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Larry Ellison’s company is investing billions to supply huge amounts of computing power to AI groups such as OpenAIView the full article

Calibri and Times New Roman have been at war for years. And now the two fonts are once again pitted against each other after the U.S. State Department declared it will be swapping its current official typeface, Calibri, for Times New Roman. It’s a full circle moment, considering the State Department ditched Times New Roman for Calibri in just 2023. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote that switching to Calibri was “wasteful” and “achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence” in an internal department memo obtained by Reuters and The New York Times. The type designer behind the sans-serif font Calibri calls Rubio’s decision “hilarious and regrettable.” Lucas de Groot designed Calibri in 2007 specifically for readability on computer screens. The width and curvature of its simple letterform was optimized to be easy to read, and it replaced Times New Roman as the default font in Microsoft Office in 2007 (before being replaced by Apotos in 2023). In 2023, the State Department decided to replace Times New Roman with Calibri for all official communications and memos. It was a bid for greater accessibility throughout the organization. At the time, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, Times New Roman “can introduce accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities who use Optical Character Recognition technology or screen readers.” Not everyone was happy about the decision, but de Groot believes it was the right choice. “There were sound reasons for moving away from Times,” de Groot tells Fast Company in an email. “Calibri performs exceptionally well at small sizes and on standard office monitors, whereas serif fonts like Times New Roman tend to appear more distorted.” A DEI typeface In the cable, sent with the subject line “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” Rubio called Calibri “informal” and said it “clashes” with State letterhead. He also criticized it as a “radical” diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiative. Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the 2023 change to Calibri at the recommendation of the department’s office of diversity and inclusion due its accessibility and ease to read for people with disabilities. Now it’s getting swept up in The President’s wider war on woke. Serif typefaces, with their small feet, or serifs, on the letterform, are sometimes perceived to be more conservative. Meanwhile, some believe that sans-serifs read as more modern and progressive, though that’s far from a hard-and-fast rule. After all, The President loves a sans-serif font, and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s has leaned into serif typography for his campaign logos. “Serif fonts are often perceived as more traditional, but they are also more demanding to use effectively,” says de Groot, noting the spacing is noticeably inconsistent in all-caps Times New Roman in words like “Chicago” and the font appears too thin and sharp when printed at high quality. For many readers, though, font preference has less to do with politics than it does personal taste and what they’re used to seeing. There were inter-office complaints when the State Department switched to Calibri that sound an awful lot like normal office grumblings when one has to switch from Slack to Teams. “I think the idea that a typeface is woke is kind of ridiculous,” says type designer Jonathan Hoefler, who designed the Biden-Harris typography and is the co-author of Gotham, a typeface that’s now been used by presidential candidates of both parties. Typefaces aren’t good or bad, he says. They are simply designed to solve different problems. Times New Roman was designed for newspaper text and Calibri was designed for a screen. “None of these are bad typefaces, they’re just designed around their circumstances,” he says. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The strength training mode in Garmin watches like the Forerunner 570 is a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's incredibly useful in the gym. Garmin handles rest timers better than any other wearable I've tried, and when combined with a third-party app called LiftTrack, you can even track your volume and PRs. I'll lead you through how I use this workout mode, and how it's helped me do more work in less time in the gym. How to find strength workouts in Garmin Connect Credit: Garmin I’ll get into how to create workouts in a minute, but first I just want to let you know that there are some strength workouts already available for download, if you’d like to just select one and start doing it right now. Go to either your Garmin Connect app or to Garmin Connect on the web, tap Training & Planning, then Workouts, then Find a Workout. You’ll be able to choose workouts from a library, and you can search by type (including weights, yoga, and bodyweight cardio). Most of the workouts are short, simple, and don’t use much equipment. If you’re experienced at strength training, you’ll probably want to create your own workouts or use the coach feature, but these will get you started in the meantime. Credit: Garmin As for that coach feature, it works much like the adaptive running coach plans. You can read more here from Garmin, but basically you set it up by selecting Garmin Coach and telling it your goals and schedule. Workouts will then appear for you each day. The image above shows a Push/Pull/Legs workout programmed by Garmin Coach. It let me choose which workout happens on which day, had me set my max lifts as benchmarks (this program uses percentages), and even let me edit the workouts to swap exercises before finally putting them on my calendar. How to create strength workouts in Garmin Connect Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Garmin I’m going to walk you through this step-by-step, because I was so confused the first time I tried to build a workout. Again, you can do this either on your phone or on the web. I usually end up creating my workouts on the phone, and it’s not hard once you get the hang of it. One tip, though: you can skip this whole process if you're willing to install a third-party app. LiftTrack takes care of workout planning and syncs to your Garmin account, and you can read more about how to use that app here. Go to the “More” menu on your phone (or the sidebar on web) and select Training & Planning, then Workouts, and then Create a Workout. From here, select Strength, and you’ll be given a skeleton of a workout with a warmup, cooldown, and one slot for an exercise. To start adding exercises, tap Add Round, which will give you a workout card and a recovery card, both in a little box that says “2 Rounds” at the top. Here’s what you do to turn this into a traditional sets-and-reps format (in this example, we want to do four sets of five deadlifts at 200 pounds): Tap the card that says workout. Select an exercise (deadlift), a weight (200 pounds), and a target type. In this case, the target type will be Reps (five). Hit the arrow on the top left of the screen to return to the main workout editing page. For the recovery card, you’ll want to change that to Rest rather than Recovery. For that one, the target type should be Time. Let’s set it to three minutes. Return to the main workout screen again. Now, tap the dropdown at the top of the round and set it to the number of sets you want to do (four). If your watch supports it, you can select Skip Last Recovery to avoid the final rest period. Before you add another set, go to the bottom of the screen and tap Add Step. Change this new step to Rest (it will be outside of the repeat) and set the target to Lap Button Press. Now you have a repeat that will give you four sets of five deadlifts with a three-minute rest timer in between. After you finish that, there will be a rest period that lasts until you press the lap button. This is to give you as much time as you need to find your equipment and set up for the next exercise. Continue adding repeats and steps as desired, and make sure to save the workout when you’re done. How to send Garmin workouts to your watchAfter creating a workout, it doesn’t automatically show up on your watch. You need to tap the “send to watch” icon that you’ll see on the top right of your screen when you’re looking at the workout. You can also schedule a workout (which will automatically send it to your watch for the scheduled day) by using the three dots menu to add it to your calendar. How to use a Garmin strength workout from your watchThere are a few ways to access the strength workouts, but here’s the easiest: When it’s gym time, hit the button that starts an activity, and rather than selecting Strength, scroll down until you find Workouts. Tap the one you want to do. Pay attention here: You’ll need to select the workout, tell it you want to do the workout, and start the workout. (Just keep pressing the select button until the workout actually begins.) The exact details of which buttons do what will vary from watch to watch, but on a Forerunner, your top right button starts and stops the workout, and your bottom right button is a lap button. (During a timed rest, you can press the lap button to skip to the end of that rest and start the next set.) From the top right button, you can also skip a group of sets (say, if the squat rack was busy, you can skip squats) and then use the same menu later to View Skipped and add it back in. Garmin Forerunner 165 Music $249.