18 Behaviors of Emotionally Intelligent People | Motto

When emotional intelligence (EQ) first appeared to the masses, it served as the
missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the
highest IQs 70 percent of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into the
broadly held assumption that IQ was the sole source of success.
Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as being the critical factor
that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. The connection is so strong
that 90 percent of top performers have high emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is the something in each of us that is a bit intangible. It
affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal
decisions to achieve positive results.
Despite the significance of EQ, its intangible nature makes it difficult to measure and
to know what to do to improve it if youre lacking. You can always take a scientifically
validated test, such as the one that comes with the Emotional Intelligence 2.0 book,
but unfortunately, most such tests arent free. So, Ive analyzed the data from the
million-plus people TalentSmart has tested in order to identify the behaviors that are
the hallmarks of a high EQ. What follows are sure signs that you have a high EQ.
1. You have a robust emotional vocabulary
All people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately identify
them as they occur. Our research shows that only 36 percent of people can do this,
which is problematic because unlabeled emotions often go misunderstood, which
leads to irrational choices and counterproductive actions.
People with high EQs master their emotions because they understand them, and
they use an extensive vocabulary of feelings to do so. While many people might
describe themselves as simply feeling bad, emotionally intelligent people can
pinpoint whether they feel irritable, frustrated, downtrodden, or anxious. The
more specific your word choice, the better insight you have into exactly how you are
feeling, what caused it, and what you should do about it.
2. Youre curious about people
It doesnt matter if theyre introverted or extroverted, emotionally intelligent people
are curious about everyone around them. This curiosity is the product of empathy,
one of the most significant gateways to a high EQ. The more you care about other
people and what theyre going through, the more curiosity youre going to have about
them.
3. You embrace change
Emotionally intelligent people are flexible and are constantly adapting. They know

that fear of change is paralyzing and a major threat to their success and happiness.
They look for change that is lurking just around the corner, and they form a plan of
action should these changes occur.
4. You know your strengths and weaknesses
Emotionally intelligent people dont just understand emotions; they know what theyre
good at and what theyre terrible at. They also know who pushes their buttons and
the environments (both situations and people) that enable them to succeed. Having
a high EQ means you know your strengths and how to lean into and use them to
your full advantage while keeping your weaknesses from holding you back.
5. Youre a good judge of character
Much of emotional intelligence comes down to social awareness; the ability to read
other people, know what theyre about, and understand what theyre going through.
Over time, this skill makes you an exceptional judge of character. People are no
mystery to you. You know what theyre all about and understand their motivations,
even those that lie hidden beneath the surface.
Inc.com: Why You Need Emotional Intelligence to Succeed
6. You are difficult to offend
If you have a firm grasp of who you are, its difficult for someone to say or do
something that gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and
open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin. You may even poke fun at yourself or
let other people make jokes about you because you are able to mentally draw the
line between humor and degradation.
7. You know how to say no (to yourself and others)
Emotional intelligence means knowing how to exert self-control. You delay
gratification and avoid impulsive action. Research conducted at the University of
California, San Francisco, shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the
more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Saying no is
a major self-control challenge for many people, but No is a powerful word that you
should unafraid to wield. When its time to say no, emotionally intelligent people
avoid phrases such as I dont think I can or Im not certain. Saying no to a new
commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to
successfully fulfill them.
8. You let go of mistakes
Emotionally intelligent people distance themselves from their mistakes, but do so
without forgetting them. By keeping their mistakes at a safe distance, yet still handy
enough to refer to, they are able to adapt and adjust for future success. It takes
refined self-awareness to walk this tightrope between dwelling and remembering.
Dwelling too long on your mistakes makes you anxious and gun shy, while forgetting

