When that alarm sounds and you're all cozy in bed, slapping the snooze button seems like the only reasonable thing to do. But before you doze off for the third time in a row, consider all you can do if you woke up–not only on time, but one hour before you normally do. You could get more done, feel and look better, and lessen your day-to-day stress and anxiety.
As per Elite Daily, "Studies show people who get up early are generally happier than their late-sleeping counterparts." And Business Insider adds, "(Early risers) say they feel healthier than their friends who prefer the night life."
Here are 10 things you can achieve by waking up one hour earlier. Just be sure to hit the sack at a reasonable hour to assure adequate sleep, and tomorrow will be the start of a new you.
Exercise
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No more excuses for not having enough time in the day for working out. Rise and shine and get moving right away. You will feel proud that you're working on your fitness, and the energizing boost will keep you in the zone all day. As per Huffington Post, "Working out boosts endorphins and other mood-elevating substances that can help lift your spirits as you take on the day. Morning workouts result in better energy levels throughout the day and give you more mental alertness and sharpness." Once you start seeing results, you'll appreciate your early wake-up call.
Check Email
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Why wait until you get to the office to check your email? It will interfere with other pressing tasks at hand and you may wind up rushing through them – missing vital info and perhaps replying without having a chance to reflect on your responses before hitting "send." Wake up and review your email carefully, weeding out the junk and thinking out your replies. Even if you don't have a chance to respond immediately, at least you know what's lurking in your inbox, so you can organize your thoughts and prioritize.
Prep Healthy Food
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When we're in a rush, healthful eating can go out the window. It's much faster to whiz through the drive thru than to fix our own meal at home. But with a whole hour free for culinary adventures, you can prepare healthy meals for the full day. Go ahead and chop a fresh salad for lunch and get some chicken or salmon marinating for grilling come dinnertime. Cut up veggies and portion out nuts and dried fruit for snacking throughout the day. Whip up a protein-packed smoothie for a go-to drink that's filling and good for you. Your healthy eating will not only do your body a service, but you'll have the fuel you'll need to conquer your day. For some menu inspiration, check out PayPath's A – Z guide to mind-boosting foods.
Catch Up on News
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There are times, especially in the current climate, when we want to avoid the news altogether, but staying up-to-date with what is going on in the world is important. You want to be in-the-know of worldwide and local happenings, so you are aware of and engaged with the status quo. Aside from gaining knowledge and perspective, you will be better equipped to participate in meaningful discussions with co-workers and friends. Read the paper, tune into the morning news, pop on the radio, or search online for the latest coverage.
Get to Work on Time
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Showing up late to work is not only irresponsible, but it causes undo stress and an air of chaos. Wake up earlier and you'll have plenty of time to get things done before heading out of the house, allowing you to leave yourself ample time to account for any heavy traffic or other commuter issues. You may even arrive early, providing quiet time to get your day in order and to settle in without disruption. Plus, if you get in early, your boss may allow you to head home early too.
Have Some Alone Time
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We can all benefit from some time to ourselves. "Me time" is recharging and a great way to reflect on ourselves and those we interact with. If you have kids, be sure to rise while they are still sound asleep or else you alone time is sure to go out the window. During this peaceful time, consider meditating, going outside to watch the sunrise, or simply enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea. Entrepreneur suggests keeping a journal. "Journaling helps process previous events, clarify thinking, understand life's context, notice feelings, record significant lessons and ask important questions."
Do Household Chores
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After a long day at work, the last thing anyone feels like doing is tending to the household chores. Loading laundry, vacuuming, and washing the dishes are not exactly welcome home gifts. If you wake up earlier, you can get these nuisances out of the way and they'll be off your mind. Not to mention, coming home to a spic and span house is a pleasant way to end the workday.
Eat a Wholesome Breakfast
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With an entire hour free, sitting down to a healthy breakfast sounds tempting. No more sticky granola bars or fattening muffins for you. Now you can not only eat healthier, but actually have the time to enjoy a decent meal. Consider a protein-packed omelet, slow-cooker oats, whole wheat pancakes, or a fresh fruit salad topped with seeds and nuts. If you aren't quite ready to eat so early, you can prep an on-the-go breakfast to take to work. Thesethree easy-to-make recipes will have your mouth watering.
