business planrdquo said

Pete Trannis of New York Statersquos comptrollerrsquos office ldquoItrsquos almost impossible to imagine they havenrsquot been doing some of this alreadyrdquo

The soshycalled proxy access measure which says minority shareholders with a 3 percent stake should be able to nominate directors to the companyrsquos board

could pass this year after winning support from mutual fund behemoth Vanguard

More than a dozen oil companies have passed proxy access though Exxonrsquos board has opposed it Insiders at oil companies worry proxy access could lead to

climate activists opposed to oil drilling being voted on to company boards

Though both Exxon and Chevron say their climate disclosures are plenty robust shareholders are demanding more at annual meetings partly because the SEC

has declined their requests to tighten its 2010 rule requiring all US companies to address potential climate change impacts

ldquoFor the most part the SEC has not been too responsive so investors have had to turn to other methodsrdquo said Jim Coburn of Ceres a sustainability group that

has advocated at the SEC for tougher climate standards as far back as 2007 with CalPERS the New York attorney generalrsquos office and numerous state

treasurers

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