You aren’t going to believe what I did! In fact, I almost don’t even believe it! Now before I tell you this juicy secret of what I did that has already changed my life and given me at least an hour back a day, you should know that I am OBSESSED with productivity hacks! As long I can remember, I would be working on something during “down times,” and I would rarely ever just “shut my brain off.”

I can remember in High School, I would figure out how much time it would take me to walk between classes, and how much time that gave me of “free time.” I would use my that free time in the hallway by my locker, not socializing, not gossiping, not checking my hair or make-up (well, I never really wore any make-up back then anyway), but WORKING! Yep, even if I had 3 minutes, that was 3 minutes I had to sit in the hallway and work on an upcoming assignment or report. If I had 8 classes a day and averaged 3 minutes of work time between each class, that is 24 minutes of work I could get in in one day, or 2 HOURS a week! To me, that meant less time working on homework when I got home and more time hanging out with friends, playing tennis, or dancing! Woo Hoo! Still to this day, people are always asking me, “How do you do it? How do you run multiple businesses, find time for your personal life, and still manage to do things you love?” It always comes down to two things…Productivity and Organization!

“So, on with it Amy! What did you do recently that has given you an hour back a day?”

Let me tell you…

I deleted Facebook on my phone. Yep! That’s it and it was pretty painless, I must say. I tracked how many minutes I was on my phone just “checking my feed really quick” or “looking over my notifications.” Can you believe that 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there (sometimes I would get sucked in) turned into over an hour a day! An entire hour of unproductive behavior that would not only interrupt my thinking and thought processes during the day, but also would zap my creative energy that I so badly need for my businesses! Not only that, I can’t tell you how many times I would be browsing on Facebook while with friends and family and never was truly in the moment. It’s important to BE IN THE MOMENT.

There are many reasons I gave myself why this would never work.

• Excuse #1 – I have so many friends that want to get a hold of me right away
  • Fine! I left FB Messenger on for now. Besides, it’s practically like a text anyway.
• Excuse #2 – I can’t post pictures that I take from my phone
  • I now just plug my phone into my computer when I get back home and Voila! I can post away.
• Excuse #3 – I won’t know what’s going on in the world!
  • If you rely on Facebook for news, well, let’s just say if it’s important, you’ll find out about it.
• Excuse #4 – Some Groups I follow or am a member of use Facebook as the only means of communication to it’s members. What if I miss out on something?
  • The reality is that I won’t! I still check Facebook everyday from my computer, but I get all that I need in a matter of 10-15 minutes by checking it once or twice a day, instead of over an hour a day in smaller chunks.

What do you think? Do you think you could delete Facebook on your phone? What other things might you do with an extra hour per day?

Well, it’s that time…one of my FAVORITE days! It’s the FIRST of the month! When I worked in “Corporate America,” I used to HATE the first of the month! It was a time we would look back at the performance of all of our locations and the company to see who fell short of their goal, who didn’t quite execute, who missed the mark, even by just a little! We rarely celebrated those locations that did well, but instead started sending emails demanding our managers explain why they didn’t meet their goal. Ugh!

Now, don’t get me wrong…I believe it is VITAL to know where you came from, understanding what you could have done differently to hit your goal, what went well, and what went, well…not so well. However, let’s not spend a lot of time on this! Let’s instead focus forward!

So, determine your goals, write them down, make them BIG, I mean REALLY REALLY BIG! Go for the gusto! Make sure they are S.M.A.R.T. goals and remember to ALWAYS FOCUS FORWARD ON THE FIRST!

I have to tell you that leaving a good-paying “corporate” job can be very scary!  There are more questions than there are answers.  When I made the decision that I was going to become a full-time Entrepreneur, I knew two things were for sure…I would not leave my job until I financially was able to AND I would never purposely burn a bridge with my company, a company that I poured my soul into for over 10 years!

So, I want to share with you the 6 Must Follow Steps to Leave Your Job and Start Creating Your Extraordinary Life.

1. Establish Your Must Meet Goal – It would be irresponsible of me to tell someone to just leave their job if they are not financially or mentally prepared for what is to come.  So, ask yourself, “What must happen before I can quit my job?”  For me, I had to have 12 months of expenses in my savings account before I could even think about leaving.  Some people go with 3 or 6 months.  I am a bit more conservative when it comes to money, and I did not want any stress if I didn’t receive any income for 12 months.  Once I reached my goal, I knew I could leave my job and chase my entrepreneurial dreams!

2. Give 30-60 Days Notice – That’s right!  I didn’t say 2 weeks or 2 days; I said up to 2 months.  I mean after all, you DO want to leave on a good note, don’t you?  I don’t care how you feel about your company, you do NOT want to burn any bridges.  Period.

3. Write a Heartfelt Resignation – While writing my resignation letter, I cried…the entire time!  If you can not be genuine and come up with at least a few good things to compliment your company on, find someone who will write it for you!  🙂  Stick with me and I will give you the exact blueprint on how to right a resignation letter that will bring others to tears and have your company begging you not to leave (template coming soon).  A few key elements: write it from your heart, compliment the company, state how your experiences have made you a better person, and thank the company and people for their support and the opportunity!

4. Don’t Let Up – Okay, so now you only have 30 days left!  You don’t need to work that hard, do you?  YES YOU DO!  Work harder than you ever have before and leave no loose ends for anyone to pick up.  The last thing you want is for someone to remember you as a slacker.  Don’t slack. Work hard.

5. Send Hand-Written Thank You Cards – Did you catch the key word there?  HANDWRITTEN.  Take the time to send your boss, your co-workers, and the executives of the company thank you cards.  It will go a long way and leave a lasting impression.  I personally sent almost 40 cards to those I worked with, for, and those that had an influence on my career.

6. Stay Connected – It’s almost impossible NOT to stay connected these days with social media.  Leave behind your personal contact information and your LinkedIn profile so you can be sure to stay connected with those that you worked with.  You never know when you might need their assistance!

Now go out there and Be Extraordinary, Live Your Dreams, and Change The World!

Branding expert and leading authority on the science of fascination, Sally Hogshead, is launching her new book How the World Sees You on July 1.

To celebrate all of the new insights she’s learned over the past decade of research, she has started Project Fascination, with a goal to show 100,000 people how their personalities add value.

To do this, she’s given me a special code BL-amndix to give the first 100 people who use it her Fascination Advantage® assessment for free! This has never been done before, and will only last until July 25!

And the best part is – they want this to be a chain reaction. So when you take the assessment using BL-amndix, you’ll receive 100 assessments to share with your circle for free too! That’s $3700 of free market research at your fingertips!

So how do you take the assessment? Simple.

1. Go to www.HowTheWorldSeesYou.com/You and use code BL-amndix.
2. Once you’ve taken the assessment, Sally’s team will load 100 assessments into your new account. Rinse and repeat.

That’s it. Now your ready to discover how your personality is custom built for certain situations, and which situations you should learn to avoid. And it only takes 5 minutes (you can even do it on your phone).

28 questions. 5 minutes. A whole new way to communicate.

Remember, the best way to empower someone is to show them their own highest value. Our goal together is to show people the very best of themselves – the qualities that makes them more successful, more authentic, and more fascinating.

Remember that your code will expire July 25. Don’t let this $3700 value go to waste. Take the assessment today and encourage your friends and followers to do the same to do the same.

Your Fascination Advantage Report is the first big step into knowing how your personality can be heard and remembered in an overcrowded market. And sharing the assessment will help others do the same. Find everything you need to put this knowledge into practice with your co-workers, close friends and significant other in Sally’s new book, How the World Sees You.