Read a Book
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You've been itching to get back to reading but can't seem to find the time. Your friends are all discussing their latest read, but all you've had time for was the blurbs on the back of the cereal box. Not anymore. Wake up an hour earlier and have time for that page-turner you've been hearing about. And you don't even have to get out of bed. Keep your book on your nightstand and read until it's time to get up.
Plan Your Day
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Waking up in a frazzle is no way to begin a productive day. Give yourself a full hour to plan your day from morning 'till night. Make a calendar of events, set reminders for meetings and appointments, and be sure to schedule family and social activities too. Keep your planner on your smartphone or on paper -whatever works best for you. You won't forget important to-dos and you'll be able to set up the day, so you are able to accomplish everything you wanted to.
It's Southwest Companion Pass Season. Here's Why It's The Best Flight Deal on the Market
Southwest Companion Pass
There’s all this talk about solo travel. And for good reason — no wasting precious time waiting for others to get their act together, take the plans out of the group chat and actually buy the tickets. Going solo, you can be spontaneous. You can plan your trips according to your precise tastes. You can hop on any flight and fly awayyyyyy.
But what if each time you flew you’d get a free ticket? That’s what you get with the Southwest Companion Pass.
Award status, upgrades, lounge access — there are many perks in the frequent flier game. But one of the coveted holy grails is the Southwest Companion Pass.
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
The Companion Pass is part of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program. You get to choose one person to be your “companion,” and they fly with you for free (plus some taxes and fees) on every flight. That’s right. Two for the price of one. That’s half off each ticket if you split it! Whether you’re flying with a partner, family member, friend, or anyone else, they can tag along for free.
And it gets better: once you earn the pass, you can reap the rewards for that full calendar year … AND the next. That’s why people go mad trying to earn a companion pass during the early months of the year. The sooner you qualify, the longer you can use it.
There are also no blackout dates. There are no limits. And if you didn’t purchase the ticket (think: work travel, your companion, or a generous benefactor), there are no restrictions! As long as you’re the one on the plane, your companion can also … be on the plane.
You can also switch out your designated companion 3x a year. So, no need to stay in a relationship simply to get the most out of your companion pass! Ghost and fly away — with a whole new companion!
If this sounds too good to be true — it’s not. But there is one small catch. It’s kinda tough to earn this mega reward.
How to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass?
You can qualify for the pass in one of two ways:
- Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights
- Earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.
Clearly, this is no small feat — especially if you’re trying to qualify ASAP.
So how do you actually earn the Southwest Companion Pass?
Don’t worry, there’s a path to earning this amazing reward without climbing on 100 flights or spending an exorbitant amount of money.
Earning 135K reward points may seem completely impossible, but it’s easier than it sounds. Simply sign up for a Southwest Credit Card and turn those spending habits into a rapid rewards account. Through the Rewards Priority Credit Card, earn points when using local transit and commuting, plus score major points and miles whenever you spend.
Stay with me here. This is not some scheme to get you into credit card debt. Many airline cards come with potential savings, giantic rewards, awarding you points, and cashback with every purchase you make that can be redeemed for travel. And often they can come with passive sign-up bonuses. If you spend a specific amount of money within a certain timeframe of opening the card, you can be in for a windfall of points.
Now that’s where the companion pass comes in:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Priority Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- Southwest Performance Business Credit Card
Southwest has three personal cards and a business card. Each of these cards offers rewards between 30K-80K points. In the past, people could open two cards and get a bonus that granted enough points to almost meet the minimum. However, with new restrictions on personal cards, you can only get one bonus every 24 months. Boo!
However, this doesn’t apply to business cards. If you’re eligible, have good credit, and not likely to spiral into insane credit card debt, you can open a business card and a personal card, and accrue 100K+ points. The Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card will get you points after you spend money in no time.
