guides – edudish

Getting stuff done when you’re not motivated

Most people tend to fear the difficulties and challenges that they will face professionally, when starting a business; however, these are not the worst things to worry about! We tend to worry about the things that we don’t know how to do or haven’t done before. Fortunately, most of the time we discover that our jobs are easier than we would have thought. Also, things that we may find difficult at one point, tend to get easier in time.

This having been said, there is one thing that can bring an entrepreneur down to his or her knees: lack of motivation. This is an extremely common problem nowadays and can affect even the best of us. While it is inevitable to feel unmotivated every now and again, there are secrets to managing to get stuff done even when you are feeling unmotivated.

The following tips are not motivational in the sense that they will convince you that life is hard and that you should force yourself to succeed no matter what. However, they will help you understand why you aren’t feeling motivated and will show you a few things that you can do in order to bypass this feeling.

While they won’t make you feel like you can conquer the world, these tips will enable you to do considerably more than you would otherwise.

Understand what it is that you are afraid of;

Sometimes, when you have a subconscious fear related to work, it can stop you from doing what has to be done. Some people are afraid that the task they must do will take a long time, others that they will fail regardless of how hard they try. These fears can build up over time and severely affect your productivity.

The best solution to this issue is to make a list. Write down everything that you have to do over the course of your workday, and then specify how long you think it would take to get everything done. Once the list has been made, start working and time yourself. You may find that your estimates are a lot longer than the real duration your tasks. Also, if you’re afraid that you will fail in your work, then simply break down all your tasks in small segments, and then start working your way through them.

Every time you finish a task or a part of a task, cross it out from your list. You will be surprised at how effective something as simple as this really is.

The 20-second rule;

Manipulate yourself into getting stuff done by doing some of the necessary preparations the night before. For example, if you want to write several long articles in the morning, then make your checklists and prepare your laptop before going to bed. This way you will only have to sit at your desk and start typing.

This method can be used in any manner that you see fit. You can prepare your clothes for the next day, stack any documents that you need, on your desk, etc. This will trick your mind into creating useful habits and will also enable you to bypass the lack of motivation.

Refrain from using social media, unless you need to do so for work;

Procrastinating is one of the main things that fuels the lack of motivation that we sometimes feel. It’s hard to feel motivated to work when we get notifications every few minutes. Most people keep saying that they will only read one more post, or watch one more video before doing their tasks; however, they end up losing half a day waiting for a miraculous need to get to work to appear!

This having been said, disconnect from any social media network that you don’t need in order to accomplish your goals for that day, turn off notifications on your phone, and only go online when you really need to. If you want a bit more control over how you spend your time at your computer, then you can also find apps that measure what applications you use, and for how long.

Analyze your day and determine when you’re the most efficient;

This one is different from one individual to another. Some are pretty much useless in the morning, others tend to start getting tired and less efficient in the afternoon.

It is important to determine when you’re at the top of your game, in order to concentrate your heavier workload over that period of time. If you’re extremely active in the morning, then start your day by doing the most difficult tasks, and leave the simpler, easier ones for the afternoon. Organize your day and you will never again experience those moments when you have to do something difficult, but you’re completely exhausted.

Reward yourself;

Some people aren’t motivated to work because they do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. To them, workdays are something that must be done, however, they do not feel good about them once they are over.

A good way to bypass this is to create rewards for yourself. Plan your day in such a manner that every time you finish a task, you give yourself a small reward. This can be anything you like, as long as it doesn’t lead to procrastination.

Organize your desk;

Most people will never be motivated to work if their desk is all messy and disorganized. They just feel uncomfortable and frustrated, especially when not being able to find something. The best solution for this problem is to spend a few minutes at the end of each workday and organize your desk. Remember that things are easier to find when they have a specific place on your desk and are not just thrown in a pile.

Know when to give up.

There are days when you can bypass your lack of motivation; however, there are also periods when you won’t be able to work, no matter what you try. These periods of time can be a result of exhaustion, troubles in your personal life, or other serious problems. If you push yourself to work, even though you are completely unmotivated (even after trying all the tips above), then your work will suffer. You may find that your results are mediocre and that this will overwhelm you even more.

Instead, admit that you need some time off, and relax for a few hours. Do something to take your mind off work and to help you get rid of all the stress that has built up in the last few days.

Set Up MailChimp And Start Sending Newsletters

Hello everyone, today’s blog post is an important one for any business – setting up your email list! To set it up you’ll need to use other software, and that’s where MailChimp comes in. First time I made a newsletter, it was not so clear on exactly what to do, so creating this post I think will help a lot of you. There are screenshots and a step by step guide to get you started.

Why is mail chimp recommended over others and easier for those who are getting started?

The simplest to setup is MailChimp, it has enough bells and whistles to make it better than others to. Even advanced users will find features that make it worthwhile.
this email system is completely free (as long as you have under 2000 newsletter subscribers).
MailChimp also integrates with a large number of software applications, as a result of its popularity.
The system features a drag & drop editor that can be used to easily design newsletters. This will make creating newsletters much easier than other newsletter services out there.

This tutorial will go over everything you need to know, including the following:

What is a campaign?
What is a list?
How can you create a subscription form for others to sign up to your newsletter?
How can you design my newsletter without knowing how to program or code?
How can you send your first newsletter?
Why should you change your mailing address?
What do we mean by automation?
How to use automation to your advantage.

How to create the subscriber list:

The subscribers that you want to send newsletters to need to be kept into something called a list. You can create more than one list, and send different newsletters to the individuals in each of them. For example, maybe you have one list for users who visit the site to shop, and another list for users who visit the site to read. Maybe you have two websites and you want separate lists for each one… you get the idea.

The first step is to navigate to “Lists” (in the upper-right corner), and tap “Create List.”

MailChimp tutorial create a list

After you click create a list, the next page is a very easy form to fill out for your list details. You fill in the form with your chosen name for the list (make it relevant i.e. readers list), whatever name and email you want to appear in the “From” section when the subscribers receive a newsletter, and a small text to remind the recipients of how they subscribed.

mailchimp tutorial

You will also notice that you will be required to enter your address. This is a legal requirement, and it is advised to use your business address, not your personal one. The address will be included in every sent newsletter!

If your MailChimp account is going to be used for business purposes (readers of your blog for example), getting a P.O. Box is a great idea, it’s inexpensive and you won’t be sending out your address without exposing yourself in any way, and you won’t be breaking any laws.

Designing a Signup Form

Once you save your list, you will be given access to its dashboard. Here, you can view all the subscribers in the list, check various statistics related to your newsletter, and design the forms that individuals will need to fill out in order to subscribe.

First you want to click on “lists” and then the name of the list you will start editing – this will take you to your list dashboard.

Then, click “Sign Up Forms”, and choose the “General Forms” option. This will open a new page through which you can scroll down and build your form.

This is where the Drag & Drop tool comes into play. It will allow you to change anything from colors to the font, and insert images. Consider how most forms of this type are composed and build one that represents you and your business. Add or remove fields to how you see fit, I have seen forms with only two fields, and as many as 5!

Make sure to write down the URL of the signup form that you’ve just designed, as you will be able to insert it in social media, blogs, and other pages. This is a good way to direct link possible subscribers to your form and get them to sign up to your list.

Add a Lead Magnet to the Welcome Email

It is usually a good practice to create a lead magnet and add it to the Welcome Email that subscribers will receive. A “lead magnet” can be anything you want it to be (a useful checklist, a set of links, etc). Essentially, it is a great way to add important resources to the Welcome Email. Anything goes, the only rule is you’re creating something that your ideal audience finds interesting.

Once you think of what to use as a lead magnet, you will have to set it up so it’s automatically sent out to a user when they subscribe. In order to make it easier to send out, it is better if the lead magnet is a PDF file. This will allow you to upload it to your website (just like you would an image). You can create a PDF file in common text editors such as Pages or Microsoft Word (you don’t need Adobe). Simply create the document, then save it as a PDF.

After you create the PDF and uploaded it to your website, go to the “Signup Form” menu, select “General Forms”, and go to “Final Welcome Email”, in the drop down menu. Once you’ve set up how you want the message to look, include the lead magnet.

Now, go ahead and customize what this email will look like, and include the link to the lead magnet (PDF) that you created. Give your new reader a nice welcoming message to go along with the free goodies.

Also, remember to change the email subject, as the default one reads “Subscription confirmed”. Try to change it to something that lets subscribers know of the lead magnet inside.

Modifying your Mailing Address.

If you ever want to change the address that you’ve entered when creating a list or add an additional one to your account, simply click your profile picture in the top-right corner, click “Settings”, and then “Contact Information”. You can enter the PO Box or Office Address you might be using here.

Create and Send your First Newsletter

Almost there and ready to send out your first newsletter. In order to start sending newsletters, you must first navigate to the “Campaigns” tab, at the top of the screen, and then select “Create Campaigns” in the top right. You will be asked to choose between different types of campaigns, normally “Regular Campaign” is going to the best one most of the time. Now, click the list you want to send it to, then click “Next”, and you will be able to continue setting everything up.

On this page you can name the campaign, enter a the subject and a few other text fields to fill out. Then next comes the design.

The last step of the process is designing your newsletter (again, with the help of the Drag & Drop editor). MailChimp also gives you the option of choosing between several templates which you can then customize to your liking. Again, if you select the “Design” tab, you will have the option of changing colors, fonts, and inserting images.

If you go with a template, you can add content to it in blocks, the main image at the top can be your logo for example. There are many ‘blocks’ to drag and drop into your new campaign which can make it original and engaging for subscribers.

Once you’ve finished, select “Save as Template”, at the top, and click “Next”. Saving it as a template will allow you to bring up your design in the future for a new email, as opposed to having to design the entire thing all over again.

The final step is to click “Send” and send it out immediately or schedule it for a future time.

How to Set Up Gmail With a Custom Domain

While most email services have come a long way in terms of interface and usability, the issue of using custom domains for email addresses still remains largely unresolved. More and more individuals are seeing the advantages of creating an email address that says more about them and their business, than about the service provider. Unfortunately, setting up such an account can often be difficult.

One of the companies that offer this feature is Google, and there are more than a few reasons for which setting up a custom domain email with them is useful, however, the three most important are:

The advantage of having a custom email address that will allow you to appear more professional. Also, through this, you will be promoting your own brand, instead of that of the email service provider.
Gmail allows you to connect to multiple accounts at the same time and will enable you to multitask without much effort. Furthermore, the interface is clean and crisp, and will not confuse you when attempting to process emails from multiple accounts.
Google is well-suited for businesses and professionals, in terms of speed and responsiveness; the account can be secured with a two-step verification method, which will enable you to keep your data as safe as possible.

Creating a Gmail address with a custom domain is relatively easy:

The first step is to buy a custom domain name. You can look for services that sell domains, and choose the one that suits your goals or company.

Next, you should create an account for G Suite: This is Google’s business application package, and it features several tools that can increase productivity, as well as connectivity. In essence, it will allow you to create a custom domain email address. However, keep in mind that the package comes with a monthly fee, after a short free trial period.

The next step is to choose how you want to set up your account. You are offered a choice between “Custom” and “Express”. For general use, it is better to choose “Express”.

After this has been done, you will be asked to “verify” your domain name. This can be done by placing an HTML tag on your website’s homepage, which is basically a copy-paste job. You will be provided with a code that needs to be copied into the <head> section of your website. Most WordPress themes have a space designed specifically for this purpose. If your chosen theme does not have it, you can look for the “Insert Headers and Footers” plug-in and install it into your theme. Once this has been done, click “Verify”.

The final step is to add users: Go to your login page, in your Google Apps account, click “Users”, and add as many users as you’d like. These are actually custom email addresses. Keep in mind, however, that every user you add will set you back $5/month, or $50/year.

Once you’ve added the User, you’re done. You are now the proud owner of a custom domain Gmail address.

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