Jonas Fischer - Author Articles

The Science Behind Working Smart

September 12, 2017 by Jonas Fischer Leave a Comment

It’s late Friday, and your to-do list has four items that are all due within the next hour. When you planned out your week, the workload seemed realistic, but in the end you somehow over-promised and under-delivered.

Working Smart Friday

We all have a tendency to overestimate our capabilities, while at the same time we underestimate how long it will take to complete a task. However noble our intentions are to take on more work, our inability to accurately predict our productivity sometimes leaves us scrambling.

By understanding the science behind why we overestimate our capabilities, we can develop a smarter approach that counteracts our planning biases to create manageable workloads and get more done.

5 Habits to Supercharge Team Productivity

August 22, 2017 by Jonas Fischer Leave a Comment

Lebron James had a historic, MVP-level performance in the 2017 NBA Finals, but in the end, his team lost the championship.

At work, we sometimes get caught up analyzing individual performances when the metric that really matters is the overall team productivity. As the traditional silos quickly disappear, our day-to-day work has become a cross-functional, team sport.

Vince Lombardi, the famous NFL football coach, summed up what makes a successful team: “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Managing a group of diverse personalities and skill sets can be daunting, let alone trying to figure out how to set everyone up for combined success. Luckily, we’ve compiled several research studies with insights that your team can incorporate to help them jell and improve their productivity:

The Biology Behind Productivity

August 15, 2017 by Jonas Fischer Leave a Comment

Superb time-management skills are worthless when you’re feeling unmotivated, distracted or tired at work. Until robots take over our day-to-day workloads, our productivity is directly linked to our mental and physical well-being.

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The expectation at work to remain competent, motivated and attentive for the entire workday puts a huge strain on our biological resources. Thankfully modern science has given us a better understanding of how our bodies work, which can help us leverage our physiology to work smarter.

By implementing a few biological disciplines, you’ll be able to work with your body and avoid unproductive behaviors like impulsivity, sleep deprivation, and stress.

Here are some hacks based on the biology of productivity that can help you and your team perform at their best:

7 Unconventional Co-Working Spaces That Are Raising Eyebrows

August 8, 2017 by Jonas Fischer Leave a Comment

If you thought it was too early for the co-working industry to experience disruption, think again.

A new breed of co-working spaces is emerging focusing first and foremost on the tenants’ interests, needs, and values. Each space is built around one core idea, and it’s meant to attract tenants who align with its single-minded purpose, creating a work environment where everyone in the building shares a common bond.

For example, if your startup cares about sustainability, you can find co-working spaces that are certified green and all of the tenants have a similar desire to help the environment.

This personalization enables you to integrate your lifestyle with your work style and plug into a like-minded community. When you work alongside people that share a similar passion, it creates an instant camaraderie and support system that is hard to find in the traditional co-working spaces due to their size and diverse priorities.

Here are seven unconventional co-working spaces pioneering a work movement that focuses on people first:

Managing a Remote Team – A Leader’s 7-Step To-Do List

August 1, 2017 by Jonas Fischer 2 Comments

Managing a remote team is about employee empowerment, not oversight.

Remote employees that excel are self-motivated, reliable and results-driven. As a manager, your job is to create a supportive environment that encourages employees to manage their own projects so you can focus on building a culture of trust and communication.

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Here are seven things a remote leader must have to set their team up for success:

When Is It Time to Move to a Co-Working Space

July 4, 2017 by Jonas Fischer 2 Comments

Google, Mattel, Apple, Disney and Harley-Davidson all have something in common: they started in someone’s garage.

Today, technology disguises the fact that your startup is operating out of your house, which buys you time before you need to start thinking about office space. You can hire a virtual receptionist, employ a remote workforce and implement enterprise-powered tools to run your business like an established company.

This is an amazing time for startups to grow without worrying about burning through cash for rent and equipment. But for many, there comes a point when the work-from-home lifestyle begins to stunt progress. There is no formula based on headcount or revenue to determine when you should consider a change, but there are a few telltale signs.

Here are three indications that it’s time to consider moving your team into a co-working space.