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $249.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $50.00 Why I like the strength training featureI love using the strength workout feature for one main reason: the customizable timed rests. Rest is important in the gym because you'll be able to lift more if you dial in the perfect rest time for each exercise. It’s easy to sit around scrolling on your phone between sets and realize too late that it’s been 10 minutes since you did your last deadlift. But when I program the workout as above, all I have to do is hit the lap button after my set. Three minutes later, my watch will buzz to let me know it’s time to do the next set. Pro tip: Set your rest timer for the longest time you might want to rest between sets. If you’re aiming for three to five minutes, set it for five minutes. If you’re ready to go after three, just hit the lap button to skip the remainder of that rest. You can also program exercises in other ways besides the traditional sets and reps. For example, set the Target Type to Time to do a five-minute density set. Or do EMOMs (every-minute-on-the-minute intervals) by putting just one card inside a repeat, and setting that card to a one-minute target time. You’ll get a beep at the top of each minute. The Garmin strength features I don’t useI don’t worry too much about the weights or reps in the app, to be honest. By default, the watch will ask you after each set how many reps you did and how heavy the weight was. I’ve turned that feature off, and I don’t even bother to set rep or weight targets in the app. I use the workouts for timing, not to log the details of my workout. (I have a notebook for that.) I also haven’t found the automatic set detection or rep counting to be very useful. The watch is impressively good sometimes—how did it know I was doing pullups?!—but it’s just not good enough to be generally useful. It also doesn’t recognize a lot of the Olympic weightlifting exercises I do. And the rep counting? Sometimes OK, but more often useless. Again, I’d rather jot down my reps in that notebook than fiddle with selecting a number on my watch screen after each set. View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers. 1. Men are gross in our non-gendered bathrooms (#3 at the link) The bathrooms in our building continue to be a source of mirth and disbelief. As well as continued seat-up, shake-it-all-about behavior, there’s been the (female) facilities manager who refused to accept that “all gender” means sanitary bins should be available in all stalls (“men don’t want to look at those”), and building-wide reminders to use the supplied brushes to remove anything you might leave clinging to the bowl … with a very weak flush simply meaning the transfer of matter from bowls to brushes, neither less visible than the other. The building-wide reminder that caused the most consternation was a recent request from facilities for people to stop using toilet paper to dry their hands and throwing the damp balls of paper on the floor. It went on to declare this must be retaliatory behavior in protest against the fact the bathrooms don’t have paper towels for hand drying or waste bins (only air dryers and the hard-fought-for sanitary bins). We wandered the corridors and break rooms for days murmuring “who DOES that?” to each other, knowing full well some of us meant “who throws balls of damp toilet paper on the floor?” and some of us meant “who sends a blanket email claiming toilet crimes are political?” There are half a dozen executive-level leaders in our building, all of whom received the email and were asked to share the message with their teams, and none of whom attempted to hide their bemusement at the entire thing. Under these conditions, standard male behavior around seat placement becomes positively benign. Although part of me is disappointed the reminders haven’t mentioned that particular aspect of how you leave the bathroom for the next person, I’m now (along with everyone else in my office) so invested in what the next episode of new office drama The Bathroom will bring we’re willing to turn a blind eye at this point. 2. I’ve been getting all my colleague’s meeting invites … for 10 years (#4 at the link) Thank you for the advice! It did help, it was the blunt encouragement that I needed. I contacted IT again with the mindset that I was not going to let it go until it was resolved. They responded with some instructions that the director needed to follow, which I sent to him in a friendly email, hoping it wasn’t too weird. He followed the instructions and as far as I can tell it worked! It’s a huge relief, it happened so quickly that it made me feel silly for giving up before but IT really did keep telling me they’d fix it before and I started to feel like a nuance. Anyway, thank you and your readers! 3. I’m being docked PTO days for a suspension, despite not doing anything wrong (#4 at the link) You answered my question about three PTO days that I lost after an internal investigation against me found no wrongdoing. As you suggested, I tried to concentrate on getting the PTO days back. I mentioned in the comments of the original post that I finally managed to track down my department manager (my team manager could not help me). He really pushed back hard on HR but was mostly unsuccessful. I got the third day back eventually after the team manager and department manager both confirmed I did my normal job on the days I was partially suspended. I also had to submit a detailed record of my work done on those days. HR refused to reinstate the other two days. I was able to make my trip (an important family event that required travel) by taking unpaid leave. However, what affects me much more is the uncertainty of why all of this happened. Some commenters suggested that I must have an idea of why I was suspended. This is unfortunately not true. I do not handle money or interact with external customers. I went over all interactions and projects of the last month again and again, but nothing problematic comes to mind. Some commenters suggested a mix-up with someone else. This might be the case, but I have no idea. I also do not know if I was truly cleared or if they just gave up. All of this makes me very anxious. Can this happen again tomorrow? Am I now on a short list for layoffs? Have I inadvertently offended someone? Is there someone who wants to hurt me? … I have always liked to work for this company, but now I’m panicking when my phone rings. The behavior of HR does not help. I’m looking for another job. I hope to be out of here by the end of the year. Two minor points that are not that relevant (anymore): I had plans to go for a promotion in the near future. I asked HR how the situation would affect that. I got a non-answer like “the investigation will be considered in an appropriate way.” Great. And this is almost funny: I was scolded by HQ HR (the ones doing the investigation) for having a misleading job description. It contained a lot of boilerplate things like being required to travel. This might have been behind the restrictions during the temporal suspension. When I contacted local HR and asked for a correction, I was told that the boilerplate section has to stay in. I want to thank you and the people in the comments for the feedback and the support! 4. Customers with ridiculously long payment times (#4 at the link) I never found a way to get that client on a reasonable payment plan. I haven’t worked for them in months and they still owe me money. The frustrating part is that they aren’t a small business struggling to make ends meet; they just don’t pay people for a quarter of the year. At any rate, a few months after I wrote, a former colleague reached out and asked if I wanted to work for the company he works for. Initially, I turned him down, but then they asked me to name a price. So I did thinking they wouldn’t be willing to pay it … and they decided to prove me wrong. So, I’m back “workin’ for the man,” but I am loving my job and my coworkers are great. Plus the healthcare plan is excellent. Which, let’s be honest, is really why we all work here in America — to be able to afford healthcare. The post updates: the gross bathrooms, the docked PTO, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Charlie Scharf has a mostly optimistic take on Wells' consumer banking prospects entering 2026. But he's more downbeat about the company's once-dominant residential mortgage business. View the full article