about them completely makes you bound to repeat them. The key to balance lies in
your ability to transform failures into nuggets of improvement. This creates the
tendency to get right back up every time you fall down.
9. You give and expect nothing in return
When someone gives you something spontaneously, without expecting anything in
return, this leaves a powerful impression. For example, you might have an
interesting conversation with someone about a book, and when you see them again
a month later, you show up with the book in hand. Emotionally intelligent people build
strong relationships because they are constantly thinking about others.
10. You dont hold grudges
The negative emotions that come with holding onto a grudge are actually a stress
response. Just thinking about the event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, a
survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when
faced with a threat. When the threat is imminent, this reaction is essential to your
survival, but when the threat is ancient history, holding onto that stress wreaks havoc
on your body and can have devastating health consequences over time. In fact,
researchers at Emory University have shown that holding onto stress contributes to
high blood pressure and heart disease. Holding onto a grudge means youre holding
onto stress, and emotionally intelligent people know to avoid this at all costs. Letting
go of a grudge not only makes you feel better now but can also improve your health.
Inc.com: Why You Should Hire for Emotional Intelligence
11. You neutralize toxic people
Dealing with difficult people is frustrating and exhausting for most. But high-EQ
individuals control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in
check. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation
rationally. They identify their own emotions and dont allow anger or frustration to fuel
the chaos. They also consider the difficult persons standpoint and are able to find
solutions and common ground. Even when things completely derail, emotionally
intelligent people are able to take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting
him or her bring them down.
12. You dont seek perfection
Emotionally intelligent people wont set perfection as their target because they know
that it doesnt exist. Human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection
is your goal, youre always left with a nagging sense of failure that makes you want
to give up or reduce your effort. You end up spending time lamenting what you failed
to accomplish and should have done differently instead of moving forward, excited
about what youve achieved and what you will accomplish in the future.

13. You appreciate what you have

Taking time to contemplate what youre grateful for isnt merely the right thing to do; it
also improves your mood by reducing the stress hormone cortisol (in some cases by
23 percent). Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that
people who work daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experience improved
mood, energy, and physical well-being. Its likely that lower levels of cortisol play a
major role in this.
14. You disconnect
Taking regular time off the grid is a sign of a high EQ because it helps you to keep
your stress under control and to live in the moment. When you make yourself
available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors.
Forcing yourself offline and evengulp!turning off your phone gives your body and
mind a break. Studies have shown that something as simple as an email break can
lower stress levels. Technology enables constant communication and the
expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a
stress-free moment outside of work when an email with the power to bring your
thinking (read: stressing) back to work can drop onto your phone at any moment.
15. You limit your caffeine intake
Drinking excessive amounts of caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline, which is
the primary source of a fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight mechanism
sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response to ensure survival. This is
great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when youre responding to a curt
email. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyper-aroused state of
stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. Caffeines long half-life ensures you
stay this way as it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body. High-EQ
individuals know that caffeine is trouble, and they dont let it get the better of them.
Inc.com: 5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership
16. You get enough sleep
Its difficult to overstate the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional
intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally
recharges, shuffling through the days memories and storing or discarding them
(which causes dreams) so that you wake up alert and clearheaded. High-EQ
individuals know that their self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when
they dont get enoughor the right kindof sleep. So, they make sleep a top priority.
17. You stop negative self-talk in its tracks
The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most
of our negative thoughts are just thatthoughts, not facts. When it feels like
something always or never happens, this is just your brains natural tendency to
perceive threats (inflating the frequency or severity of an event). Emotionally

intelligent people separate their thoughts from the facts in order to escape the cycle
of negativity and move toward a positive, new outlook.
18. You wont let anyone limit your joy
When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from the opinions of other
people, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When emotionally
intelligent people feel good about something theyve done, they wont let anyones
opinions or snide remarks take that away from them. While its impossible to turn off
your reactions to what others think, you dont have to compare yourself to others,
and you can always take peoples opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter
what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within.

5 Ways Youre Wasting Your Time Without

Realizing It

We all waste time, so dont try and kid yourself. Whether youre a young kid at a
temp job trying to relieve your boredom by browsing the Internet or an experienced
CEO who cant focus on what he needs to, time-wasting is painfully common in
workplaces all across the U.S. According to recent data, the vast majority of
employees know they waste 30 minutes or more every day, with 4 percent wasting
half the day or more and thats not accounting for self-reporting biases!
If youre like most self-driven workers, at this point youre thinking to yourself, I
believe that, but thats not me. Im not the type of person who wastes time. This is
because you dont waste time deliberately unfortunately, most forms of wasting
time are sneaky and go beneath your notice until its too late to do anything about
them. You could be wasting hours every day without even realizing it.
Related: The 80/20 Rule of Time Management: Stop Wasting Your Time
Whats the solution? Raising your self-awareness, tracking down the roots of your
time-waste then accounting for and correcting those discrepancies.
1. Rituals
We all have rituals at the officesmall routines that we do every day, some of which
are productive and most of which are not. You might circle by the water cooler,

