'Complaint budget' will boost energy
Personal success coach Curt Rosengren suggests giving yourself a complaint budget - a limited number of complaints you will make in a given period of time, because complaints can sap your energy. Or rate the complaint on a scale of 1 to 10 for importance of issue, and determine whether it's really worth fussing over. TheMapMaker, curtrosengren.com
Pull up a chair and stay a while
When people sit at a table, executive coach Carol Kinsey Goman notes, they often choose to sit opposite one another. But that's an adversarial position. Instead, she suggests sitting at right angles to one another, which is most conducive to informal conversation. TroyMedia.com
Make your point with a light touch
When sales trainer Mike Brooks can't get a client or prospect to return a call, he sends an e-mail with the subject line, "Should I stay or go?" The message reads: "While I've tried to reach you, I haven't heard back from you and that tells me one of three things: (1) You've already chosen another company for this and if that's the case please let me know so I can stop bothering you; (2) You're still interested but haven't had the time to get back to me yet; (3) You've fallen and can't get up, and in that case please let me know and I'll call 911 for you ... Please let me know which one it is because I'm starting to worry ... Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you." MrInsideSales.com
Keyboard shortcuts to shift in Windows
If you're working in Windows and want to shift from an e-mail, document or web page you are working on to your desktop and back again, press your Windows key plus the M key to minimize all the open windows and then to return press shift-Windows-M. Or, press Windows-D to minimize all windows and allow you to focus on the desktop, and then Windows-D to return again to what you were working on. Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Harvey Schachter