Hartford, Connecticut, Rochester, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts, headed the list of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, according to Realtor.com. View the full article

Three top US central bankers object to move in biggest revolt since 2019View the full article

Oil price jumps as Washington increases pressure on regime of Nicolás Maduro in campaign against drugs tradeView the full article

Peter Rutland, who heads financial services buyouts for the Amsterdam listed firm, will take on the new roleView the full article

If you picked up your iPhone to round out your Apple Music Replay for the year, or turned on your TV to watch a show like Pluribus, you might have noticed something odd: Neither service is working. It's not just you: Apple Music, Apple TV, and Game Center are currently down. That's directly from Apple's "System Status" website, which tracks all of Apple's web-based services and identifies which ones may be experiencing problems. While most of Apple's services, like the App Store, Find My, and iMessage, are all "Available," four of these services are experiencing an outage: Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple TV Channels, and Game Center. If you click on each, you can see the service's full status report: Apple Music - Outage Today, 2:53 PM - ongoing Some users are affected Users may be experiencing intermittent issues with this service. Apple TV Channels - Outage Today, 2:53 PM - ongoing Some users are affected Users may be experiencing intermittent issues with this service. Apple TV - Outage Today, 2:53 PM - ongoing Some users are affected Users may be experiencing intermittent issues with this service. Game Center - 1 Outage, 1 Resolved Issue Outage: Today, 2:53 PM - ongoing Some users are affected Users may be experiencing a problem with this service. Resolved Issue: Today, 8:43 AM - 9:14 AM Some users were affected Users may have experienced a problem with this service. It's not clear what is causing the outages, though they all went down at 2:53 p.m.. (Apple doesn't specify, but I imagine that's ET.) This isn't the first time this has happened, of course. In fact, Apple Music was down earlier this year, though it was actually still working for me when Apple said the outage was active. That appears to be the situation today, as well. Each report says "some users are affected," not all. As it happens, Apple Music is working on my Mac, and I'm able to stream the free pilot episode of Pluribus without issue. Apple will likely get these services back up and running for affected users. In the meantime, if your Apple Music or Apple TV won't cooperate, this is likely the cause. View the full article

After years of suffering from a crippling TikTok addiction, I decided enough was enough: I quit the app cold turkey and deleted it from my phone. Then, I discovered Instagram Reels, and my attention span hasn't been the same since. TikTok's algorithm is infamous, but we don't give Instagram's enough credit. This platform is addicting. I hardly use the app to keep up with friends and family anymore: Reels grabs my attention and doesn't let go, and before I know it, it's midnight, and I've done nothing with my evening. How many videos did I watch? What did I even watch? Whatever Meta has going on in that algorithm is dangerous stuff. You can influence the algorithm, of course: The decisions you make in the app—likes, comments, watch time, sharing—tell the algorithm which videos you like, which you don't, and inform its fraction-of-a-second decisions about what to show you next. But until now, you haven't been able to see what's driving those decisions. You're kind of flying blind—you can try to steer the algorithm in a new direction, but you'll never know exactly what direction you're really going in. That's now changing. As reported by Wired, Meta is rolling out a new tab for Reels viewers that will let us see why the algorithm is delivering us these particular videos. This tab, called, appropriately, "Your Algorithm," is now rolling out, first in the U.S., but soon to the rest of the world—at least, only to English speakers. It seems reminiscent of TikTok's "Manage Topics" feed, which lets you adjust the content types that appear in your For You feed. How "Your Algorithm" works on InstagramWhen "Your Algorithm" hits your phone, you'll find it in the top right corner of the Reels feed: two lines with heart icons placed on each. (I had to update the app and force quit it a couple times to get it to appear.) Once you open this tab, you'll see a short summary of the type of content the algorithm says you've liked recently. In Meta's example, it says, "Lately you've been into creativity, sports hype, fitness motivation, [and] skateboarding." Mine says, "Lately you've been into classic video games, laughing at comedy clubs, and making beats in the studio." Beneath this summary, you'll find the "What you want to see more of" section. Here, you can choose specific content categories you'd like to appear in your feed more often. Instagram will populate some choices here based on your past interests—Meta's example from above shows things like "Sports," "GRWM," "Thrifting," and "Horror movies"—but you can tap an "Add" button to contribute your own requests. You can tap any of these content types to find the option to watch Reels in that category, in case you want to test drive any before locking in your choices. Beneath this, you'll find "What you want to see less of." This is the same concept, but the reverse: You can choose any content types you don't want in your feed anymore. If you're sick of seeing hiking videos, but Instagram continues to show them to you, here's your chance to directly tell the algorithm to cut it out. If you tap the three dots in the top right, you'll find some shortcuts to existing content controls, too, like whether to suggest political content on your feed, "sensitive" content controls, and specific words and phrase filters, to name a few. You can also tap the share button to share your algorithm summary to your story. I'm not sure who would want to do that, but I guess I shared my summary here, so who am I to judge. Meta's changing content controlsWired highlights how these changes come as the European Commission is pushing Meta to present more data controls to EU users: These users have so far been able to pay to not see ads, but since the European Commission didn't think that was enough, Meta will allow users to choose whether to allow all their data to be used for personalized ads, or only a small percentage. That's not happening here in the U.S., but that doesn't mean Meta is staying the same, either. "Your Algorithm" is launching as Meta is facing criticism over how it handles younger users on its platforms. Reports suggest Meta understands how addictive its apps are, especially to teens, and the company's internal policies for chatbot interactions with minors was, frankly, appalling. The company has rolled out Teen Accounts across apps like Instagram and Facebook, which offer limits on communications and interactions, and new AI parental controls are also on their way. "Your Algorithm" seems to be the latest in a string of efforts to make it easier for users to control the experience on Meta platforms. Theoretically, you could even use these controls to make your Reels experience less addicting. Those are all good developments as far as I'm concerned, but I fear there's still quite a lot of work to do to make Meta's products—as well as many other social media products—less addictive, and, overall, better for us. Case in point: I opened the app to test out "Your Algorithm," and not only did I not find it at first, I ended up losing five minutes of my life watching the first video that appeared in my feed. I need to delete Instagram from my phone. View the full article