Now to earn the rest of them.
The secret to gaining these credit card points is to plan your card sign-ups around big purchases. Just before a recent move, I opened a card . . . and the rewards came rolling in — a small balm to ease the pain of how exorbitant moving can be.
Put everyday spend — especially big purchases or bulk items — on your Southwest credit card and watch your award points quickly add up. Typically, you earn 1 point per $1 spent on your Southwest card and 2 points per $1 on actual Southwest purchases.
But there are other ways to earn points, including:
- Flying Southwest: Booking travel on Southwest earns more points. The cost of this travel will be worth it with your companion pass
- Shopping from Rapid Rewards Partners: Purchases with Southwest’s “Home & Lifestyle” and “Shop and Dine” Partners also earn Companion Pass qualifying points. While you shouldn’t make gratuitous purchases, browse Southwest’s partners to see if you could earn extra points for items you'd be purchasing anyway. All this, simply from enrolling in their Dining Program and shopping with their partners.
So there you have it! And since it’s almost Spring, get to earning and soon you’ll be flying two for the price of one!
Jobs don't have to be miserable!
Though the wave of tech layoffs and the threat of a recession has overshadowed yesteryear's news of the great recession, everywhere you look, employees are asking for more — and getting it. Though this time of uncertainty could have given employers back the power, it's still in the hands of the workforce.
From Gen-Z's boundary setting and penchant for quiet quitting when they're being under-recognized, to labor unions and even the WGA writer's strike, we're in an era where workers can make demands about how they work — and where they work. And for many people, they want to work from home.
For many employees, full-time remote work offered newfound flexibility to work around their schedules — whether it be picking up kids from school, or working when they feel most productive. Many employees seized this freedom to escape big cities and relocate and prioritize their quality of life. Remote work lovers are demanding offices remain closed or requesting it as a benefit or work option. And if their company insists they return? Many would rather look for new jobs in the flourishing remote-first corporate environment.
However, some missed the structure of the office and its offers of accountability, collaboration, more amenities, and . . . friendship. But not all companies are created equal. Some hope to lure employees back by upgrading the office experience. Turns out, the millennial start-up with that Day-Glo ping-pong table and IPAbeer-on-tap isn’t actually the dream if it comes with a toxic work environment (we’re looking at you WeWork). As companies add in-office perks, employees are requesting more support, boundaries — and even arrangements like the four-day workweek.
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For the best of both worlds, companies are adopting hybrid systems. However, reports from CNBC and BBC imply that this may be a taxing option. Having one foot in the office and the other in your office kitchen is far from ideal for most employees, research says.
LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report reveals that of the 500 C-level executives surveyed, 81% said they’re changing workplace policies to offer greater flexibility.
But according to CNBC, “emerging data is beginning to show that hybrid work can be exhausting, leading to the very problem workers thought it could solve: burnout. More than 80% of human resources executives report that hybrid is proving to be exhausting for employees. This is according to a global study by employee engagement platform TinyPulse. Workers also reported that hybrid was more emotionally draining than fully remote and more taxing than even full-time office-based work.”
BBC agrees, reporting: “Emerging data is beginning to back up such anecdotal evidence: many workers report that hybrid is emotionally draining … Workers, too, reported hybrid was more emotionally taxing than fully remote arrangements – and, concerningly, even full-time office-based work. Given many businesses plan on implementing permanent hybrid working models, and that employees, by and large, want their working weeks spent between home and the office, such figures sound alarm bells. But what is it specifically about hybrid working that is so emotionally exhausting? And how can workers and companies avoid pitfalls so that hybrid actually works?”
“Overall, human resources executives thought that hybrid and remote work were the most emotionally exhausting for employees, but that wasn’t the case,” Elora Voyles, a people scientist at TinyPulse, told CNBC.
So with every employee having various experiences and opinions about what works best for them and their lifestyles, it makes sense that people are job-hopping to suit their newfound preferences.