making small talk for the first 15 minutes of the day, or you might start out by reading
the news for 20 minutes.
While not always a waste of time, the danger here comes in not being conscious of
your time spent. Human beings tend to forget individual repetitions of long-term
routines (the way you often forget driving home from work), meaning youre spending
this time doing rituals without even realizing what youre doing. Taking breaks and
reading the news arent necessarily bad things, but they can put a damper on your
total productivity.
2. Avoidable distractions
Distractions are a major cause of time loss, and this is well-documented. Most
people understand the obvious, superficial distractions that catch their eye in the
middle of a projectfor example, you might check Facebook instead of working
through that tough problem or shop online between tasks.
These are easy to identify but tough to beat. Usually, disconnecting from the Internet
(or source) and scheduling time for these activities later are good strategies.
However, youre more likely to suffer from distractions you dont recognize as
distractionssuch as answering emails that constantly pop-up or being drawn into
an office-wide conversation. Strive for a higher awareness here.
Related: Its a Fine Time to Better Manage Your Time
3. Wasteful communication
Communication is necessary and, in an ideal world, efficient. The most efficient
communicators can use things like emails, meetings and phone calls to actually
improve their collective productivity. However, for most of us, these mediums and
institutions are ripe with the potential to waste time.
How many times have you received a long-winded email that spent several
paragraphs explaining a very simple idea? How many meetings have you attended
that didnt need to be held in the first place? Strive for more efficient communication,
and youll find yourself with more time that you can spend productively.
4. Sticking with an inefficient system
People have different reasons for refusing to adapt. Some like their niche and pace
and arent comfortable changing anything. Others are forward-planning perfectionists
who dont like changing their outlooks or approaches when circumstances change. In
any case, refusing to adapt your working style or focus when the situation shifts will
cost you dearly in terms of time spent. For example, if you gain new information
about a clients needs for an RFP, youre better off stopping and readjusting than you
are muscling through the proposal and hoping it hits home somehow.

5. Prioritizing the wrong things

Lets say youve managed to identify and conquer all the temporal fault points Ive
listed so far. Youre working on tasks that need to be done for 100 percent of your
dayexcluding breaks, which are actuallyimportant to remaining productive). Are
you sure you arent wasting time doing the wrong kind of work? Are you burying
yourself in unimportant tasks or ones outside your wheelhouse, only to realize at the
end of the day that you still have your biggest, most important projects to take care
of? If so, you have a prioritization problem. Fortunately, this can be addressed by
more proactively categorizing and working through your tasks.
Related: Determining How Much Your Time Is Really Worth
Becoming more productive starts with accepting the harsh truth that you likely waste
just as much time as everyone else. Once you recognize that, you can identify the
key areas of your work schedule that require improvement and gradually phase them
out or improve them. This doesnt mean youll eventually be perfect at managing and
spending time nobody is but you will get a little bit closer to the ideal, and that
translates to hours of extra time every week.

12 Powerful Habits To Steal from Ultra-Successful People

I am very curious about habits, behavior psychology and how it all affects success.
For over two years, I have been experimenting with my routines, work and lifestyle to
find that perfect fit for happy and productive, purpose and passion driven routine.
In this article, Id like to share some of my recent powerful habits Ive been
developing and experimenting with that I have stolen from ultra-successful people.
1. Waking up early
Waking up early has been giving me the most significant results since I decided to
make a shift from a night owl into an early bird. I used to have my peak hours from 1
a.m. to 4 a.m. and would get amazing work done with sharp focus. Years passed by,
and I realized that getting enough sleep on a regular basis is a key to ultimate
performance and productivity, not to mention the increased quality of life.
For the last two years, Ive been experimenting with my morning routine which starts
by waking up early. Ive started at 7 a.m. and managed to stretch it to 5 a.m My
ultimate goal is to go to 4:30 a.m., as I really enjoy working on my morning rituals
and getting lots of work done that push me toward my goals. I wont lie; at the
beginning it was a nightmare to wake up early. Its dark, its cold, my eyes cant open,