An editorial schedule is an essential planning tool that outlines when and what content will be created and published across various platforms. It helps you maintain a consistent posting rhythm, which is important for building trust and engagement with your audience. By organizing key dates, responsibilities, and themes, this schedule improves team collaboration and aligns content efforts with broader business objectives. Comprehending its components can greatly enhance your content strategy and execution. What exactly should you consider when creating one? Key Takeaways An editorial schedule outlines content creation and publication timelines, ensuring consistent communication with the audience. It includes key dates for content creation, review, and publication, aligning with seasonal events and campaigns. An effective schedule enhances team collaboration by clearly defining responsibilities and improving content consistency. Regular reviews and adjustments based on performance metrics help maintain relevance and audience engagement. Utilizing tools and templates for editorial schedules streamlines the planning process and fosters a cohesive team dynamic. Definition of an Editorial Schedule An editorial schedule serves as a vital roadmap for content creators and marketing teams. It’s a detailed timeline that outlines when specific content will be published across various platforms, helping you manage your publishing workflow efficiently. This tool includes key dates for content creation, review, and publication, ensuring all team members are aware of deadlines and responsibilities. Your editor calendar can additionally highlight important seasonal events and campaigns, allowing you to produce and share timely, relevant content. By organizing content in advance, an editorial schedule maintains a consistent posting frequency, which is imperative for audience engagement and brand visibility. In the end, it reduces the likelihood of last-minute rushes and streamlines your overall content production process. Importance of an Editorial Schedule Having an editorial schedule in place is crucial for any content team aiming to achieve consistent and impactful communication with their audience. It helps maintain a steady publishing rhythm, which builds trust and engagement over time. You can strategically plan and allocate resources for content creation, ensuring that all necessary steps, from drafting to editing, are completed on time. By outlining deadlines and responsibilities, the schedule promotes accountability among team members, which reduces the likelihood of missed deadlines and overlapping tasks. Moreover, it enables you to anticipate seasonal trends, ensuring timely content delivery for promotional events. Regularly updating the schedule can also identify gaps in content coverage, allowing for thorough planning that addresses various audience needs and interests. Benefits of Using an Editorial Schedule Using an editorial schedule can greatly improve your content consistency, ensuring that you meet deadlines and maintain a regular posting rhythm. It furthermore enhances team collaboration by clearly outlining responsibilities, which helps everyone stay aligned on projects. In addition, streamlining your content planning allows you to focus on creating timely and relevant material without the stress of last-minute scrambles. Improved Content Consistency Establishing a consistent content schedule considerably boosts your ability to engage with your audience effectively. By publishing content regularly, like “newsletter Tuesdays,” you create predictable patterns that promote audience trust and engagement. Planning ahead reduces last-minute content creation, ensuring a steady flow of relevant material that improves overall quality. This consistency allows you to cover all stages of the customer experience, ensuring your audience receives timely and appropriate information at each phase. Furthermore, a well-structured editorial schedule aids in tracking performance metrics, enabling you to make adjustments based on audience feedback. In the end, consistent publication drives long-term results, helping you maintain a loyal audience and improve your content’s effectiveness. Enhanced Team Collaboration An editorial schedule greatly improves team collaboration by clearly outlining responsibilities and deadlines, which helps everyone stay aligned on project timelines. By using this schedule, you’ll advance communication and minimize misunderstandings about content creation and publication processes. It facilitates regular check-ins and updates, encouraging team members to share progress and collaboratively address potential challenges. With defined roles and timelines, accountability among team members increases, leading to higher-quality content output. Furthermore, improved collaboration allows for the integration of diverse perspectives, which results in more innovative and engaging content strategies. Streamlined Content Planning When teams implement an editorial schedule, they gain a structured approach to content planning that greatly improves efficiency and organization. This schedule provides a clear timeline for publication, helping you manage deadlines effectively and avoid last-minute rushes. It promotes consistency in content delivery, making certain your audience receives regular updates, which keeps them engaged with your brand. By organizing content across various platforms, the schedule prevents duplication of efforts and guarantees thorough topic coverage. It additionally facilitates better collaboration among team members by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, encouraging accountability for content creation. Regular updates to the editorial schedule make certain that your content remains timely and relevant, allowing you to adapt quickly to changes in audience needs or market conditions. Key Components of an Effective Editorial Schedule Creating an effective editorial schedule is vital for maintaining a streamlined content creation process, as it allows teams to clearly define roles and responsibilities. Key components include topic assignments, publication dates, content formats, and the team members responsible for each task. A well-structured timeline helps visualize content flow, guaranteeing deadlines are met and that publishing remains consistent. Furthermore, important details like target audience, keywords, and content summaries align the schedule with your broader content strategy and business goals. Flexibility is critical, allowing for timely updates and seasonal content to meet changing audience needs. Regular audits of the editorial schedule help prevent content duplication and confirm that all planned topics remain relevant and engaging for your target audience. Steps to Create an Editorial Schedule To create an effective editorial schedule, you should start by identifying your content themes that resonate with your audience. Next, set clear deadlines for each topic to keep your publication on track, and guarantee you assign responsibilities appropriately among team members. This structured approach will help streamline your workflow and maintain accountability throughout the content creation process. Identify Content Themes Identifying content themes is essential for creating an effective editorial schedule, as it guarantees your topics resonate with your audience’s interests during alignment with your business goals. Start by brainstorming and analyzing what your audience cares about, using tools like keyword research and competitor analysis to discover trending topics. Establish a clear set of core themes that reflect your brand identity, and organize these themes into a content calendar for better visualization. Regularly review and adjust based on performance metrics and audience feedback to maintain relevance. Content Theme Description Audience Engagement Topics that encourage interaction Industry Trends Insights into current market shifts Brand Values Content that reflects your principles How-To Guides Practical advice for your audience Set Deadlines Clearly Setting clear deadlines is vital for maintaining an efficient editorial schedule, as it guarantees that everyone involved understands their roles and timelines. When you establish specific deadlines, each team member becomes accountable for their tasks, ensuring timely content delivery. It’s imperative to align deadlines with key dates, like marketing campaigns or seasonal events, to maximize audience engagement. Break down the content production process by assigning deadlines for brainstorming, drafting, editing, and final approval. This approach streamlines workflow and reduces last-minute rushes. Consider using color-coding in your editorial schedule to differentiate content types or responsibilities, enhancing clarity. Regularly review and update these deadlines, allowing your team to adapt to changing circumstances while keeping a clear focus on your content goals. Assign Responsibilities Appropriately Assigning responsibilities appropriately is crucial for an effective editorial schedule. Clearly define roles within your editorial team, guaranteeing everyone knows their accountability for each content piece and its deadlines. By assigning tasks based on individual strengths and expertise, you can maximize productivity and improve the quality of your content. Utilize collaborative tools or project management software to provide real-time updates on task progress, keeping all team members informed. Establish clear deadlines that align with your overall content calendar to prevent bottlenecks and guarantee timely publication. Furthermore, schedule regular check-ins to assess progress, address challenges, and adjust responsibilities as needed, maintaining workflow efficiency. This structured approach nurtures a cohesive team dynamic and leads to successful content creation. Examples and Templates for Editorial Schedules When you create an editorial schedule, you’re setting yourself up for a more organized and efficient content production process. Various templates can help you manage your content effectively, whether you prefer simple spreadsheets or advanced tools like Asana or Trello. Here are some fundamental elements to reflect on in your editorial schedule: Content type Target audience Status updates You can find many free downloadable templates in formats like Google Sheets or Excel, making customization easy for your specific needs. Regularly updating your schedule is vital, as it allows flexibility to adapt to changing priorities. This guarantees timely delivery of content across platforms, keeping your team on track and accountable throughout the content creation process. Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Purpose of an Editorial Calendar? An editorial calendar’s purpose is to organize and schedule your content effectively, ensuring you deliver timely and relevant material. It helps you track publication timelines, identify content gaps, and assign roles and deadlines, which improves accountability within your team. By nurturing collaboration among writers, editors, and marketers, it streamlines workflows and enhances communication. Furthermore, it aligns content with your business goals and audience needs, in the end increasing the effectiveness of your messaging strategy. What Is an Editorial and What Is Its Importance? An editorial is a piece of writing that expresses opinions or viewpoints on specific issues, often reflecting the stance of a publication. Its significance lies in shaping public opinion and influencing societal attitudes by addressing current events or controversies. Editorials provide a platform for advocacy, encouraging community dialogue and prompting action. Why Are Editorial Guidelines Important? Editorial guidelines are essential for maintaining consistency in your content. They outline the brand’s voice, tone, and messaging, helping you create materials that resonate with your target audience. What Is the Focus of the Editorial Plan? The focus of the editorial plan is to outline your content strategy clearly. It defines your target audience, key messages, and the formats you’ll use to align with your business goals. By identifying themes and topics, it guarantees consistency across all content channels. Furthermore, it includes a timeline for production and publication, helping you stay organized and meet deadlines as well as allowing for performance measurement through established KPIs and audience feedback. Conclusion In conclusion, an editorial schedule is a crucial tool for any content creator or team. It not only organizes your content efforts but likewise aligns them with your business objectives. By establishing clear timelines and responsibilities, you improve collaboration and guarantee consistent communication with your audience. Implementing an editorial schedule can streamline your workflow, reduce last-minute stress, and finally lead to more effective content strategies. Embracing this practice is fundamental for achieving long-term success in content creation. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Is an Editorial Schedule and Why Is It Necessary?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

An editorial schedule is an essential planning tool that outlines when and what content will be created and published across various platforms. It helps you maintain a consistent posting rhythm, which is important for building trust and engagement with your audience. By organizing key dates, responsibilities, and themes, this schedule improves team collaboration and aligns content efforts with broader business objectives. Comprehending its components can greatly enhance your content strategy and execution. What exactly should you consider when creating one? Key Takeaways An editorial schedule outlines content creation and publication timelines, ensuring consistent communication with the audience. It includes key dates for content creation, review, and publication, aligning with seasonal events and campaigns. An effective schedule enhances team collaboration by clearly defining responsibilities and improving content consistency. Regular reviews and adjustments based on performance metrics help maintain relevance and audience engagement. Utilizing tools and templates for editorial schedules streamlines the planning process and fosters a cohesive team dynamic. Definition of an Editorial Schedule An editorial schedule serves as a vital roadmap for content creators and marketing teams. It’s a detailed timeline that outlines when specific content will be published across various platforms, helping you manage your publishing workflow efficiently. This tool includes key dates for content creation, review, and publication, ensuring all team members are aware of deadlines and responsibilities. Your editor calendar can additionally highlight important seasonal events and campaigns, allowing you to produce and share timely, relevant content. By organizing content in advance, an editorial schedule maintains a consistent posting frequency, which is imperative for audience engagement and brand visibility. In the end, it reduces the likelihood of last-minute rushes and streamlines your overall content production process. Importance of an Editorial Schedule Having an editorial schedule in place is crucial for any content team aiming to achieve consistent and impactful communication with their audience. It helps maintain a steady publishing rhythm, which builds trust and engagement over time. You can strategically plan and allocate resources for content creation, ensuring that all necessary steps, from drafting to editing, are completed on time. By outlining deadlines and responsibilities, the schedule promotes accountability among team members, which reduces the likelihood of missed deadlines and overlapping tasks. Moreover, it enables you to anticipate seasonal trends, ensuring timely content delivery for promotional events. Regularly updating the schedule can also identify gaps in content coverage, allowing for thorough planning that addresses various audience needs and interests. Benefits of Using an Editorial Schedule Using an editorial schedule can greatly improve your content consistency, ensuring that you meet deadlines and maintain a regular posting rhythm. It furthermore enhances team collaboration by clearly outlining responsibilities, which helps everyone stay aligned on projects. In addition, streamlining your content planning allows you to focus on creating timely and relevant material without the stress of last-minute scrambles. Improved Content Consistency Establishing a consistent content schedule considerably boosts your ability to engage with your audience effectively. By publishing content regularly, like “newsletter Tuesdays,” you create predictable patterns that promote audience trust and engagement. Planning ahead reduces last-minute content creation, ensuring a steady flow of relevant material that improves overall quality. This consistency allows you to cover all stages of the customer experience, ensuring your audience receives timely and appropriate information at each phase. Furthermore, a well-structured editorial schedule aids in tracking performance metrics, enabling you to make adjustments based on audience feedback. In the end, consistent publication drives long-term results, helping you maintain a loyal audience and improve your content’s effectiveness. Enhanced Team Collaboration An editorial schedule greatly improves team collaboration by clearly outlining responsibilities and deadlines, which helps everyone stay aligned on project timelines. By using this schedule, you’ll advance communication and minimize misunderstandings about content creation and publication processes. It facilitates regular check-ins and updates, encouraging team members to share progress and collaboratively address potential challenges. With defined roles and timelines, accountability among team members increases, leading to higher-quality content output. Furthermore, improved collaboration allows for the integration of diverse perspectives, which results in more innovative and engaging content strategies. Streamlined Content Planning When teams implement an editorial schedule, they gain a structured approach to content planning that greatly improves efficiency and organization. This schedule provides a clear timeline for publication, helping you manage deadlines effectively and avoid last-minute rushes. It promotes consistency in content delivery, making certain your audience receives regular updates, which keeps them engaged with your brand. By organizing content across various platforms, the schedule prevents duplication of efforts and guarantees thorough topic coverage. It additionally facilitates better collaboration among team members by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, encouraging accountability for content creation. Regular updates to the editorial schedule make certain that your content remains timely and relevant, allowing you to adapt quickly to changes in audience needs or market conditions. Key Components of an Effective Editorial Schedule Creating an effective editorial schedule is vital for maintaining a streamlined content creation process, as it allows teams to clearly define roles and responsibilities. Key