There’s no running away from problems. You just have to own up to your mistakes and come to terms with the consequences. Easy, right?

Today, I’m going to talk to you about how you can help yourself not to make so many mistakes at work. This is a subject that hits close to home.

I’m a very easily distracted person, the sort of person that would leave the toaster on and go straight out the door without a care in the world. And that's all fine. Perhaps. Until it’s not.

SEE ALSO: Content Creation Tip & Resources

When you want to be a hardcore professional girl, especially a professional in content creation, errors are simply... not acceptable. When a client’s image is on the line they can’t happen.

First of all, breathe. Then reflect on it. Then act on it.

STEP 1: Which one are you?

According to recent psychological studies, when it comes to mistakes, there are two types of people:

Type A: People that just stay calm and collect themselves in the face of a mistake. (oh, how I envy them!) They just need to adjust their focus and are much more likely to learn from their mistakes so they will not happen again easily.

Type B: People who panic. (uh, that's sooo me.) People who can’t get over their mistake are more likely to keep doing it in the future.

Choose carefully.

STEP 2: Understand your mistake!

Keep your mistakes on a lockdown.

Record and keep a personal log on your every mistake.

• Lose your keys
• Forget the kettle on
• Misspell a word
• Copy and paste wrong (yeah, it could happen!)

Identify a reason for the mistake to happen and write down the steps you followed in order to identify where the mistake occurred and how you could avoid them:

• Where you in a rush?
• Where you in a rush because you procrastinated?
• Where you stressed about something else?

This way, you will understand the reasons why your mistakes keep happening and where the pattern is, if there is one.

STEP 3: Talk about it!

This is something you can’t be ashamed of, I know it’s hard but you have to face it and own up to it.

If these mistakes keep happening at work, then seek the advice of someone who has more experience than you and talk to that person about it. You are going to realize that mistakes are common, you are only human but there is an urgent need to suppress them.

STEP 4: Organization is the key!

• Use checklists and to do’s.
• Prioritize.
• Simplify your schedule. Fewer tasks mean the work would be easier and better.
• Ask for help. If your eyes can't identify the mistakes maybe having someone else revising your work should be the way.

SEE ALSO: Content Creation Tip & Resources

Above all, stay strong and don’t bring yourself down. However, take every mistake you make seriously, especially if it’s in the workplace. Face them, breathe and deal with the consequences. Whatever they might be.

From a content marketer to another, we all know that work can get hectic! Chill, we have all been there.

From a content marketer to another, we all know that work can get hectic: “Need 10 posts about the car convention by the end of the week, oh! need to find an image that suits the copy of that Instagram post, for the ebook and I also need a list of at least 20 themes, etc."

Suddenly, you feel the right side of your brain shutting down, no more creative days in the horizon and you can already see the demise of your passion for content.

Chill, we have all been there. Although, this perspective might be synonym to doom & gloom, don’t despair.

Content-focused business practices and process are relatively new and still evolving. I'm a real content marketing strategist at a heart, not at all a content strategist. So, I did find it difficult (and still do sometimes) to balance both: the creative, fun side of content creation and the focus on the goals and outcome of the content.

SEE ALSO: DESIGN FOR YOUR CLIENTS, NOT FOR YOU

You know in your heart that true valuable content is one that serves a specific purpose. You need to adapt your content not only to the business you are talking about but also to its goals. You need content to be more than just brilliant, you need it to effective. The Content Marketing Institute says that we need to talk about two types of jobs related to content: the content strategist and the content marketer

The difference between the two types of strategists, although a little hard to explain, it's quite easy to grasp.

For starters, they have different purposes:

• Content Marketer Strategist - Content Oriented - makes great content, one that has the potential to go viral, makes editorial calendars like no one, knows exactly which tone to adapt to your business.
• Content Strategist - Market Oriented - turns content into a business, values content based on the outcomes, on the KPI’S, the numbers, sales and if the workflow process that can be easily reproduced.

WHICH ONE DOES YOUR COMPANY NEEDS?

Ideally in a super company there will be room for the two roles.

However not being able to afford the two, there is only one thing to do: become them both.

If you are capable of playing the two roles, not only will this enrich your work as it will enrich your multitasking and develop your business sense.

This will be an asset for any agency or company. Improvement of the results is always a goal to strive for.

And think you'd be like a super power, you would emerge in the room and a theme song will start playing and someone would say in voice over: “THE MASTER OF CONTENT” or something like, I mean...don’t get carry away.

SEE ALSO:DESIGN FOR YOUR CLIENTS, NOT FOR YOU

Why should I read Rework?

This book entered my reading list by chance and here’s what I have learned from this start-up’s bible.

Why should I read Rework?

This book entered my reading list by chance and here’s what I have learned from this start-up’s bible.

SET UP

The question in my mind for a good 2 days while I was letting this book sit there on my coffee table was: Why should I read it?

I’m not starting my own business or managing a team, I’m between jobs leaving a company that I love which couldn’t love me in return for a job in the stressful world of a digital agency. And so, I felt that there were more accurate books that would be more helpful in that moment.

However, one day (while I quickly ran out of other things to do - that were sooo major) I started reading the first paragraph in the book. And two weeks later, I had devoured the whole thing.

SEE ALSO: Why having a content strategy matters?

THE HOOK

Rework is all about asking the right questions. Although, you might think that does not apply to you, it does. If you are part of an industry, of a company, if you are a CEO, a freelancer or an intern you should read this book.

Rework makes you think about your behavior in the workplace and questions your attitude towards different problems. The solutions might not be what you are looking for but what’s key is the crucial questions it raises.

MUNDANE CONCLUSIONS

Business plans are trash, long meetings are the plague, the phrase “long-term strategy” means nothing and the ideal work week has between 10 and 40 hours in it. Yep. You read that right.

The authors live by the premises in the book, it’s their guide and has help them found a small company that every year makes millions of dollars which is 37 signals.

Here’s my take away from their philosophy:

• Develop something that you would want to use on your daily life.

• Start with something that could solve your personal problems or your work problems.
• Focus on doing one thing right.

• Failure it’s not a premise for success, learning from mistake is overrated.
• Problems usually have simple solutions.

• Don’t sweat more than you have to. You usually know what the consequences are, deal with them. Be open, humble and transparent.
• Meetings are toxic.

• If a meeting is mandatory then something concrete must come out of it.
• The time to launch is now not later.

• An ideal setting is never going to happen. Find out soon rather than later if your idea works.
• Before hiring for a specific area, do the job yourself.

• Then you know what works and what to expect from your employee.

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SEE ALSO: Why having a content strategy matters? Rework preaches what worked for the authors: a revolutionary work philosophy that focuses on personal satisfaction, productivity and the pursuit of an ideal.

‍It’s up to you to take away the conclusions that might really work for you.