and all I wanted to do was to go back to sleep. Sometimes it would happen, Id be

like, Ill just close my eyes for one more minute.
The more and more I was concerned about my health and lifestyle, the more I saw
the benefits of getting up early. Ive seen numerous articles, infographics and
interviews with the most successful people on the planet and majority of them were
emphasising the importance of getting up early for their success and life balance.
Ive been greatly inspired by this article: 12 Lessons of Waking Up at 4:30 a.m. for 21
Days by Filipe Castro Matos.
TomasLau.com: Lessons I Learned from 10 Days of Silence and Meditation
2. Making lists
I dont have time for it. One of the most common excuses I hear people say to me
when I ask so why you dont exercise, why you dont write, why you dont build a
business? You have time, I have time, Barack Obama has time. We all have time,
and just to remind you, we all have 24 hours a day, no matter where you live, how
much money you make or how successful you are, you have the same amount of
time as everyone else. So how some people excel and some dont? They prioritize.
You must come to peace with a fact that you cant have it all. You either master one
thing or you become mediocre at many things, but you cant have both.
You must come to peace with a fact that you cant have it all.
Making lists, and especially hand-written lists, make your brain believe that these are
the only things you need to focus on. Once you start working on something you will
be bombarded with thoughts and excuses of what you should be doing instead. Hold
tight, write these ideas and distractions down to your later list, as this little trick
makes your brain think about it as a complete task and then you can stop thinking
about it and focus on your work. Mindfulness and awareness help you a lot with
noticing these thoughts and I will talk about it a little bit later in this article.
I love the idea of essentialism, you need to focus on essential things and say a
big no to distractions and all the endless opportunities. Warren Buffet has an
incredibly powerful priorities list method.
Begin with writing down 25 things you want to do in your life. After that prioritize them
writing a number from 1 to 25. Rewrite the list by priorities starting 1 to 25, now draw
a line after the 5th priority. First five priorities are the ones you need and can focus to
really achieve them, and now, the most important part, below the line, 20 other
priorities are your avoid at all costs list. This is the list of you wanting to become a
musician, wanting to write a book, wanting to start a blog, wanting to [INSERT A
VERB + NOUN]. Most of the time its more about not doing than doing. Doing

nothing instead of doing anything in most cases is better for your balance, health,
sleep and focus on your main priorities.
3. Habit stacking
The concept of habit stacking is a set of habits, a script of your morning routine to
make sure you get the most of your morning and prepare yourself for running the
day like a boss.
Either you run the day or the day runs you. Jim Rohn
Habit stacking works like magic for me, my current morning miracle looks like that:

Wake up at 5 a.m.
After I wake up I will drink water
After I drink water I will stretch
After I stretch I will eat
After I eat I will meditate for 15 minutes
After I meditate I will read 20 pages
After I read I will write 500 words
After I write I will plan the day and define MIT
After I plan the day I will do the affirmations (What do I want? Why do I want it? What
am I committed to doing in order to get there?)

After I do the affirmations I will visualise and imagine doing the tasks

After I visualise I will work on MIT

After MIT, I will exercise

Habit stacking is a concept of sticking a new habit to a current one. For example,
when youre brushing your teeth you can read two pages right after doing it. Youre
more likely to develop a new habit on top of an old one because your brain has lots
of synaptic connections for that habit to run it on autopilot. After you start stacking
habit on habit, your order becomes a habit too, the best part is that habits are
automatic, meaning that it doesnt use your willpower so you can basically program
yourself to do one or the other thing without even thinking about it. I write this article
6 a.m. as a part of my morning miracle after waking up at 5 a.m., drinking water,
stretching, eating, meditating and reading.
TomasLau.com: Tools I Use To Learn, Work and Travel Anywhere In the World
3. Stretching
One of the recent habits I am developing now is stretching. I was inspired by my
buddy Ivan Shulev, who does it every day for at least an hour. At the beginning, I saw
it as a waste of time, but incorporating stretching into my morning and workout
routines I can see and feel the benefits of being able to sit straight longer, reduced
back pain and better flexibility.
My goal is to develop a habit and stretch every 30 min while working as most of the
time I am just sitting and staring at my screen. Complementary to that I started

