Guidelines for Pitching to the Media

There is arguably no form of advertising more effective than a favourable news story, broadcast segment, or article in an industry publication. The endorsement of a trusted media professional can expand your prospective market, and engender public trust and goodwill toward you and your business. Many businesspeople appreciate the importance of effective media relations, but there is a right way, and countless wrong ways, to communicate with media outlets.

This post will recommend some general best practices for business marketing communications with the media, and detail a few “pet peeves” to avoid.

•  #1 rule of thumb: Respect media professionals’ time.

Media professionals tend to have full schedules, and are obliged to keep their interactions with PR and marketing departments brief. If you respect their time—or better yet, can save them time—there is a greater likelihood that they will respond positively to your pitch.

•  Personalize your communications with media professionals.

Many journalists and industry writers specialize in a particular subject area—or, in media lingo, a beat. How familiar are you with the recent work of the journalist, publication, or news organization you hope to reach? Have you been in touch with anyone at that that outlet before? Who are its competitors?

Before you pitch story ideas to writers, editors, or broadcasters, make a point of getting to know them and the sort of stories they cover. This will improve your chances of delivering information that is both relevant to them, and of interest to their regular readers/audience.

Each e-mail should be tailored specifically to one individual—avoid sending identical bulk e-mails to many different people.

Always confirm the name, gender, and appropriate honorific of the person to whom your e-mail is addressed before you hit the “send” button.

Don’t pitch to a media professional unless you’re reasonably confident that person will be interested, and hasn’t recently covered a very similar or identical topic. Otherwise, you will give the impression that you’re a self-promoter who can’t be bothered to do your homework—not a good start.

•  Get right to the point.

The majority of “hard news” stories are written in the inverted-pyramid format—the most compelling pieces of information appear in the lead sentence, and then greater detail and context follow. Likewise, marketing communications on behalf of your business should be succinct and lead with the most eye-catching pieces of news right away. Toward the end of the text, provide times, locations, and contact information to facilitate follow-up calls and/or e-mails.

Some marketing departments try to entice media professionals to pursue a story by strategically withholding information. Don’t do this. The people you’re trying to reach will rarely take the bait, and may even resent your efforts to sidetrack them.

•  Learn each media professional’s preferred mode of interaction.

Many media professionals don’t mind follow-up phone calls, but some prefer to confine all of their interactions with marketing departments to e-mail. Once you know the preferred medium of the person you’re trying to reach, make a note of it. Don’t call up people who prefer not to receive phone calls, or send the same e-mail to the same person multiple times over the course of a day.

When the time comes, be prepared to take “no” for an answer.

•  Clarity, concision, and quality are important.

Try to convey your message in as few words as possible, while avoiding insider jargon and rambling. In many cases, time-constrained media professionals will simply re-purpose press releases and publish them as news or advertorial stories, or transform them into broadcast segments. The better they understand the content of your communicational materials, the quicker and easier this will be for them.

•  When in doubt, hold off.

It is not unusual for some media professionals to receive hundreds of e-mails and dozens of phone calls each day. So pick your spots, and hold off unless you’re reasonably confident that your pitch is buzz-worthy. If possible, seek the opinion of a disinterested third party whom you trust not to leak privileged information. Is s/he as excited about the story as you are?

Professional Corporations

A professional corporation is a corporation engaged in providing professional services where a member of a profession governed by its professional body allows its members to practice through a corporation as opposed to a sole proprietorship or partnership. Each professional governing body may have its own set of rules requiring certain formalities to be respected. Below are the typical requirements of professional corporations. However, it is suggested that you contact your governing body before you proceed with the incorporation of a professional corporation.

Which professions can incorporate a professional corporation? Legislation typically requires that only those professions that are governed by a professional governing body or association as provided by law can incorporate a professional corporation. Each province has different laws and rules as to which professions have these governing bodies. Generally, professions that can incorporate a professional corporation include: Accountants, Architects, Attorneys, Physicians, Dentists, Veterinarians and Engineers among others.

