Today’s workers seem to be struggling with overwhelming demands to get more done in less and less time. Checking email at all times of day, skipping meals in favor of meetings, working longer hours and sleeping less. While these habits may boost productivity in the short term, they damage it in the long run and are worsened with poorer job performance and health problems.

Strategic Renewal

According to a growing body of research, actively “relaxing” may be the solution to managing both productivity demands and a healthy life.

• Lack of sleep is one of the best predictors of job burnout. Sleeping more than 6 hours a night can improve performance, as can daytime naps. In fact, a University of California study found that a 60- to 90-minute nap improved memory test results as fully as did eight hours of sleep.
• Vacationing is also an important part of the relaxation and “renewal” workers need. Accounting firm Ernst & Young found that regular vacations not only improve employee retention, but that for each additional 10 hours of vacation employees took, their year-end performance ratings improved by 8 percent.
• Working in discrete and scheduled intervals can also help worker renewal. A Florida State University revealed that the best performers in music, sports, chess and acting typically practice in uninterrupted sessions that last no more than 90 minutes.

Source: Relax! You’ll Be More Productive

For customer relationship management (CRM) professionals, there are dozens of high-quality conferences and events that offer unique opportunities to network and hear from experts in the field. But for many organizations, budgets are tight which means professional development is often limited to just one event per year. Choosing which event to send your staff and management has more to do with where your organization is in the CRM process than any other factor.

Choosing the Right CRM Event

If your organization is still deciding on your CRM processes and solutions, or you’ve just started with CRM, look for conferences that:

• Feature a broad and large vendor showcase, and seek out key vendors to discuss your specific needs. You will likely want to plan in advance, and even schedule in advance with vendors so they can be prepared to discuss what they offer that will benefit your organization the most.
• Include sessions focused on managing change, aligning for CRM and using data to change constituent relationships. While these may seem broad in scope, the information contained is critical for organizations at the beginning of the CRM process.
• Are organized by people and groups who can connect you with peers who are in the same phase of CRMas you. Knowing who to network with at an event is critical and organizers should be able to tell you which other attendees you can learn from.

If your organization is in the middle of a CRM implementation or just finished, look for conferences that:

• Feature sessions and workshops focused on organizational adoption and working out kinks in a system.
• Include technical tracks and learning labs that provide hands-on opportunities to use CRM tools.
• Have advanced tracks that help organizations understand how to best leverage CRM in marketing and data transformation.

If your organization is struggling to find the budget to pay for conferences and travel, consider virtual opportunities to learn and network:

• Online conferences
• Live Twitter conference streaming

Source: Getting the Most out of Conferences for CRM and Integrated Marketing Professionals

Today’s nonprofits need to do more than ever before to prove their value to members, donors, volunteers and stakeholders. More and more are turning to data as a means to demonstrate their value. Yet just gathering data isn’t enough. If your nonprofit is struggling to transform your data into meaningful information, consider these sources of inspiration.

6 Sources for Nonprofit Data Ideas

According to the 2012 State of Nonprofit Data report, there are a number of nonprofits who are doing a lot with their data, balanced by and equally larger percentage of nonprofits not doing enough. For both groups, and those nonprofits in the middle, it is critical that they can effectively measure, learn from and share their data. The follow resources offer ideas for nonprofits to best leverage their data:

1. Data Analysts for Social Good provides training, networking and education for social sector professionals.
2. Data Commons create open source tools to share and use information on the internet.
3. DataKind brings together data scientists from social organizations to share insights and take action to benefit humanity.
4. Markets for Good works to identify ways the social sector can share information to improve lives.
5. NetSquared gives people and organizations a medium through which they can get information about and support for social benefit projects.
6. NTEN Case Studies highlight different nonprofits as they gather and share data on the work they do in their communities.

Source: Nonprofits and Data: Looking for Inspiration