experimenting with working standing up, a little problem is that my current nomadic
lifestyle doesnt allow me to work from one place so I need to get creative and use a
fridge, put chairs on the table, books under my laptop to make my stand up desk the
right height. Once again, thanks to Ivan for leading by showing an example.
4. Listening to podcasts
For a long time in my life, I was constantly looking for instant gratification,
entertainment to be exact, mostly to escape my boring lifestyle and day dream by
looking at cartoons, movies and series that would portray something. It would allow
myself to impersonate with people on the screen and feel the success they have.
I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.
Dudley Field Malone
No matter how fulfilling and immersive these experiences are I decided to invest in
the future I want to live in, invest in myself and pay the price of hard and consistent
work to become the best person I can. I decided to give up series, stop wasting time
on weird videos and minimise time spent listening to music. Instead, I wanted to
allow myself learn more, be inspired and have a positive impact on my personality
and mindset development.
I am curious about the top performers, best-selling authors, industry disruptors,
creatives, entrepreneurs, lifestyle designers and leaders that inspire and change the
world. Check out my list of the podcasts I listen to and you may find something for
yourself.
The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes Lewis interviews bestselling authors,
top athletes, successful entrepreneurs and other inspiring individuals.
The Tim Ferriss Show Tim talks with scientists, authors, entrepreneurs and people
who change the world. Topics range from neuroscience to psychology to business
and more.
The $100 MBA Show real life business lessons in short form episodes with Omar
Zenhom and Nicole Baldinu.
The Fizzle Show fun, actionable and inspiring show for creative entrepreneurs.
The Cubicle Crashing Podcast by Lydia Lee Lydia interviews creative
entrepreneurs and individuals about unconventional lifestyle and escaping 9-5.
Check out my conversation with Lydia.
Entrepreneur on Fire John Lee Dumas interviews most inspiring and successful
entrepreneurs.

5. Meditation
Ive been meditating inconsistently for over a year now, inconsistently meaning Id
meditate 5 times a week, other weeks only once or twice. However, after
spending 10 days in silence in the mountains of Northern Thailand I am meditating at
least 5 times a week, for at least 15 minutes. It really helps me to calm down, accept
the things happening in my life, get in peace with the present moment, become more
grateful and relaxed.
Mindfulness and meditation may help to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol,
suggests new research from the Shamatha Project at the University of California,
Davis.
Ive been an active mindfulness advocate for the last year and I will repeat myself
again, if you havent tried meditation yet, do it, try it for at least 3 days and observe
how you feel, I recommend starting with Headspaceor Calm app and spend at least
10 minutes a day focusing on your breath and relaxing. The world is buzzing and
many things are happening. You are not aware of the world around you but more
sadly of your inner self too. Humans can think of 60,000 stories and feel 300,000
emotions every day, how many of them are you aware of?
6. Reading
How do you read more books? I was obsessed with that question and tried to find all
the hacks possible, speed reading, reading excerpts, summaries, trying audiobooks,
watching videos that explain the most of the book concepts and so on.
Ive discovered a mind-blowing hack that was there all the time. If you want to read
more books, simply spend more time reading. If you dont have time to read, make
more time. Have a book always with you, read after you wake up, read when you
commute to work, read while you wait for your morning coffee at the cafe. Having a
break at work? Read. Read before the bed. All of these will add up and give you 2040 pages a day which are around 2 books a month. I used to waste months without
reading a single book.
I hope I dont need to tell you about the benefits of reading books as these are
enormous. If some of the wealthiest people in the world like Warren Buffet and Mark
Zuckerberg can read hundreds of books a year and Elon Musk can teach himself
rocket science reading, it must be important. Ordinary people seek entertainment.
Extraordinary people seek education and learning. Thats why most successful
people are reading books instead of wasting time watching TV.
Over years reading you will certainly reshape your thinking, you will be
knowledgeable and have ideas on many topics, you will think and see differently, you
will have answers to common questions, you will feel more confident and creative.

Make reading your priority.

