Household Iems Rendered Obsolete by Smartphones

Many items are no longer as useful thanks to the ubiquitous smartphone

The smartphone’s rise in prominence over the last decade has served as the death knell for many former household tech staples. In just 10 years, smartphones have become the Swiss Army knives of the tech world, being able to do much more than simply making phone calls and sending text messages.

Here are 10 items you’ll never need to buy again thanks to your smartphone.

Address Book

Keeping a dedicated address and phone book has become a thing of the past thanks to smartphones.

Heck, even memorising loved ones’ phone numbers has fallen by the wayside; it’s so much easier to simply tap the person’s name.

Alarm Clock

Having an alarm clock by each bedside used to be the standard in every home. Today, however, with the ability to set multiple alarms at once, select which days to have the alarm trigger and even analyse your sleep in the process, smartphones are the new bedside staple.

Calculator

Math can be hard, but calculators can make math easy.

What’s even easier than using a calculator to do math? Not having to worry about finding batteries for your calculator because the same functionality is included in your phone.

Calendar

Calendars are great for keeping track of events and dates, but what do you do when you leave your pocket calendar in your desk – or, even more likely, when you can’t take your calendar with you because it’s the size of your desk?

You miss your appointment, that’s what.

That’s not the case with the calendar in your smartphone – unless you leave your smartphone on your desk, because then you’re just out of luck.

Camera

If there’s one thing smartphones have truly made mainstream, it’s photography. Taking photos used to primarily be saved for special occassions, as doing so meant lugging around a camera.

The advent of the smartphone camera (and subsequent photo-sharing platforms and apps) has led to people documenting every aspect of everyday life – from putting together furniture to glamour shots of one’s dinner plate. Unfortunately, it’s also led to the rise of the selfie.

Flashlight

Picture this: It’s night. A storm has just knocked out the power at your house. You have to find the circuit breaker to reset the power, but you can’t find it without some type of light.

The real question becomes where’s the flashlight? Hint: not at your side like your trusty smartphone with the built-in camera flash that can pull double duty as a flashlight.

GPS

Remember the days before GPS? Everyone used to keep either a map or an atlas in their car.

The miracle of the consumer GPS unit was quickly supplanted by the even more miraculous smartphone, as the latter came equipped with its own built-inn GPS tracker and accelerometer.

Drivers no longer had to lug around a bulky GPS unit in their glove boxes; instead, they could simply punch their destination into their phone and have the same turn-by-turn directions orated to them.

Landline Telephone

This one’s obvious.

With everyone having some smartphone – and some owning two – there really wasn’t any need for landlines anymore.

Especially now that mobile phone calls are cheap or free, there really isn’t a need to reach out for a landline phone.

Level Metre

For those with limited space in their tool bag, here’s one item you can leave behind from now on.

Your smartphone’s built-in gyroscope allows it to determine angles, which clever app designers have used to mimic the effects of a bubble level.

Hanging pictures becomes a breeze when you don’t have to spend half your time trying to remember where you left your level.

Outdoor Thermometer

Why get out of bed to check the weather when you can just grab your phone and see current and future weather conditions for your location and anywhere else in the world?

There’s probably still a use for these antiquated thermometers, but not in most residential applications.

Source: Newsday/Tribune News Service

Raising Money-Savvy Children

“Here are some tips to teach your kids good spending habits”

At a time when Internet banking, credit cards and online shopping are the norm, it’s not surprising that kids don’t have the best money habits.

Currently, just one percent of kids save their allowance, even though 61% of parents in America who give it to them hope they’ll learn about money, according to the American Institute of CPAs.

But if children think credit cards are the modern-day equivalent of a magic wand, there are ways to help them gain good spending habits before they swipe their way into debt and it’s too late.

Delay Gratification

This is a learned behaviours, said Susan Beacham, CEO of Money Savvy Generation, a financial literacy website for kids.