components include topic assignments, publication dates, content formats, and the team members responsible for each task. A well-structured timeline helps visualize content flow, guaranteeing deadlines are met and that publishing remains consistent. Furthermore, important details like target audience, keywords, and content summaries align the schedule with your broader content strategy and business goals. Flexibility is critical, allowing for timely updates and seasonal content to meet changing audience needs. Regular audits of the editorial schedule help prevent content duplication and confirm that all planned topics remain relevant and engaging for your target audience. Steps to Create an Editorial Schedule To create an effective editorial schedule, you should start by identifying your content themes that resonate with your audience. Next, set clear deadlines for each topic to keep your publication on track, and guarantee you assign responsibilities appropriately among team members. This structured approach will help streamline your workflow and maintain accountability throughout the content creation process. Identify Content Themes Identifying content themes is essential for creating an effective editorial schedule, as it guarantees your topics resonate with your audience’s interests during alignment with your business goals. Start by brainstorming and analyzing what your audience cares about, using tools like keyword research and competitor analysis to discover trending topics. Establish a clear set of core themes that reflect your brand identity, and organize these themes into a content calendar for better visualization. Regularly review and adjust based on performance metrics and audience feedback to maintain relevance. Content Theme Description Audience Engagement Topics that encourage interaction Industry Trends Insights into current market shifts Brand Values Content that reflects your principles How-To Guides Practical advice for your audience Set Deadlines Clearly Setting clear deadlines is vital for maintaining an efficient editorial schedule, as it guarantees that everyone involved understands their roles and timelines. When you establish specific deadlines, each team member becomes accountable for their tasks, ensuring timely content delivery. It’s imperative to align deadlines with key dates, like marketing campaigns or seasonal events, to maximize audience engagement. Break down the content production process by assigning deadlines for brainstorming, drafting, editing, and final approval. This approach streamlines workflow and reduces last-minute rushes. Consider using color-coding in your editorial schedule to differentiate content types or responsibilities, enhancing clarity. Regularly review and update these deadlines, allowing your team to adapt to changing circumstances while keeping a clear focus on your content goals. Assign Responsibilities Appropriately Assigning responsibilities appropriately is crucial for an effective editorial schedule. Clearly define roles within your editorial team, guaranteeing everyone knows their accountability for each content piece and its deadlines. By assigning tasks based on individual strengths and expertise, you can maximize productivity and improve the quality of your content. Utilize collaborative tools or project management software to provide real-time updates on task progress, keeping all team members informed. Establish clear deadlines that align with your overall content calendar to prevent bottlenecks and guarantee timely publication. Furthermore, schedule regular check-ins to assess progress, address challenges, and adjust responsibilities as needed, maintaining workflow efficiency. This structured approach nurtures a cohesive team dynamic and leads to successful content creation. Examples and Templates for Editorial Schedules When you create an editorial schedule, you’re setting yourself up for a more organized and efficient content production process. Various templates can help you manage your content effectively, whether you prefer simple spreadsheets or advanced tools like Asana or Trello. Here are some fundamental elements to reflect on in your editorial schedule: Content type Target audience Status updates You can find many free downloadable templates in formats like Google Sheets or Excel, making customization easy for your specific needs. Regularly updating your schedule is vital, as it allows flexibility to adapt to changing priorities. This guarantees timely delivery of content across platforms, keeping your team on track and accountable throughout the content creation process. Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Purpose of an Editorial Calendar? An editorial calendar’s purpose is to organize and schedule your content effectively, ensuring you deliver timely and relevant material. It helps you track publication timelines, identify content gaps, and assign roles and deadlines, which improves accountability within your team. By nurturing collaboration among writers, editors, and marketers, it streamlines workflows and enhances communication. Furthermore, it aligns content with your business goals and audience needs, in the end increasing the effectiveness of your messaging strategy. What Is an Editorial and What Is Its Importance? An editorial is a piece of writing that expresses opinions or viewpoints on specific issues, often reflecting the stance of a publication. Its significance lies in shaping public opinion and influencing societal attitudes by addressing current events or controversies. Editorials provide a platform for advocacy, encouraging community dialogue and prompting action. Why Are Editorial Guidelines Important? Editorial guidelines are essential for maintaining consistency in your content. They outline the brand’s voice, tone, and messaging, helping you create materials that resonate with your target audience. What Is the Focus of the Editorial Plan? The focus of the editorial plan is to outline your content strategy clearly. It defines your target audience, key messages, and the formats you’ll use to align with your business goals. By identifying themes and topics, it guarantees consistency across all content channels. Furthermore, it includes a timeline for production and publication, helping you stay organized and meet deadlines as well as allowing for performance measurement through established KPIs and audience feedback. Conclusion In conclusion, an editorial schedule is a crucial tool for any content creator or team. It not only organizes your content efforts but likewise aligns them with your business objectives. By establishing clear timelines and responsibilities, you improve collaboration and guarantee consistent communication with your audience. Implementing an editorial schedule can streamline your workflow, reduce last-minute stress, and finally lead to more effective content strategies. Embracing this practice is fundamental for achieving long-term success in content creation. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Is an Editorial Schedule and Why Is It Necessary?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In my last article, I focused on the sorts of questions small businesses need to be asking of themselves before making a software purchase to ensure they’re getting their money’s worth. These questions were: What problems are we trying to solve with software? How will we get people to use it? How will we know the software is working? However, the work isn’t complete once the software is implemented. It’s important to reflect on what you have done and whether or not the implementation has been successful. This practice will help decision-makers highlight which pain points and problems are being addressed, which results are measurable, and what unexpected benefits have arisen from changing how a company works. This process helps teams celebrate wins, build confidence with the team, and plan for future projects and implementation. Here are appropriate follow-up questions for small businesses to ask themselves once they’ve tried their new software to determine if the implementation was a success: Did the software help us take tangible steps towards solving our problems? Before embarking on a software-purchasing journey, it’s imperative that small businesses take the time to understand which processes they need to focus on improving so they can work more efficiently and enjoyably. The more accurate an assessment they make, the better suited their eventual software will be because they will have understood their requirements better and found a solution that checks the most boxes. Once the software is in place, companies that have put in this earlier work will have something to revisit and to use as a comparison point. These small businesses can start by taking stock in what the software has enabled them to do well. Which processes seem to be the most effective? Are there any that could be further streamlined? Where in the company’s workflow are communications flowing smoothly? The answers to these questions, when