TomasLau.com: Heartwarming Way To Appreciate People Who Inspire You
7. Writing
Writing is definitely one of the major skills that have influenced my lifestyle in a
positive way. Its not only very meditative activity as it helps me think deeper but it
also allows me to create stories, makes me a better communicator and increases my
creativity. When I get into the zone words are just flowing.
What I love about writing the most is the impact it can have. You can potentially
reach millions of people by just writing once and publishing it online, you dont need
to repeat yourself and tell everyone personally about your story.
It makes you a better person, you take everything that has been bothering you into
words on paper or screen and it leaves you calmer, more satisfied and inspired.

8. Defining the most important task (MIT)

Most of the time Id just write a to-do list of some random tasks I want to do that day
and my over optimistic to-do list would go unfinished every day. Now, I am focusing
on one major task, the most important task (MIT) of the day that will help me achieve
my vision and contribute the most to the future I want to build. I wrote a piece on
Forbes about decision fatigue and its consequences which are all about making a
limited amount of decisions every day and consuming a certain amount of willpower
for each and every decision.
Defining and focusing on my most important task helps me get the most vital task
done and move closer to my main goal, if I still have energy left for other tasks, Id
work on secondary and tertiary importance level tasks to run errands, ensure the
cash flow and work on improvements for my business and life.
9. Doing the affirmations
Doing the affirmations is quite new for me, I heard about the concept but never really
took the time to do them. Now, every morning I am doing a short positive self-talk
that I am already creative, productive, confident, influential, calm, loving, leading,
inspiring, humble, intelligent, innovative, attractive, sensible and successful. It really
helps me get that little positive boost for the day and adds extra confidence to
whatever I do.
The next step for me is to do it in front of a mirror with more energy and belief to
really pump up myself with positive energy for the day.

10. Visualisation
Imagine it with all the details, how does it look, smell, sound, feel? What emotions
youd have, how would you look, what would you do? Make it as realistic as possible
and truly believe into it. Practising visualisation daily helps me stay on the track and
know that it is inevitable, Ive already been there and done that, now just need my
body to get where my mind already is, the victory.
The mind is everything. What you think you become. Buddha
Visualisation is a process of recreating all the images, sounds and feelings in your
mind in order to practice in a perfect environment. Turns out, visualisation is very
popular in sports psychology.
As I was active in athletics for around a decade, I would watch videos of great
athletes and analyse their techniques, Id look at the pictures of pole vaulters and
imagine myself doing the same movements jumping over the bar. Before the
competition Id imagine myself warming up, stretching and finally competing. I was
visualising without even knowing about it.
What is the difference between a good and great athlete? Their mental strength and
power of visualisation. One of the most overused cliches in sport is that 90 percent of
performance is mental. According to Doug Gardner, sport is 100 percent mental.
11. Exercise
Ive been exercising for over a decade now. Ive been involved in athletics from a
young age of 12, Ive faced many personal defeats, struggle and growth of my
physical and mental body. For the last three years, I switched to the gym, running
and stretching. Occasionally trying new things like yoga, surfing, ultimate frisbee,
tennis and surfing.
Now I am regularly exercising 4-5 times a week, with exceptions when I get sick or
travel.
Tomas Laurinavicius is an adventurous designer, blogger & entrepreneur from
Lithuania. Founder ofDespreneur, a magazine for design entrepreneurs and coauthor of Mobile Design Book. Currently traveling the world with a mission to help 1
million people to change their lifestyle for good.

Free Online HR Tools You Should Be Using

1.

Bitrix24

Even though Bitrix24 is used by over 200,000 companies, its mostly unknown to HR professionals. Perhaps,
because its HR tools (employee directory, employee self service portal, shared calendars, absence management,
onboarding and engagement) are hidden away. Do take a day or two to explore Bitrix24, because its a hidden
HR gem. Free 12 users/5GB
2.

ScheduleHead.com

As you might have guessed from the name, ScheduleHead is a free online employee scheduling service. The
free version is limited to 75 employees and uses email as the only way to notify them about their work shifts. The
paid version also lets you notify employees about scheduled shifts via text messages.
3.

iDoneThis.com

iDoneThis is a free workreport software. It sends your employees daily reminders to fill out a short form about
what theyve done. At the end of the day supervisor sees what each subordinate has done. As easy as that. Free
solo, after that its $5/employee/month
4.

