These days, cell phones do a whole lot more than just making calls – yes, they still make calls. Of course, with apps that do everything from connect you to latest social network to addictive games that can keep you busy for hours, the fun can cancel out the productivity pretty quickly. I have an Android phone and I love it (for my iPhone friends, you may find that many of these apps are in the iTunes App store as well). And yes, I play lots of games on it. However, I have found some great applications that actually help me be productive. Here are my top five:

1. Evernote  Read more... (732 words, 3 images, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)

I’ve been noticing more and more personal development “experts” knocking people that have jobs and pretty much calling them inferior. Some go as far as calling them slaves. A few years ago, I would have shared their opinion (but not nearly as strongly). However, two things have changed my mind. First, I’ve met a number of people that actually very happy with their jobs and the work-life balance that it gives them. But the big eye opener for me was when I taught my first Job Interview class a few years back – half the people in the room were business owners looking to get back into a nine to five position.  Read more... (1752 words, 2 images, estimated 7:00 mins reading time)

Disney is doing something cool with their latest park promotion. This year, they are rewarding people who donate a day of service to one of several charities with a free pass to one of their theme parks. While some have criticized this as a marketing ploy, I feel that it’s a good thing and that we can all learn from it.  Read more... (518 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Last week, I provided a list of tips to help high school students make the most out of their years in school so now I’ve come up with a similar list for people in college. College is an interesting period for most people. Some go overboard with all the freedom they have and end up having a lot of issues. Others view it as a reboot of their lives from high school – they’re in a new place with new people and a clean slate. While others see it simply as the next step in the progression of programs that make up their lives and miss out on some of the opportunities.  Read more... (1409 words, 1 image, estimated 5:38 mins reading time)

I used to include a book review each month in my e-zine, but I stopped doing it. The main reason for this was that I found myself rushing to read a lot of books because they had a catchy title or there was a lot of buzz surrounding them. But unfortunately, their advice wasn’t helpful to me – and in some cases, the advice was just plain useless. After two months of reading several books before finding one worth reviewing, I decided to drop the feature. But this wasn’t a complete waste of my time, I actually learned quite a bit.  Read more... (658 words, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)