Formation and Operation A professional corporation resembles a business corporation, requiring compliance with corporate law and the rules and regulations of professional licensing bodies. A professional corporation is formed in the same manner as a business corporation, except that it typically has one or several of the following additional limitations, depending on the jurisdiction: All shares of stock of the corporation (or a minimum percentage) must be owned and held by individuals licensed in the profession of the corporation. At least one incorporator must be licensed in the profession. At least one director (or a majority, or even exclusively) must be licensed in the profession. The articles of incorporation, in addition to all other requirements, must limit the activities of the corporation to the profession. The professional corporation may be required to obtain from the appropriate professional body a certification that the shares of stock are owned by individuals who are duly licensed in the profession. Professional corporations are typically required to use the name of the professional as part of the corporate name. They are also required to have the words "Professional Corporation" as part of its legal name. Moreover, the professional corporation may be required to obtain a certificate of registration from the professional body finding that no disciplinary action is pending before the professional body against any of the licensed directors, shareholders, or employees of the corporation. The certificate of registration may be required to be renewed as often as required by law or by the regulations of the professional body. Professional corporations may be subject to additional limitations and regulations imposed by their respective professional bodies.

Liability Issues A professional corporation offers its shareholders limited liability in certain areas. Generally, a shareholder is liable for the debts and liabilities of the corporation to the extent of his or her investment. Personal assets usually are not at risk. Exceptions include: The shareholder personally guarantees a business debt. Piercing of the corporate veil. Professional malpractice. Liability for professional malpractice is typically limited to three circumstances: (a) the liability arises from the malpractice of the individual owner; (b) The individual owner supervised or directed the person who committed the malpractice; or (c) the individual owner was directly involved in the specific activity which resulted in the malpractice. Officers, directors, employees, and agents of the corporation may be held personally responsible for liabilities arising out of their services to the corporation. The corporation may indemnify its officers, directors, employees, and agents for costs and expenses incurred as a result of such liabilities. Also, the corporation may buy insurance covering its officers, directors, employees, and agents for liabilities arising out of their services to the corporation. If the business poses a threat of personal injury or property damage, limited liability may be important. However, adequate business insurance is essential to protect the business from overwhelming legal liabilities resulting from personal injury or property damage.

Period of Existence A professional corporation has a less stable business life than a business corporation due to the dependence on its members. For example: The death or disqualification of a shareholder or employee may result in the dissolution of the corporation. If a licensed officer, shareholder, agent, or employee of a professional corporation becomes disqualified to provide professional services, he or she must sever all employment with and financial interest in the corporation. Failure to comply may be grounds for forfeiture of the corporation's certificate of incorporation and its dissolution. A professional corporation must report the death of a shareholder to the appropriate professional body within 30 days of the date of death. Within one year, all shares owned by the deceased shareholder must be acquired by the professional corporation or by persons qualified to own them. A professional body may suspend or revoke the certificate of registration of the professional corporation if : The corporation fails to remove or discharge an officer, director, shareholder, or employee whose license to practice is suspended or revoked. The professional corporation has failed to comply with provisions of the Professional Corporation Act or the regulations of the professional body. If the certificate of registration is suspended or revoked, the corporation must stop providing professional services, and the Secretary of State will remove the corporation from active status. To proceed with the incorporation of a professional corporation, click here.

Begin your work day on a productive note

Every entrepreneur, business owner, and manager aspires to enhanced productivity. The reasons for this are obvious: greater productivity is conducive to not only increased profits, but diminished stress and more free time too—highly esteemed desiderata for most people. But, like community engagement, leadership or employee morale, productivity is not necessarily an easy concept to pin down. In the abstract, we all want it. But if we are serious about realizing it (and enjoying its many benefits), we need a clear process and concrete steps by which to make it happen.

One of the simplest and most effective ways to bolster productivity is by setting yourself up for it with good habits—including proper nutrition, regular physical exercise, and plenty of sleep. If you undertake your work feeling groggy, or having eaten poorly, your performance will invariably suffer. Formulate a daily routine and follow it—this will save time and help you develop automaticity, a prerequisite for completing quality work, day after day, while expending minimal effort. Another exercise you may find useful is to create a concise and easy-to-follow action plan, with achievable objectives, first thing in the morning.

Most of us start the day with correspondence—which sets us back

Commonly, people who work in an office environment begin their day by checking e-mails, replying to voicemails, responding to memos, or otherwise answering requests and inquiries. While it is important to stay abreast of the needs of others and maintain correspondence, beginning the day by engaging with external priorities can cause you to become sidetracked. Various psychological studies indicate that, despite the widespread appeal of “multi-tasking,” in reality, human beings can only fully concentrate on one assignment at a time—and our attempts to multi-task tend to compromise the quality, efficiency, and timeliness of our work. Furthermore, it can be challenging and time-consuming to mentally re-engage if you allow yourself to be temporarily derailed.