“It’s a muscle, and it’s something that gets stronger with use,” Beacham said.

A study published in 1972 known as The Marshmallow Experiment, which continues to be referenced today, found that children who can delay their gratification end up with higher SAT scores, lower levels of obesity, better responses to stress and other positive life skills.

Try it in the supermarket checkout line, when your child wants some candy. You can purchase it but not give it to her for a few hours. Or, you can tell your older child that you’re window shopping but won’t be making any purchases that day.

Discuss Needs Versus Wants

Try making this into an activity as you shop, suggested Beth Kobliner, personal finance expert and author of Make Your Kid a Money Genius.

Kobliner suggested doing this at the supermarket: “We might want chocolate milk and vege sticks, but what do we need?” she said. Correct answer: regular milk and regular vegetables, she said. In a store, the child might want a toy but needs a winter coat.

It’s also helpful for parents to curb their own habits: Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I need to race over to the sale?” Your children are listening.

Use Cash

The area of the brain associated with pain is activated when you see a high price, according to Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University researchers.

That’s why subscription services and unlimited usage plans have become so popular.

But using real bills and coins will make money feel tangible and real, for you and for your child, Kobliner said. And if it hurts, maybe you’ll both spend less.

Let Your Child Spend His Allowance

You may have a child who wants to spend all his allowance on gum.

“The key with allowance is to be clear and consistent, and after that, a little bit hands-off,” Kobliner said. “Let your child know how much money she’ll be getting, and how often, plus some general guidelines about what she should use it for.”

For example, Kobliner said, you may still pay for school clothing, but your child will have to use the allowance to go to the movies.

Ground rules about off-limit purchases should also be established.

“For some parents, that might extend to nixing a sugar treat-buying bonanza in the first place,” Kobliner said. “But one of the points of allowance is to teach kids about opportunity cost and to let them make mistakes with money that they’ll learn from.”

So if your child blows all of the allowance on candy but later realises the money could have been saved for a stuffed animal, he will hopefully remember it the next time when walking past the candy counter, Kobliner said.

Shop

While you’re shopping, teach your kids about the importance of comparison shopping and that using coupons can significantly decrease how much you pay for things, said David Bakke, financial expert at Money Crashers. You’ll gain a mini-couponer and a fantastic shopping partner-in-crime.

Motivate Your Team

Here are five ways in which you can keep staff morale high during a recession

During a recession, most people start thinking about their career. If you’re like most people, you will give some thought as to what the year might hold for you. Will you lose your job? Will you get promoted? Will you get a pay rise? Should you start looking around for something else?

If you think like this, the chances are the members of your team do so as well.

And if senior management sends you messages like “profits are down”, “we need to increase sales” or “we might have to rationalise or restructure”, you have your work cut out when it comes to keeping your team productive and motivated.

When people are distracted and stressed, they make mistakes, get into petty arguments and generally can make life in the office a living hell! This is not something that’s going to show you in the best light at the management meetings.

As their manager or team leader, what can you do to help the situation? Here are five ways to keep your staff motivated during a recession.

1. Communicate

Nothing stresses people out more than not knowing what’s going on. People are always willing to think the worst. Make sure your team can come to you and get answers.

Equally when you have information that’s relevant to them, make sure you keep them all in the loop.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that because someone was in the office when you were telling someone else about it that they were listening or even realised that what you were talking about was relevant to them. Have frank discussions and include all the people who are involved.

2. Be Honest 

You need to be as honest as possible with your team. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you divulge confidential information or discuss sensitive information inappropriately.

Being honest with them means explaining the reasons why things are happening. If priorities have changed, your team needs to know about it and when they understand the reasons why, they are generally a lot more co-operative than you might give them credit for.

They may not like what they’re being asked to do – take a pay cut or forgo a promotion – but if they understand why it’s important, you’ll get a much higher level of buy-in from them.

3. Lead by Example

It’s your duty as a manager to act as a buffer between your team and the management tier above you.