approached honestly, will yield guidance on how software can continue growing the business organically while offering opportunities for improvement. To determine whether a piece of software was a successful addition, small businesses need to home in on the key performance indicators (KPIs) they will track. The more granular and specific to a facet of the business, the better, as these will be the ones that are easiest to act upon, especially once they’ve driven alignment within our organization. Of course, no piece of software is perfect and no implementation occurs without a single speed bump. Once small businesses analyze these KPIs, it’s also important to note where there are still difficulties. Taking stock is a great opportunity to see where things have fallen short and what mistakes have been made. A clear idea of what went wrong and why is the way you learn from experience so you can do better next time. Have we set up our team with the change and support they need? Metrics themselves can tell a story about a software’s effectiveness, but the most important factor in determining software success is to ask the users directly. If a small business’s team doesn’t enjoy working with the software, then it’s likely any results from implementation will be temporary. If small business owners haven’t established a means for employees to provide feedback directly to the rest of the organization, then understanding the effects of a new implementation is the time to do it. And this needs to apply to more than a select handful of employees. Often, the importance of taking a company-wide temperature gets overlooked and it becomes far too easy to assume a few employees are speaking for the whole of an organization. Perhaps we could send out anonymous surveys once a quarter, or ask managers to discuss the new software during scheduled 1:1 meetings with their direct reports. Even if a particular employee doesn’t have much experience with the new software, it is important to learn why that may be to illuminate if any software adjustments need to be made to improve adoption. The best aspect of these feedback discussions is that we may learn about how the software has surprised users by addressing problems they didn’t even know they had. Perhaps one department didn’t realize just how much they needed new software until they were using it. Or a company’s software enables faster turnaround times that can be better handled by other aspects of the technology. These are all positive outcomes and should be noted for when decisions have to be made about further refining the tools being used or adding more to your deployment. Treating software as a people issue is the key to long-term success, and this practice goes a long way when introducing new technology that people may be uncertain about, like AI. Checking in with staff after implementation to understand their concerns, then addressing them, is the best way to increase adoption because it allows staff to feel like part of the process. Better yet, this practice can lead to staff members becoming advocates for the technology to any holdouts that may exist. Are we celebrating wins and building confidence and know-how in the organization? If small businesses are working with their teams, identifying pain points in the organization’s and people’s days, creating priorities, setting realistic and achievable goals, and measuring success in concrete ways, they are operating from a position of strength. They have demonstrated that they understand the most essential point: Small changes and modest improvements over time yield pronounced, measurable, and lasting results. And when you are doing something right in the organization, particularly when it impacts so many people, it’s important to point that out to folks and celebrate it. It’s far too easy for small businesses to remain risk-averse when they’re operating in feast-or-famine mode and the larger economic forecast is looking pretty dim. Putting any piece of software in place is a victory unto itself. It’s far easier to adjust something that already exists versus pull the trigger on a software purchase far too long in the works. It’s worth reflecting and celebrating your successes for what they were: successes. This fosters a belief within the team that they can do more, take on bigger projects, continue growing, and make a lasting and measurable impact on the industry. Software can help, but the real victory is demonstrating to employees that there is much more success on the horizon. This article, "How to Determine if Small Business Software Implementation Was Successful" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In my last article, I focused on the sorts of questions small businesses need to be asking of themselves before making a software purchase to ensure they’re getting their money’s worth. These questions were: What problems are we trying to solve with software? How will we get people to use it? How will we know the software is working? However, the work isn’t complete once the software is implemented. It’s important to reflect on what you have done and whether or not the implementation has been successful. This practice will help decision-makers highlight which pain points and problems are being addressed, which results are measurable, and what unexpected benefits have arisen from changing how a company works. This process helps teams celebrate wins, build confidence with the team, and plan for future projects and implementation. Here are appropriate follow-up questions for small businesses to ask themselves once they’ve tried their new software to determine if the implementation was a success: Did the software help us take tangible steps towards solving our problems? Before embarking on a software-purchasing journey, it’s imperative that small businesses take the time to understand which processes they need to focus on improving so they can work more efficiently and enjoyably. The more accurate an assessment they make, the better suited their eventual software will be because they will have understood their requirements better and found a solution that checks the most boxes. Once the software is in place, companies that have put in this earlier work will have something to revisit and to use as a comparison point. These small businesses can start by taking stock in what the software has enabled them to do well. Which processes seem to be the most effective? Are there any that could be further streamlined? Where in the company’s workflow are communications flowing smoothly? The answers to these questions, when approached honestly, will yield guidance on how software can continue growing the business organically while offering opportunities for improvement. To determine whether a piece of software was a successful addition, small businesses need to home in on the key performance indicators (KPIs) they will track. The more granular and specific to a facet of the business, the better, as these will be the ones that are easiest to act upon, especially once they’ve driven alignment within our organization. Of course, no piece of software is perfect and no implementation occurs without a single speed bump. Once small businesses analyze these KPIs, it’s also important to note where there are still difficulties. Taking stock is a great opportunity to see where things have fallen short and what mistakes have been made. A clear idea of what went wrong and why is the way you learn from experience so you can do better next time. Have we set up our team with the change and support they need? Metrics themselves can tell a story about a software’s effectiveness, but the most important factor in determining software success is to ask the users directly. If a small business’s team doesn’t enjoy working with the software, then it’s likely any results from implementation will be temporary. If small business owners haven’t established a means for employees to provide feedback directly to the rest of the organization, then understanding the effects of a new implementation is the time to do it. And this needs to apply to more than a select handful of employees. Often, the importance of taking a company-wide temperature gets overlooked and it becomes far too easy to assume a few employees are speaking for the whole of an organization. Perhaps we could send out anonymous surveys once a quarter, or ask managers to discuss the new software during scheduled 1:1 meetings with their direct reports. Even if a particular employee doesn’t have much experience with the new software, it is important to learn why that may be to illuminate if any software adjustments need to be made to improve adoption. The best aspect of these feedback discussions is that we may learn about how the software has surprised users by addressing problems they didn’t even know they had. Perhaps one department didn’t realize just how much they needed new software until they were using it. Or a company’s software enables faster turnaround times that can be better handled by other aspects of the technology. These