The chef’s method

Where confronting your daily workload is concerned, you can derive a useful lesson from the way a chef initiates the process of creating a meal. At the outset of each session, a culinary professional typically determines what ingredients will be required and in what quantity (in other words, her actions follow the format of a cooking recipe), and then measures them out. She then contemplates the procedure that lies ahead: does it involve whipping, or beating, or mixing? What utensils are required? Finally, she assembles and organizes all of the necessary components, so that she can command them at precisely the right moment.

Officially, the term for this ritual is mise en place—which roughly translates from French as “everything in its place.” The principal advantage of deploying this approach for any project (not only gastronomic ones!) is that, once all the necessities are in their place, you can proceed with minimal hang-ups or delays. You won’t need to rifle through shelves or drawers searching for the items you need, nor will you spend nearly as much time thinking about the particulars of the project as you carry it out. As a consequence, you’ll be able to devote your energy and focus exclusively to the task at hand.

Budget ten minutes for a planning session at the start of the day

Your own, individually tailored equivalent of the mise en place needn’t be time-consuming; set aside about ten minutes at the start of each day. In your mind’s eye, envision the errands you hope to accomplish over the next eight hours, think about the instruments and steps involved, then outline them (in writing) as specifically as possible. Assemble the tools and information you anticipate that you’ll need in advance, and arrange them in an orderly manner. Your goal should be to minimize friction, and ensure that you’re able to complete your work smoothly, without stoppages or interruption.

If you prepare yourself in advance, using the mise en place approach, you’ll find that relatively laborious tasks will become simpler—and comparatively easy ones will become a cinch.

Post Date Your Incorporation for January 1st 2015

Did you know that you can choose the incorporation date of your business? Many people choose a specific date of incorporation for personal or financial reasons. So why not make your date of incorporation the first day of the year?

Order your business incorporation through CorporationCentre.ca from now until December 29th to request a January 1st 2015 incorporation date. We’ll do the paperwork as you relax during the holidays. Simply make a note in the order comments that you want a January 1st 2015 incorporation date (or any other post-date you’d prefer).

Please see the table below highlighting the jurisdictions that offer “post-dated” incorporations.

Click here for more information and to place your order for your incorporation.

If you have any questions or need help placing your order please call us at 1-866-906-2677.

The Large and Small of the Canadian Video Game Industry

Matthew Jackson has been working in video games ever since he graduated from Montreal’s National Animation and Design Centre (Centre NAD), but he admits that it’s his passion for video games that has made him successful in the business – a quality he believes is an absolute requirement for anybody working in a collaborative and creative environment like video games.

Like a lot of people working in the video game industry, Matthew got his start working on various projects for some of the larger video game producers with offices in Quebec such as EA and Behaviour Interactive – companies which boast hundreds, even thousands of employees – and has built an impressive resume along the way. Lately, Matthew has been working on his smallest project to date as the lead game designer for a small developer called Tuque Games who are currently working toward the launch of their flagship project, World War Machine – a post-human action RPG revolving around the perpetual war between surviving machines.

Although he admits that it’s the smallest game he’s ever worked on, his ambitions for what the project is capable of achieving are lofty. Tuque Games, which is made up of a core staff of about 20 people and a small handful of freelancers, doesn’t have the same resources or budget strength that larger video game producers might, but Matthew admits that those factors don’t necessarily yield a better experience for their audience – the gamer.

“I heard a famous filmmaker once say about films,” Matthew ponders,  “that when making a big budget film there’s a tendency for it to settle toward mediocrity to the point where it’s just as hard to make a really bad movie as it is to make a really good one – there’s always enough good ideas balancing out the bad ones. With a smaller project like World War Machine there exists the possibility of breaking free of that mediocrity and achieving something really great.”

Since starting work on World War Machine Matthew has noticed other differences between working for a smaller company versus one of the big studios: “Well, I imagine it’s the same with any small business,” he says “and it’s one of things I enjoy most about working on a smaller project, that I’m not locked into just one aspect of the game design process and have to actually view the whole project now from many different angles and contribute in many other areas. I also now have the ability, and with that I also have the responsibility, to make what I think is the most fun game possible.”

Working on a game like World War Machine has also brought with it its own set of challenges. One such challenge has been funding. In the early stages of development, World War Machine was part of the Square Enix Collective’s curated crowd sourcing campaign. By offering would-be gamers a quick insight into what the game would be all about and allowing them to vote on whether or not the idea seemed worth funding, World War Machine received a 90% ‘yes’ meaning that of the people that voted for the game, 90% claimed that they would fund it. Unfortunately, through Indiegogo, Tuque Games was unable to raise the $50,000 they were seeking.

