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How to make caffeine more effective in boosting productivity It’s easy to get stuck in a default caffeine habit–like pouring yourself a coffee each time you take a break at work. Caffeine is a (mildly) addictive drug, so even small unintentional behaviors can quickly become chemically reinforced habits. But caffeine is powerful stuff, and because it has a direct effect on your energy level, you should drink it with intention rather than on autopilot. American Express Gold Card Review: Worth the Annual Fee? “Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.” In September of 2019, I leaped into the world of premium rewards cards when I applied for the American Express Platinum card. During the following months, I continually looked at the American Express Gold card as a potential companion to my newly-acquired card, but eventually disabused myself of that idea because I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to make full use of its perks.

Shift Your Brand Perception – Rally Others to Tell Your Story After reading my previous posts, you’re almost on your way to productively and energetically leveraging your brand’s perception to drive company growth and profitability. Our previous topics of focus covered the specific impact that brand perception can have on the bottom line and the need for clear positioning as the foundation for communicating about your company. It’s now time to examine effective ways to arm others with that refined market positioning. By understanding your story, employees, customers and other influencers will help you communicate this information to your marketplace.

16 Expert Blogging Tips To Position A Brand As An Industry Leader Company blogs are a form of content marketing that, done right, offer tremendous value to potential customers. With a well-conceived strategy, blogging regularly helps to establish your company as a leading authority in its industry. Moreover, the content you produce for it can also be repurposed widely across other channels to drive more traffic back to your site and further cement your reputation as a thought leader. While there are as many ways to approach the launch of a company blog as there are companies, anyone who is planning to start one should be aware of the most important aspects of highlighting a brand for the blogosphere. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share 16 key pieces of advice that they would give a client who’s launching a blog to ensure that both the reader and the brand are well-served by its content.

They Were Sexually Assaulted. Here’s Why They Still Want Kavanaugh. LOS ANGELES, California—Back in March, The Daily Beast published an eye-opening exposé about the last days of Stan Lee, the iconic comic-book writer and one of the key architects of Marvel Comics. Months after the passing of Joan, his beloved wife of nearly 70 years, the “vultures” had descended on the 95-year-old Lee, then battling pneumonia, and his estate. There were reports of a forged check for $300,000 to Hands of Respect, a sketchy “merchandising company” masquerading as a charity; the mysterious purchase of an $850,000 condo in West Hollywood; a bizarre $1 billion lawsuit against POW! Health and Nutrition 101: Using Food as Medicine SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM The article you’re about to read is from our reporters doing their important work — investigating, researching, and writing their stories. We want to provide informative and inspirational stories that connect you to the people, issues and opportunities within our community. Journalism requires lots of resources. Today, our business model has been interrupted by the pandemic; the vast majority of our advertisers’ businesses have been impacted.

Tom Fiscoe on leadership: Be ethical, don't assign blame, build team unity Tom Fiscoe was managing partner of Dannible & McKee, a five-year term that ended in July. Mike Reilly succeeded him as the firm's managing partner. "Now I'm an audit partner," Fiscoe said. "I'll continue to service the clients that I've had for a number of years and will continue at the firm until I retire.

How to prevent middle-age weight gain – exercise, eat right, get enough sleep … and start now After she turned 40, Eunice Su-Ai realised that keeping fit was not as easy as it was before. In her 20s, she took part in triathlons, ran 12km (7.5 miles) every weekend, and hiked and climbed mountains regularly. Now, at 46, she says that recovering from strenuous exercise is harder and she doesn’t have the same energy she used to have. The freelance executive coach and trainer makes it a point to stay active, pounding the nature trails where she lives in Singapore, cycling every week and doing strength-training exercises at her local gym, Red Dot Fitness. “I tell people that I exercise to stay healthy, but the truth is that I love eating and indulge in all kinds of food – even unhealthy ones – so I exercise mainly to keep the excess [weight] at bay,” says Su-Ai.

First Person Leadership If the first person you lead each morning isn’t yourself then you’re likely having challenges leading anyone. You must lead yourself exceptionally well before you can lead anyone else. Leading yourself exceptionally well means doing what you say you’re going to do. It means controlling your attitude and choosing to do what you must to make certain your attitude is as positive as it can be. Leading yourself exceptionally well means thinking before you speak. It means choosing your words in such a way as to lift people up and not tear them down.

My Two Cents on the CDC's Latest Travel Guidance If you consume much news, the past few weeks have been a bit conflicting in terms of the COVID-19 situation. On the one hand, vaccine roll-outs continue to expand — and, as I write this, President Biden has even moved up the date for when every American will be eligible — yet, on the other hand, there have been concerns from officials that cases could get out of hand before that. Amid all of this, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released guidelines last week that (in an oversimplified nutshell) suggest fully vaccinated individuals can travel domestically with a low risk of infection. The question then becomes, should they? Here’s what I think.

Just 15 Minutes of This Particular Type of Exercise May Improve Heart Health High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts have become popular in recent years for a number of reasons. They don't require as much time as a regular workout (some can take as little as 10 minutes), and research shows they improve fitness, lower blood pressure and help people better manage their blood sugar levels – which may aid in weight loss and prevent disease, such as type 2 diabetes. And recently, a review has found that a form of HIIT workout called low-volume HIIT has benefits on cardiometabolic health. That means low-volume HIIT could induce similar – or greater – improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, blood sugar control, blood pressure and cardiac function compared to continuous aerobic exercise (such as a five-mile run). HIIT is characterized by alternating between low- and high-intensity intervals of exercise. This is then repeated throughout the exercise session with the total time spent at high-intensity typically low.

Missouri S&T – News and Events – Missouri S&T researcher to test low-cost method of strengthening concrete with nanoparticles It’s long been proven that adding nanoparticles to concrete improves the materials’ strength and durability, but the cost of such processes has outweighed the benefits. A Missouri S&T researcher is working on a safer, simpler and potentially more affordable method of combining nanoparticles with concrete. Dr. Hongyan Ma, Missouri S&T assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, compares the technique to blowing bubbles into limewater.

7 Local SEO Best Practices for WordPress Websites WordPress is one of the most flexible open source Content Management Systems (CMS) in the world. Its rich functionality, low barrier to entry, and unbeatable price tag (it doesn’t get better than free, does it?) have all led to its meteoric rise as the web’s most popular CMS. So it’s no surprise that WordPress has been downloaded more than 32.6 million times or that it powers 40% of all websites. WordPress is also SEO-friendly, to the point where even non-techies can easily implement some simple optimization techniques.