WaveApps.com

While payroll is a responsibility of accountants, the two roles are frequently intertwined in small companies. There
are a number of accounting tools available inside WaveApps, payroll being just one of them. The free version is
ad supported. The paid version is ad free, but has $9/user/mo charge. The fact that you can view payroll via
mobile is pretty cool.
5.

WebHR

WebHR is somewhat similar to Bitrix24 (minus file sharing, document management, client management and
tasks). It can be used as free employee portal if you have 10 employees or less. It has a great clean interface
that is very inviting. Unfortunately, most of the HR tools are turned off in the free version. However, WebHR plans
are very modestly prices $25 for 20 employees and $50 for 50 employees.

9 Free Business
Productivity Tools For
Startups
# 1. Bitrix24.com
If you need a collaboration tool your staff are most likely to adopt with relative ease
and minimum training, take the social intranet route.

Bitrix24.com is the fastest growing social intranet thats free for businesses with 12
employees or less. The application comes as a combination of several different work
tools like CRM, project management, real-time streaming, activity planner, file
sharing, to name just a few. As it is cloud-based, access can be anywhere, whether
using your computer or smartphone. An upgrade to unlimited users starts at $99 per
month.

# 2. GotFreeFax.com
In this era of e-mail and instant messaging, youd think fax machines are no longer
relevant. But if a LinkedIn survey as reported by Mashable is to be believed, fax
machines are still in until 2017 steps in.
As you might have already guessed from the sites name, GotFreeFax.com is an
online service that allows you to send up to three pages of fax for free (maximum of
two faxes per day) to any number in the United States or Canada. The site also
offers premium pay-per-fax service should you need to send more.

# 3. RememberTheMilk.com
RememberTheMilk.com is an online productivity tool that assists in task and time
management. Remember The Milk essentially functions as your all-in-one task
manager, electronic calendar and to-do list. Aside from allowing you to share and
split tasks with other people, the application can be integrated with GMail, too.
The pro account is priced at $25 for one year and comes with exclusive mobile app
features and Microsoft Outlook integration.

# 4. Kolab.org
Kolab.org is an open-source group collaboration server that allows for sharing of
notes, e-mail access, calendar organization, task management, address book
maintenance, news aggregation, phone sync and journal integration. Kolab is
secure, scalable, reliable, mobile and professional, ensuring productivity every step
of the way. As a whole, the application requires some getting used to. But once you
get the hang of it, the hassle can be all worth it.

# 5. WaveApps.com
Formerly WaveAccounting.com, WaveApps.com is an accounting software thats
fast, simple and easy to use, offering unlimited invoicing and expense tracking.
100% free for small businesses with nine employees or less, its accountantapproved and specifically designed for non-accountants. You can also securely
connect your bank and PayPal accounts or other sources of data, and your
transactions are automatically imported into the accounting software.

# 6. PRLog.org
To make your business presence known, one surefire route to take is through the
distribution of press releases. PRLog.org is a site where you can dispense press
releases for free. And if you feel you dont have the necessary expertise to create a
killer press release, the site provides instructions on how to write one, even how to
embed videos where necessary.

# 7. Weebly.com
One cardinal business rule is that businesses should have their own websites to
boost their market presence online. Weebly.com is a free website creator that
doesnt require website creation expertise. Until youre ready to go for more complex
and/or self-hosted sites that would require monthly or yearly payments, Weebly.com
is a good alternative.

# 8. Join.me
For those meetings or web conferences on the fly, Join.me is a simple-to-use
teleconferencing application that allows you to review documents and designs, train
staff, do product demonstrations basically to get everyone apprised of company
updates. You can do transatlantic web conferences and presentations, too.

# 9. IFTTT.com
IFTTT.com, which is short for if this, then that, functions like a computer program
repeatedly uttering if/then logic all day long. With IFTTT, you set up recipes to
assist you with task automation. For a recipe to work, you have to have a channel, a
trigger and an action. Examples of channels are Facebook, e-mail, Evernote,
LinkedIn, just to mention a few.

For instance, if youre tagged in a photo on Facebook, you can create a recipe that
would automatically download the image into Dropbox.
What other free business productivity tools can you suggest?