5 Tips to Manage Your Energy through the Week

People often complain that they don’t have enough time to do things. That they are too busy or in a rush to meet tight deadlines. Most of us can relate to that. But what if running after the clock was not the solution? What if you could take it slow, take time to answer requests with care and warmth, do your stuff in a relaxed mood... and still meet all your deadlines ahead of time? Sounds unrealistic, but in fact this is within your reach. The secret is to learn how to manage your energy level to help you get through even the most intense of work weeks.

How to maintain an optimal energy level at work? Here are 5 practical tips:

1. Make your Mondays count. I’m just like Garfield. I hate Mondays. Or at least I used to. Until I decided to turn Monday into a day that counts. I do front-loading, i.e. I relentlessly pack my Monday with as much work as I can. And you know what? When I get back home, instead of feeling drowsy like I used to, well I’m actually energized with the feel of having put in more than a day’s work behind me, the very first day. The bonus is that by the end of the week, you will start to ease into the weekend earlier as your workload and worries fade.

2. Let the music work for you. One more thing about Mondays, people don’t like to chat on that day and it’s usually dead quiet. So it’s the best time to put on those earphones and let the rhythm carry you forward. In fact, you might want to have one or several playlists to inspire you or help you focus. The beginning of the week calls for more intense music. As Friday draws near, the workload (and the mood) gets lighter and I usually catch myself humming a summer song.

3. Out for lunch. Come later. Whether you have one hour or half an hour, lunchtime is sacred. Eating in front of the screen, even if you’re not working per say, is a capital sin you’ll have to pay for. Tiredness, boredom and sluggishness will be the inevitable price. Instead, go out for a long walk if it’s a sunny day. Or lunch out with people. Embrace noon like you used to when you were a kid at school. When you get back in front of that screen, you’ll be refreshed and you’ll often have new ideas and be able to tackle problems from new angles.

4. You gotta be health-wise. Get the basics covered. Sleep is vital for your metabolism and mind to regenerate. Your sleep should be the gift of quality time to yourself: go to bed early with a good book, soothing music and some hot cocoa; then get up early to do some light stretching, a few crunches and press-ups. This routine will help you get a good grip on your life. Add in gym sessions for good measure. Watch your eating habits: coffee, salt and sugar aren’t true friends, they’re a bad influence. Go for a light lunch at noon and snack on fruits and nuts in the afternoon. Within a few days your energy levels and ability to focus will spike. You already knew all this, so now just do it.

5. Don’t sit all day. Take breaks and move. The best ideas won’t come when you’re staring at that computer screen. Walk, have a chat, connect with people on a human level. Stretch your body and flex your mind. Small breaks will keep fatigue at bay, and a little walk will take you a long way.

I came by the notion of managing one’s energy level after an intense period at work where I was constantly feeling under the snow. I didn’t like that feel, so I went to ask my Marketing CMO, how he managed to handle complex workloads all the time. Turned out I simply had to ask, manage your energy he said. I did wonder whether this was just a quick answer to get rid of my question, or if on the contrary he was being so serious that he was answering me in a profoundly esoteric manner. But in fact, it was a genuine and simple solution to my problem.

I started with the basics to maintain my energy, and over time developed my own strategies. And yes, it works. Your energy is what keeps you going, what inspires and drives you. Take care of it. It’ll free up vast swathes of time for you, it’ll free your mind and help you stay composed, relaxed and be extremely productive in your professional life and more.

Remember you can’t control time. But you can control your energy.

Of Writing and Sushi

What does writing and sushi have in common? Not much per se, unless you're one of those lucky food bloggers hopping around the globe to sample exotic dishes and then flaunt every single juicy detail of it. Shameless. Ah, talk about a dream job! Anyway, tucking that lifestyle envy aside, let's go back to the subject at hand. Maybe if we rephrase that question we could root out something:

What does great writing and great sushi have in common?

Now we're on to something. The answer is contained in one word: simplicity.

The best sushi in the world is not something that is extravagantly prepared. Nor does it boast any frills. In fact, it boils down to the very basics of sushi. A piece of fish on some rice*. But to get that piece of fish right is no easy matter. Like in all art forms, it takes a lifetime to achieve the mastery of simplicity.

Now, let's get things straight here. Simplicity does not mean plain, easy, careless or lack of effort. Much on the contrary.

People are messy. They come with clutter. Whether in ideas or writing, they tend to spill everything out, sometimes even in random order. Summoning a five-line sentence or plugging in fancy words at every twist and turn does not make great writing. Making things complicated or look complicated does not make them better. It only gives a headache to the reader.

To make a text flow easily. To convey complex ideas in a manner that makes them easier to understand. To write up something that's pleasant to read. Now that takes work and skill. Easy reading does not mean easy writing, in fact the easier it is to read something, the greater the craftsmanship behind.

When putting ink on paper, you need to be able to grasp the essential, leave out the pollution and craft from the reader's point of view.  The simplest of recipes, all too often hard to follow.

The quest for simplicity is all the more crucial if you want to get complex information across. Much like in chemistry where complex molecules are assembled out of simple atoms, complex ideas are best served by using simple building-blocks cleverly put together. From a scientific perspective, complex is many simple things intelligently assembled, whereas complicated—you or your Facebook relationship status don't wanna go there.