To keep your team motivated and productive, you may need to shield them from any politics, panic or doom and gloom, but more than that, you must lead by example.

Even when things are tough, you’ve got to hold it together, be confident and be decisive – this is not a time for dithering or procrastinating. As far as getting the job done is concerned, it’s business as usual.

4. Be More Strategic

At times like these, you need to be thinking ahead. Let your team deal with the minutiae and details.

If you allow yourself to get buried in day-to-day activities, you may find that all inspiration or creativity has been sapped from you.

When times are tough, the whole organisation is relying on its managers to spot opportunities, improve processes and find ways to get customers buying again.

You must keep yourself free to concentrate on the big picture.

5. Put a Lid on Gossip

Gossip has the potential to either damage someone’s reputation or cause widespread panic around the office, particularly if people are gossiping about looming redundancies, so the moment you find out about any gossip, deal with it.

The last thing you want is your best staff member to go and find another job because he thought incorrectly, that he might be made redundant.

Listen, by all means, to find out what’s going on, but don’t start rumours or get caught up spreading them.

Your team needs you now more than they have ever needed you before. They need you to be strong and to lead them through the period of uncertainty.

Engaging Employees

To keep your organisation on track, you need to engage your employees for optimum performance and greater job satisfaction. Studies show that engaged employees:

• Are more likely to stay
• Are more productive
• Maintain profitable customer relationships
• Serve as advocates for your organisation

What exactly is employee engagement and what does it mean to engage your employees? Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement employees have towards their organisation or job.

According to a study by the Corporate Leadership Council, employees with the highest levels of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organisation.

Employee engagement means making people feel valued by involving them in decisions, asking them to participate in the planning process, praising them, and continually providing adequate training and support. It’s giving your employees the opportunity to contribute to the company’s overall success.

When you allow your employees to think independently and assist the company, they will respond with increased work effort and greater efficiency. The following are four keys to employee engagement that can help your company grow.

1. Involve your employees in the decision-making process

You can keep morale high and engage your employees by involving them in business decisions that directly relate to them. For example, if your company is considering a dress code change, allow your employees to voice their opinions on the new dress code and offer suggestions for portraying a more professional image. Encouraging their input makes them feel a part of the team and contributors to the company’s overall success.

2. Involve your employees in the planning process

Whenever possible, allow your employees to take an active role in planning the company’s future. Instead of simply declaring a new sales goal your employees need to reach, ask your sales team to come up with their own realistic monthly goals and a plan to reach that number. When employees take an active role in the planning process, they know their input matters to the company’s bottom line. Additionally, they’ll be more apt to strive to meet the goal if they set it themselves and laid out a plan to reach it.

3. Offer praise freely

When was the last time you praised an employee for a job well done? In too many companies, managers inadvertently neglect to offer praise on a regular basis. As a result, many employees are left to wonder how their performance rates. Without such guidance they can easily become uncertain about their job requirements and their ability to handle challenging situations.

When your employees know they are doing a good job, they will want to repeat the process again and again. They’ll also be more willing to try new ideas and challenges to meet your customers’ needs. The result will be motivated employees who are eager to help the company grow.

4. Provide continual training and support

If you want your employees to feel confident in their abilities, they need the proper job training and support. Many companies offer an introductory training period when a new employee comes on board, but training then stops after a certain period of time. Provide ongoing training and coaching for employees at all levels so they can gain greater competence, overcome performance barriers and be more effective in their jobs.

Enable your employees to succeed by giving them the means, opportunity and capacity they need to excel. The result is growth, innovation and satisfaction. If your employees feel important, they’ll transfer those feelings to your customers through improved service and ultimately, greater sales.

So if you want your company to grow to new heights, engage your employees by creating an environment where people are encouraged to explore, discover, take risks and think for themselves. Engaged employees will always rise to the occasion, do the best job possible, and help you compete in the global marketplace.