He further points out: “Square Enix Collective itself has evolved and now has agreements with other crowdfunding websites, so other games have now gone through the same process as we did and have achieved their crowd funding goals through KickStarter which just happens to be the more popular crowd funding site.  The main goal of the crowd funding campaign was more about marketing and getting the name out there, so us not achieving that funding goal wasn’t the end of the world.”

Some of these challenges, however, have been offset by certain other factors that Tuque Games is able to benefit from. One such benefit was a funding program achieved through the Canadian Media Fund which “fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual  media platforms”. Matthew also points out the benefits that operating in Quebec has had whereby companies can get a provincial tax credit to pay part of employees’ salaries for video game related enterprises.

Although there is no fixed release date for World War Machine, Tuque Games is in the final phases of production and hopes to launch sometime in 2015.

For more information about World War Machine visit:

http://worldwarmachine.com/

For more information about the Square Enix Collective and crowd sourcing please visit:

http://collective.square-enix.com/

https://www.indiegogo.com/

https://www.kickstarter.com/canada

And, finally, to learn more about the Canadian Media Fund go to:

http://www.cmf-fmc.ca/

The Benefits of Giving Back

There are few satisfactions in life that can match the feeling of helping to make the world a better place. And while there are many ways to accomplish this, ranging from modest to ambitious, supporting a cause you believe in can bring a tremendous sense of fulfillment, in addition to improving the lives of others. But that’s not all—involvement with charitable work can be a boon for your business too.

Read on to find out why.

1.  Goodwill. Which business would you rather patronize and support: one that participates in community-building projects, sponsors events and fundraisers, and sends volunteers to help out—or one that does none of those things? All else being equal, most people would choose the former. By showing an enthusiasm for helping and giving back, you demonstrate that you are invested in the success and welfare of the community. This will not go unnoticed or unappreciated by local residents, and may help to secure and expand a loyal customer base.

2.  Networking. Advertising and marketing have certainly evolved over the decades, but few offer better results than does the oldest medium around: word-of-mouth. Volunteerism is a great way to spend time with like-minded people, many of whom may be able to offer referrals, or become prospective clients themselves. There is also some overlap with item 1. (above): the more you show enthusiasm for assisting and empowering others, the more likely they will be to do the same for you.

While devoting your time to a worthy cause, keep your eyes open for talented and proficient volunteers. Charity events are a great way to meet skilled, ambitious professionals who care deeply about the health of their communities, and are comfortable with both individual tasks and teamwork. These are qualities that typify excellent colleagues and employees too.

3.  Association with reputable causes. Again, this point partially ties into items 1. and 2., respectively. A business that associates itself with well-regarded causes is likely to attract clients and customers with shared values. Furthermore, organizations will often show appreciation for the support of their donors by mentioning the names of those benefactors at their events.

4.  Employee morale. Some companies earmark a few hours of each week for employee volunteerism, and (in the case of a team-oriented project) allow employees to vote on which charity or non-profit organization they would prefer to serve. Not only will this enhance the perception of your workers toward their employer, it also has the potential to attract new, community-oriented prospective employees to your business.

5.  Tax deductions. In many jurisdictions (including Canadian provinces), funds donated to charity by individuals and businesses may be eligible for tax breaks. If you host a fundraising event, and cover the cost of meals or other expenses for that event, those costs can also be written off in some cases. Make sure to obtain and hold onto all receipts!

6.  Personal growth. Charity work can be an enriching experience for you as an individual as well. You’ll have the opportunity to hone a wide range of skills, and undertake duties that would not normally be part of your day job. By helping those less fortunate than yourself, you’ll be reminded that your own challenges, important though they may be, pale in comparison to the problems other people face—and we could all use a bit of perspective sometimes. You may even be inspired by individuals who have dealt with tragedy, confronted significant obstacles, and succeeded at overcoming long odds in life.

Handling Conflict in The Workplace

In all long-term relationships, including professional ones, interpersonal friction is bound to arise. For many people, the natural (and comfortable) response to confrontation is to avoid it entirely, but this is not always the most sensible option. If you believe that a dispute may have an adverse impact on your workplace, it is generally wiser to intervene early and decisively, before the issue has time to fester.

That said, conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. The same qualities that contribute to individual professional success—like drive, ambition, creativity, and self-confidence—can cause members of a team to butt heads on occasion. Knowing how to manage this discord, and even channel it in a constructive direction, is an indispensable leadership skill.