Whether it's writing or cooking, art or science, I admire the great minds that make things simpler to understand.

Feast your soul on these inspiring quotes:

• "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." – Albert Einstein
• "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." – Leonardo da Vinci (attributed) 
• "Simplicity is the key to brilliance." – Bruce Lee

Talking about a feast, back to what's truly essential. Sushi. You'll find below the teaser to Jiro dreams of sushi. A documentary on Jiro, an old man who is universally renowned as the world's best sushi chef. The documentary is a masterpiece in itself. See for yourself how simple can be amazing.

 To end, I'd like to dedicate this blogpost in the memory of Terry Pratchett, a master in crafting magnificent stories with the simplest and truest of writing styles, who left us all too soon earlier this year.

* Technically that's a nigiri, but this article refers to sushi as the umbrella term.

Are You Committed to Achieve?

In my career, I've been lucky to work with some very brilliant people. What I've noticed is that they all have one thing in common–they are all highly dedicated individuals, infused with a sense of greater purpose for the mission of their department, company or sector at large. These people are the game-changers, they are so driven that they drive change. They just can't help it.

Commitment is a rare quality, rarer than one would think. Most people simply focus on their daily tasks, their paychecks and are at best loyal to their company when the need arises. Committed individuals, on the other hand, are on a mission. They want to hone their craft. Each and every day.

Committed individuals have fun at what they do, they enjoy learning new things and taking on new responsibilities. They view issues as an opportunity to sharpen problem-solving skills and address shortcomings to better processes. Committed individuals are all about kaizen, and tend to have a philosophical outlook on things. Committed employees are highly productive, organized, focused, are able to energize their teams and have well-balanced lives.

Commitment is going the extra-mile for your project, your team, your customer. It's about having a 360° vision of your work. If you know how your tasks fit in the cogs and wheels of your organization's clockwork, however huge the latter, then you are poised to provide top-notch service. 

How does commitment translate in the world of business copywriting and translation?

One story springs to mind. It's the story of relationships built over the years with one of our prime clients. This client is a dynamic business association that promotes local socioeconomic interests. A few years ago, the association was thoroughly revamped to face new market challenges and a new team took over to give it a fresh start and a competitive edge. It was at about that time that Merry Frogs started to collaborate with them on translation contracts.

Now, the cool thing about translation is that you get to peep into nearly all aspects of the company. After a few months translating administrative documentation, industry reports, and marketing campaigns, well you pretty much get the gist of things. That's when you can start to make a difference—if you are committed to build a lasting bridge with your client.

We built that bridge with our client. Stone by stone, by understanding the goals behind each and every translation and meeting them. As our work relationship progressed, the association started to put their trust in our service quality and reliability. This gave us leeway to take initiatives and make propositions. To become a team player. A partner. We don't just deliver great translations, we connect as teammates to help our client achieve high rates of success for their campaigns. We provide an extra-layer of safety check for potential issues; we contribute our writing skills and marketing insight to pimp up our customer's communication as part of the translation process. That's how we commit to their achievement. And ours.

And we do even more. From the very beginning, we felt deeply involved in our client's cause. We started to follow our client on social media. And we regularly share the success stories of the association to raise awareness on its accomplishments. That's because commitment is catchy, and you get inspired when you work with dedicated people. After all, a bridge works both ways. 

Make the most of online word-of-mouth

Is your business really ready for tourists in the age of social media?

What does summer and Christmas season have in common? Well, we want both to last forever. And they're also both peak tourist seasons.

Unfortunately, they don't last forever. What happens when the tourists get back home?

They tell the tales of their travels and adventures to friends, coworkers and family. But they don't have to get back home to do so nowadays. They share their stories while visiting your shop. The magic of instantly uploading photographs and videos on social networks, and ta da! That's the magic of technology and that's also free publicity. Appropriately targeted as well. The entourage of the customer you've already won over is exactly who you want to reach.

By sharing good times and recommendations, customers inspire their peers to travel. With a swipe on a touchscreen, these people can in turn check out your wares and start dreaming. And dreams are the seeds that blossom into travels. Maybe these trips will lead to your shop... if your website was able to inspire the visitor...

We're in the age of social media. The era of instant and content-rich information traveling across the globe within seconds. Today the world is at your fingertips. We “see” other people's experiences. We get inspired by friends of our friends. We trip advise.

To fully reap the visibility offered by social media, tourism companies and shops need to showcase their wares and services in the language of their visitors. Sow the dreams of travel that lead to the door of your business. Make your shop a must when visiting your town. Leverage online word-of-mouth.

Besides your website, your social media outlet – e.g., your company's Facebook page – must engage a conversation with your customer. How can you achieve this? You need to spur conversations and bond with your customers. Translating word for word literally just won't cut it. You need to convey a meaningful message. You need to adapt the cover to get your content through. Luckily, a tourism company only needs to add a couple of sentences in the target language at the end of its social media posts to get the message through to the world while keeping the exotic appeal of its own native language.

Here's one more thing: online visibility has a global reach. Appeal to customers from places near and far, and don't miss out on the rising tourist tide from emerging markets. The world is limitless, dream big!

Contact us to learn more on how Merry Frogs can help you with your website and social media translation.