Life Skills -

Nimble is the new normal: Using time wisely in an otherwise crazy time

Coaching, Leadership, Life Skills, Resilience, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

The experiences people are having amidst this pandemic are all over the map. People who are sick or healthy, have jobs or are unemployed, are navigating having children at home or not, are busier than ideal or have a little more time on their hands, are climbing the walls of isolation or kind of enjoy the chance to disconnect a bit more. This post is for those people who have a bit more time on their hands than usual. If this is you, read a little more.

Why unsubscribes, not having a best seller and losing business are just fine with me

Core Values, Emotional Intelligence EQ, Leadership, Life Skills, Networking / By Mary Kutheis

The older I get the less tolerant I am of pretenders, poseurs and masters of hype. Having been in this business for two decades, I’ve seen a lot of it. Because the truth isn’t impressive or sexy enough people claim…

How do you tell a colleague or employee they need a coach?

Communication Skills, Emotional Intelligence EQ, Leadership, Life Balance, Life Skills / By Mary Kutheis

In a recent meeting, a colleague (we’ll call him Mark) mentioned that his client (Brian) a great guy in many ways, could use a coach in a specific area. Mark asked how to bring up that Brian would benefit from working with an executive coach without it being awkward or insulting. The answer lies in changing Mark’s perception of executive coaching.

Meditation isn’t what I thought it was

Focus and Mindset, Life Skills, Reducing Stress, Resilience / By Mary Kutheis

I’ve tried meditation off and on for over a decade, but hadn’t been able to make a consistent practice stick. I’m not certain what’s different about now, but something is.

This meditation practice started when I read 10% Happier by Dan Harris. He’s a successful, competitive, cynical, sometimes hard-edged reporter for ABC who, after having an on-air panic attack, turned to meditation. I liked him instantly because he didn’t approach meditation with a “group hug in the harmony hut” mentality. I could relate to him.

Why I gave up the idea of a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

Emotional Intelligence EQ, Life Skills, Reducing Stress / By Mary Kutheis

Thanksgiving is almost upon us and if Hallmark and Butterball have anything to do with expectations, the day will be filled with group hugs, perfect food, artful decorations and so much joy that the family home emits a glow you can see from space. Maybe that’s your lived experience but it’s not mine.

Without Assessments You’re Working with Blinders On

Communication Skills, Leadership, Life Skills, Productivity, Team Building / By Mary Kutheis

Nearly every time I debrief an assessment with a client and share information about a particular trait that’s been uncovered, I hear something on the order of “Yeah, but everybody feels that way about (fill in the blank.)”

Considering a coach? Beware of these.

Coaching, Core Values, Emotional Intelligence EQ, Life Skills, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

I’m a coach and have hired many coaches to help me, so I’m qualified to share with you some red flags. If I found any of these six situations to be true I’d keep looking.

Are You Curious About How to be Successful?

Communication Skills, Life Skills, Networking / By Mary Kutheis

For a few years I was part of a group of women mentors at a local university. The school has a program that matches sophomore women in the business school with women already out in the workplace. The role of the mentor is to share ideas, tips, information, support and hopefully wisdom to help the students be as prepared as possible to launch into the work world.

At one of the events, all of the mentors were asked to share what one trait each of us considered vital to being successful.

Do You Think Goals are Vital to Your Success?

Focus and Mindset, Habits, Life Skills, Productivity / By Mary Kutheis

Common wisdom would indicate that having goals is vital to achievement. But that’s not the whole story. In this instance as is so often the case, little shifts add up to big changes.

Like the little shift marking the difference between setting goals and making commitments.

Why You Shouldn’t Always Give 100%

Life Skills, Productivity, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

There’s a habit in the thinking process that will destroy your best plans to reach your goals. When you have a goal the intention is to go for it 100%. Really commit yourself, right? So when there’s a small lapse or something is preventing you from forging ahead the way you planned, it seems easy to ditch that effort and promise to start again another time.

4 Things You Can Do When Everything is Going Wrong

Life Skills, Reducing Stress / By Mary Kutheis

You’re having one of those days when everything is falling apart. Nothing you do is going smoothly and worse, it’s all way more complicated than it should be and you’re about to lose it. Try these four things first.

Five Ways to Instantly Appear Poised and Professional

Communication Skills, Habits, Life Skills, Productivity / By Mary Kutheis

You probably know these ideas, but knowing them doesn’t necessarily mean we remember to do them, right? Perception is reality. If you want to attract business, collaborate effectively, be comfortable walking into a room of strangers, and get along with people in general, the little behaviors matter quite a bit. Appearing poised and professional instead of anxious and amateurish is as easy as putting these five tips into action.

Know When to Quit

Life Skills, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

You know what they say. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” I’m afraid I’m going to hop on my soapbox to take issue with this ridiculous idea. Smart people know when to quit and are not hesitant or embarrassed to do so.

The Best Book on Time Management

Life Skills, Productivity, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

I’ve been asked any number of times which book on time management or organization skills is the best. It’s a tough, if not impossible question to answer. There are thousands of books written on time management, being productive, staying organized, etc. You know why? Because the suggestions, processes and routines in a given book worked …

The Best Book on Time Management Read More »

How to handle the help rejecting complainer

Communication Skills, Emotional Intelligence EQ, Habits, Life Skills / By Mary Kutheis

Here are tips to deal with the Help Rejecting Complainer without losing your mind in the process.

Morning Routines to Be Productive All Day

Life Skills, Productivity / By Mary Kutheis

The ideas in the article linked below aren’t your run-of-the-mill suggestions about how to be more productive. It isn’t always about a better task list — you have to be in the right mindset to deliver your best. You can try several of these and still only be adding a few minutes to your morning routine. Others take a bit more time, but pay off in the long run.

A Guide to Surviving the Client from Hell and the Wimpy Manager

Communication Skills, Life Skills, Motivation, Productivity / By Mary Kutheis

You have a horrible client who is not only demanding, but rude and dismissive as well. Your manager, believing that this client’s business is very important, does nothing. If it was your company you’d fire the client, but it’s not your company. You know from past experience that your boss will never do anything to help the situation. Sure, once in awhile she tells you she knows how awful it is, but the situation never changes. Getting up the nerve for you to say something to the client would be pretty much impossible. But even it were possible it would probably result in a reprimand in your personnel file, a demotion or getting fired — and you need this job.

What do you do?

A Simple Way to Reduce Anxiety

Life Skills, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

Every day you’re confronted with situations with the potential to create stress — perhaps even ruin your day if you let it. But you can also make a different choice and that choice will reduce anxiety. If you can’t do anything about it, let it go. Examples…

The Skill that Leads to More Happiness

Focus and Mindset, Life Skills, Multitasking, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

Days are packed with tasks that need to be done. And if just looking at a giant list and choosing which to start on isn’t challenging enough, making the best choice about how to track all the items is a huge project in itself. There are dozens of software programs, apps, tools and methods to make sure your to do list isn’t just rattling around in your head. Which system is best?

It’s difficult to know for sure so

Stop it. Just stop it!

Life Skills / By Mary Kutheis

When an inspirational story is on the news, at some point you can bet that the success story says – in an effort to relate to everyman – “If I can do, it anyone can.” It’s often uttered when someone has…

How Feeling Good Makes You Do Good

Life Skills, Procrastination / By Mary Kutheis

Think back to a time when you disappointed yourself. Perhaps you missed a deadline due to procrastination. Or cheated big time on your diet. Maybe promised yourself you’d do a dreaded task and then just kept making excuses instead of actually doing it.

Now think about how you treated yourself when you disappointed yourself. If you’re like most people, you beat yourself up. Said all sorts of disparaging things about how you should plan better, have more discipline, be more committed.

Are those thoughts a successful strategy

The Simple, Almost Instant Way to Reduce Stress

Life Balance, Life Skills, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

Holidays are upon us and that means a lot is going on. In addition to regular work commitments there are social engagements, shopping, traveling, baking, wrapping and decorating added to an already full schedule. When things seem like they are spinning out of control, stop for just a couple of minutes and do this exercise. It’s guaranteed to reduce stress.

Inventions and Gadgets: Save Time or Take Time?

Communication Skills, Life Balance, Life Skills, Productivity, Time Management / By Mary Kutheis

So many people are struggling with trying to get “everything” done. Many years ago when inventions came along they helped save time. The automobile made travel faster. Refrigerators and freezers meant fewer trips to the grocery store. Inventions like the washing machine not only made keeping clothes clean much simpler but because the task no longer required our constant involvement, it allowed for time to be spent doing something else. You could be washing clothes and relaxing with a book at the same time.

But the best inventions today usually require more of our time, not less.

How to Deal with a Scorekeeper

Communication Skills, Emotional Intelligence EQ, Life Skills / By Mary Kutheis

There are people you’ll run into in your life who are scorekeepers. They keep score to keep track of who gets what. And while it might seem that they do so in order to keep things even, they’re actually more concerned with making certain they get their fair share.

Being a scorekeeper is constantly focusing on what others are getting that the scorekeeper is not. It might be attention, favors, money, gifts, referrals, opportunities or plum projects. Anything that can be bestowed on either the scorekeeper or another person is eligible for scorekeeping. “I did this for you now I expect

How to Get Through the Craziest Most Stressful Times

6 Comments / Focus and Mindset, Habits, Life Skills / By Mary Kutheis

Last week was one for the record books in terms of busy-ness and stress. In addition to the regular work and family commitments, my husband was out of town, there were construction guys at our house, a big hunk of a neighbor’s tree fell on our fence, an out-of-town friend was staying with us, and I had a major role in a volunteer commitment that required me to be on live TV one day and emceeing the event for six hours the next day.

I require a fair amount of rejuvenation time and last week there