Keep the following tips in mind:

Hear out all sides before drawing any conclusions. If a conversation is particularly heated, it may be useful to separate the parties involved, allow each to articulate her own position and objectives, and make a note of the key points each individual raises. Listen attentively, ask open-ended questions, and avoid taking sides during this process. Once all parties have had a chance to make their case, try to identify points of potential compromise, as well as areas that appear irreconcilable. This will allow you to map out workable solutions (and alternatives) that you can then discuss with each of the adversaries.

Identify the low-hanging fruit. Many conflicts are the product of trivial disagreements, inadvertent miscommunications, or misunderstandings. By listening carefully, you will be able to identify concerns that you can easily address.

Keep your eye on the ball. In emotionally potent situations, it’s easy to point fingers. During an impassioned argument, there is a common tendency to bring up the faults of one’s opponent, regardless of relevance to the matter at hand, purely in order to score points or inflict damage. But senseless bickering will only beget more of the same. In order to resolve a dispute favourably, maintain an assiduous focus on the source of the disagreement, avoiding distractions and ad hominem recriminations. If you find two or more members of your team engaged in an acrimonious exchange, you may find it useful to call a temporary ceasefire, and allow the contenders to cool off, before gently directing them back to the heart of the matter.

Maintain a sense of self-awareness if you become engaged in a conflict. This is another area in which emotional intelligence comes in handy, particularly an understanding of how your feelings affect you physically and psychically. Self-awareness is a precondition for keeping one’s passions in check at a stressful moment, which in turn is crucial for evaluating the facts and claims in a dispute, reasoning, problem-solving, and negotiation.

Conflicts can create opportunities, not just headaches. If approached calmly and rationally, disputes can yield novel perspectives, ideas, and solutions that may not have arisen in the absence of confrontation. When most people hear the saying, “Two heads are better than one,” they imagine a relationship that is largely collaborative and amicable. But real life tends to be messier than what we envision in our minds’ eye!

The key is to channel potentially antagonistic sentiments toward constructive goals. This can best be achieved by listening, keeping the conversation as respectful as possible, and focusing on concrete sources of disagreement and objectives, rather than personal failings.

This point is worthy of re-emphasis: if you believe an interpersonal issue is serious enough to generate animosity or discomfort in the workplace, it is almost always better to address it quickly and comprehensively, than to allow it to progress and harden.

Dealing With Disruptive Innovation

 Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen is renowned for formulating the theory of disruptive innovation—which describes novel products or services with the potential to revolutionize an industry, and displace incumbents from their market position. In his 1996 book The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, Christensen reflects on corporate decisions that, though ostensibly rational, failed to anticipate and profitably respond to make-or-break technological advances. He draws a distinction between sustaining innovations, which enhance the quality or effectiveness of an existing product, and disruptive innovations: technological developments which can displace a popular product altogether, especially by offering a more affordable, more accessible, or more versatile alternative.

For example, when personal computers (a potentially disruptive technology) first appeared on the consumer market, it was not entirely clear that they would supplant typewriters as the principal word-processing tool in our society. Thus, typewriter manufacturers faced a pivotal choice: to stick to their area of expertise and strive to create better and more reliable typewriters, or to shift their business model dramatically. Some firms—notably the American conglomerate Smith Corona—opted for the former, and found themselves manufacturing machines of excellent quality, the demand for which rapidly dried up.

While there are no sure things in business (after all, the penchant for innovation and dynamism is one of the key selling points of a market capitalist economy), there are some pragmatic steps companies can take to avoid being “disrupted”:

Know—and expand—your market. Maintaining relationships with customers/clients while striving to attract new (and especially less affluent) ones is key. Engage with your clientele, welcome their feedback, keep tabs on their wants and values, and consider ways to serve them better. Customer loyalty—the result of a reputation for professionalism, ethical practices, and high-quality products—can help keep your enterprise afloat as you integrate new technologies into your business model.

What are your competitors doing? Although spying on rivals is an obvious faux pas, you can derive plenty of information by building an amicable rapport with competitors in your industry. Is there a technique or technology they might introduce that would keep you up at night?

Apprise yourself of trends and innovations. The upside of innovation is that it helps us solve problems, spares us effort, and tends to build on itself. Stay abreast of the latest trends, both within your industry and in society at large. Are there any new ideas or technologies you can make use of? What aspects of your operation would you like to run more smoothly? (Don’t overlook the possibility that you could devise your own innovative solution!)

Harness the innovativeness of a start-up while running an established firm. In The Innovator’s Dilemma, Christenson refers to discovery-driven planning, which involves real-time strategic adjustments, learning-by-doing, and a bit of trial-and-error. Accordingly, firms and their managers should be willing to take calculated risks, adopting innovations that may not work out perfectly on the first attempt.

Bear in mind that there is no such thing as a monopoly on good ideas. Start-up firms tend to be nimble and creative not only because their founders may feel they have nothing to lose, but also because there is little hierarchy between workers and managers, or entrenched operational protocols, to obstruct the free flow of ideas. Don’t be afraid to ask employees what they think, and encourage equal-opportunity communication in the workplace.

Intimidating though it may seem, disruptive innovation needn’t be a threat to your business. With the right approach and attitude, you will be equipped to not only respond to potentially disruptive innovations, but to place yourself at the leading edge.

Celebrating Small Business in Canada

This week we celebrate small businesses in Canada during Small Business Week!

To show our appreciation for entrepreneurship, we’re offering dollar business incorporations on October 22^nd and 23^rd. Incorporate for only one dollar to save your business time and money by letting us do the paperwork for you!

Small businesses create thousands of jobs every year and employ over 7 million people nationwide, making them essential to a strong economy. Incorporating your small business gives you the peace of mind of limited liability and perpetual existence, and the credibility that comes with the incorporation status.

Take advantage of this incredible deal we’re offering for only two days!

Incorporate your business for only $1 by using the promotional code CC1INC14 in your shopping cart before placing your order.*

Please visit our website to start the order process.

*Plus government fees and optional products and services. Non-profit incorporation is not included in this offer.

Restoring your attention span

The rapid march of technology in our times is truly remarkable, and shows no sign of abetting. Smart phones exemplify this trend: over the past decade they have become as ubiquitous as credit cards—even the majority of schoolchildren in our society seem to own one. In fact, the presence of smart phones in our lives has become so prominent, that many of us strain to recall how we managed to function with landlines and dial-up internet just fifteen years ago.

While the advantages of this development are clear—extraordinary connectivity with the people in our lives, and an unprecedented repository of knowledge at our fingertips—the pitfalls are less frequently acknowledged. (Leave aside, for the moment, the capacity for governments to track their citizens’ movements and communications as never before.) A growing body of research suggests that one pernicious effect of the newfangled gadgets has been a diminution of the average person’s attention span. In other words, as the number of visual and auditory stimuli in our environment increases, our ability to concentrate on one single element of our surroundings tends to suffer. This can put a serious damper on both our productivity, and our ability to think deeply about things.

To enhance and regain your concentration, try the following:

Remove clutter and distractions. If you face an important task that you anticipate will require your undivided attention for an extended period of time, remove as many of the unneeded stimuli from your environment as possible—particularly those which tend to distract you. Switch off your phone temporarily, close unnecessary windows on your computer desktop, and remove superfluous items from your workspace. This requires a bit of discipline, but the effort is usually worth it.

 Ambient sound. This is not a recommendation that necessarily applies to everyone. Some people are best able to concentrate in silence, others find that a bit of music or bustle (as in a coffee shop) actually enhances their productivity.

 Go for a walk, jog, or bike ride. A bit of light exercise in advance to tackling a demanding task will facilitate the flow of oxygen to your brain, and induce the release of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine—both of which will, among other benefits, help you concentrate. A brief stroll has the added advantage of giving you time to collect your thoughts, and temporarily remove yourself from sources of stress in your work environment.

Make time for sleep. It may seem obvious, but too many people with demanding schedules tend to sacrifice sleep on the altar of progress. Now that the aforementioned smart phones have afforded us the ability to communicate with each other anywhere, anytime, and through a variety of channels, the temptation to forgo sleep is particularly acute. However, remember that fatigue will invariably detract from your productivity the following day—while a chronic lack of sleep can have detrimental effects on your health, quality of life, and career longevity. Set firm ground rules for yourself and your co-workers: if they e-mail you at 1:45 a.m., they shouldn’t expect a reply before morning.

Keep healthy snacks on hand. The contribution of proper nourishment to your ability to concentrate is significant. Fruit, granola bars, yogourt, and nuts are preferable to sugary items like doughnuts, candies, and milk chocolate. Eschew sugary drinks like pop and from-concentrate juices, and aim to limit your coffee/caffeine consumption to no more than a cup or two per day. (See Make time for sleep, above.) Less caffeine generally translates into fewer trips to the bathroom and more time for productive effort.