Frankly, some are job-hopping to enhance their compensation. Statistically, most people realize their greatest salary increases when they move from one job to another. Remaining at the same company for years and years often limits how much you can make as your career advances. One popular female finance guru, Cinneah El-Amin told Afrotech: “I am a staunch advocate for more women to job-hop, to get the money they deserve, and to stop playing small when it comes to our careers and the next step in our careers.”
The research supports this, with Zippia claiming: “Generally speaking, a good salary increase when changing jobs is between 10-20%. The national average is around 14.8%, so don't be afraid to ask for a similar increase. At a minimum, you should expect a wage growth of at least 5.8% when you change positions.”
However, a job search can be daunting, despite the potential benefits. But if you can land a role in a new company — and potentially boost your salary while you’re at it — you will challenge yourself and constantly keep learning. LinkedIn Learning, for example, is one platform that can help you level up your skills and give you an edge to land the job.
LinkedIn Learning allows you to take advantage of the moments that truly matter. It offers courses on subjects that will carry you through every step of your career. Their instructors have real-world experience.
Check out the LinkedIn Learning Pathfinder and it will generate a custom list of courses based on what you want to achieve. Learn more about recent top career development goals and acquire the skills to help you reach them.
Unsure what to do and how to start your job search? Let LinkedIn Learning be the first step you take in the path to a new and improved career.Oh, how far we’ve come! Recently, it was revealed that — finally! — women CEOs at Fortune 500 companies outnumber male CEOs named John. A dubious milestone, but it's something to celebrate.
Though women have come pretty far in society, the progress we've made is far from enough. From the pay gap to daily microaggressions, it’s still obvious that women are treated as lesser than in society. This is especially clear when you look at how few female-founded businesses there are.
According to Rolling Stone, it’s crucial to support female-owned businesses. They report: “While it is true that the different experiences and backgrounds that women and men have undoubtedly affect business approaches, this is actually a good thing. A business with diverse perspectives is an innovative business that can actually push the boundaries of industries.” Like with any other social justice cause, uplifting marginalized folks is good for everyone involved. We all benefit from the increased, diverse worldviews brought about by representation.
The article continues: “Having a gender-diverse business yields better consumer insight, and in turn, a more profitable business. Back in 2015, McKinsey & Company found businesses that were more gender-diverse were likely to outperform approximately 15 percent above the industry median. Years later in 2020, they found that the percentage had increased to 25 percent.”
Therefore, even if we aren’t focused on all the social and political reasons to uplift female entrepreneurs, it’s better for everyone’s bottom line if we do.
Yet, despite this oft-proven reality, archaic stereotypes and oppressive systems stand in the way of progress in every sector. An article in Business News Daily outlines some of the obstacles women face as entrepreneurs. The number one hurdle they face? Social expectations.
The article advises that in order to beat this imposter syndrome, female founders should stick to their guns rather than trying to conform. “Women may feel as though they need to adopt a stereotypically "male" attitude toward business: competitive, aggressive, and sometimes harsh. But successful female CEOs believe that remaining true to yourself and finding your own voice are the keys to rising above preconceived expectations.”
But often, women are told their lack of professional advancement is their fault. You’re too shy. You’re not assertive enough. You need to ask for what you want. Otherwise, how do you expect to get it?
However, despite this refrain, it’s actually not their own fault. This scapegoating convinces ambitious women that if their careers are stifled, it’s their fault. This causes imposter syndrome, lack of representation, and real industry consequences.
According to BND, “Raising capital is even more difficult for women-owned businesses. A 2014 Babson College report found that less than 3% of companies with venture capital funding had female CEOs … venture capitalists tend to invest in startups run by people of their own ‘tribe.’”
Other things that get in the way of women climbing the ladder to success include: struggling to be taken seriously, owning their accomplishments, building a support network, balancing business and family life, and coping with the fear of failure.
These are real, tangible barriers that most female entrepreneurs face. The women who have succeeded should be celebrated — and this month is the perfect one to do so. Luckily for us, we can vote with our dollars, supporting the businesses we love so that there can be more like-minded companies out there in the world.
Here are some of my favorite female-owned brands to support in the pursuit of equality: