10 Articles to Help You Be More Productive & Creative

It’s the end of August. And that means it’s time to

1. Give yourself a high five (and an extra fancy latte at the coffee shop) because you got through another month of running a business, and that is awesome.
2. Take a look at some of the interesting, helpful, and sometimes surprising advice that the internet has to offer for improving our productivity and creativity.

The flexibility of working from home can be wonderful, but does being alone during the work day lead to less creativity?

What I need from my work environment is what most people need, regardless of generation: an atmosphere that is intellectually stimulating, collaborative, and respectful of time. And that’s hard to get when your coworkers are scattered to the winds, which in turn makes a strong case for everyone sucking it up and heading into work, at least most of the time.

Navigating requests to “pick your brain” can be difficult, especially when you are part of a demographic that is underrepresented in your field. Here’s how three women of color do it without undervaluing their time.

Yes, you can feel better about how you look on video calls. Because worrying about how you appear on camera is seriously distracting when you’re supposed to be talking to coworkers, employees, or clients.

Highly recommended: sneaky tricks to improve your SEO and Pinterest rankings.

An irregular income can lead to money problems if you’re not careful. Luckily, there are ways to keep that from happening.

Tips for hiring interns so that everyone benefits.

Working from home is a challenge. Working from home with your spouse or partner in the next room? That gets twice as tricky, but it can be done.

“We’ll often say, ‘I’d like the room for three hours,’” Mr. Greenberg said. “We make sure to go to coffee shops, sometimes separately. After five days in a row of being in that bedroom, it feels like you’re marinating in the same juices.” 

Fascinating: top business leaders like Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey use this technique to be more productive, and it doesn’t involve more work.

Plus a couple posts around here you may have missed:

4 Ways to Impress Your Clients (And Help Your Business) + What Are You Trying to Want?

Now, let’s all get out there and get ready for an awesome September!