are all positive outcomes and should be noted for when decisions have to be made about further refining the tools being used or adding more to your deployment. Treating software as a people issue is the key to long-term success, and this practice goes a long way when introducing new technology that people may be uncertain about, like AI. Checking in with staff after implementation to understand their concerns, then addressing them, is the best way to increase adoption because it allows staff to feel like part of the process. Better yet, this practice can lead to staff members becoming advocates for the technology to any holdouts that may exist. Are we celebrating wins and building confidence and know-how in the organization? If small businesses are working with their teams, identifying pain points in the organization’s and people’s days, creating priorities, setting realistic and achievable goals, and measuring success in concrete ways, they are operating from a position of strength. They have demonstrated that they understand the most essential point: Small changes and modest improvements over time yield pronounced, measurable, and lasting results. And when you are doing something right in the organization, particularly when it impacts so many people, it’s important to point that out to folks and celebrate it. It’s far too easy for small businesses to remain risk-averse when they’re operating in feast-or-famine mode and the larger economic forecast is looking pretty dim. Putting any piece of software in place is a victory unto itself. It’s far easier to adjust something that already exists versus pull the trigger on a software purchase far too long in the works. It’s worth reflecting and celebrating your successes for what they were: successes. This fosters a belief within the team that they can do more, take on bigger projects, continue growing, and make a lasting and measurable impact on the industry. Software can help, but the real victory is demonstrating to employees that there is much more success on the horizon. This article, "How to Determine if Small Business Software Implementation Was Successful" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The consulting firm McKinsey and women’s nonprofit Lean In just released their annual Women in the Workplace report, which examines how gender disparities are impacting womens’ career prospects. Unfortunately, this year’s results show that companies are backsliding on their commitment to workplace equity—and one way that’s harming women is by making it more difficult for them to work remotely. This is the 11th annual Women in the Workplace report, and its results reflect a broader pattern across corporate America: a retreat from inclusive efforts amidst a The President administration that’s gone out of its way to cut back on DEI policies. Per the study, two in 10 companies say they’re placing low or no priority on women’s career advancement, a figure that rises to three in 10 for women of color. Further, almost one in six companies scaled back on formal sponsorship and discontinued or diminished career development programs with content tailored for women. “This year, only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, part of a trend in declining commitment to gender diversity,” the report reads. One major roadblock to womens’ success in the workplace is that, in our modern era of flexible work, women are penalized for choosing to work remotely—despite the fact that, at the same time, they’re still expected to shoulder most of the responsibilities in the home. Flexibility stigma: How women are penalized for working remotely McKinsey and Lean In found that women who work remotely most of the time are less likely to have a sponsor (or someone championing their career advancement) and far less likely to have been promoted in the last two years than women who work mostly on-site. In contrast, men receive similar levels of sponsorship and promotions, regardless of where they work. For context, the data showed that 49% of men who worked mostly remotely received a promotion in the last two years, compared to just 37% of women. Similarly, 52% of primarily remote men had a work sponsor, while only 37% of women could say the same. Women who came into the office more often saw a major boost in these percentages, while men saw only a small increase. On top of these existing challenges, companies are now beginning to remove flexible work options entirely. The report found that one in four companies now offer fewer remote and hybrid opportunities. That’s especially detrimental to women who, despite being more penalized for working remotely, are simultaneously expected to carry more of the burden at home. In 2024, women with partners were more than three times more likely as men to be responsible for all or more housework. And, this year, almost 25% of entry or senior level women who reported not being interested in a promotion said personal obligations made it difficult to take on more work; whereas only 15% of men said the same. “Flexibility stigma is one of the biggest factors holding women back at work,” the report reads. “When women use flexible work arrangements, coworkers often assume they are less engaged and productive, while men’s commitment is taken for granted.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The wall-mounted Amazon Echo Show 15 has built-in Fire TV, but it also functions as a customizable family hub that keeps you on track with calendars, lists, and more. Right now, it’s $254.99 (originally $299.99), its lowest price on Amazon to date, according to price-tracking tools. Amazon Echo Show 15 $254.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $45.00 Get Deal Get Deal $254.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $45.00 The newest generation Amazon Echo Show features a bright 15.6-inch display and a remote control that lets you navigate the Fire TV interface and control media playback. It’s well-suited for mounting in an office, kitchen, or living room where you need a home-organization hub that hangs easily like a picture (it also doubles as a digital picture frame). It also makes for a helpful alternative to a laptop or tablet for comfortable video calling with a wide field of view, 3.3x zoom, and a 13 MP camera. Like all Echo Show devices, the experience is centered around Amazon’s Alexa, so it’s better for those already in the Amazon ecosystem. It comes complete with smart home controls and widgets that make it more capable as a shared household device. It also supports multiple profiles, recognizing users by voice or face using the camera. This PCMag review notes that although the Fire TV interface is capable and the speakers are louder than the previous generation, they could be clearer and more dynamic. Still, even though sound quality isn’t perfect, the Amazon Echo Show 15 performs well as a productivity-forward, centralized smart display rather than a smart TV used solely for entertainment (unless you want to add an external speaker to the larger screen model, which is 13% off right now). Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $219.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $279.00 (List Price $349.00) Sony WH-1000XM5 — $278.00 (List Price $399.99) Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9" 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Graphite) — $149.99 (List Price $219.99) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p 3-Camera Kit With Sync Module Core — $74.99 (List Price $189.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

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Forgetting where you parked your car isn't just a sitcom trope—though it does make for classic TV. Even in the age of the smartphone, it's all too easy to walk away from your car and retain zero memory of where you left it. As it happens, Google Maps has a solution—provided you have an iPhone. So long as you're running the app on an Apple device, Google Maps can automatically remember where you parked and display that information on the map. There's no need to mark the location yourself, tell the app to save your spot, or take a picture of the cross streets in case you forget: You can simply glance at the screen to find a "You parked here" label. The thing is, while some are reporting this feature is relatively new to them, others suggest it's been out for a while. What gives? How Google Maps automatically saves your parking location on iOSThis feature works if you connect your iPhone to your car, whether via Bluetooth, CarPlay, or a USB cable. When you disconnect your iPhone from your car, Google Maps will assume you've parked, and will automatically mark that location on the map. The feature will also work if you give Google Maps permission to access your Motion & Fitness data, which allows the app to tell when you've started and stopped driving. (You can check on this setting from Google Maps' in-app settings: Head to Navigation, then, under "Automatically save parking," tap Let maps use your motion to save your parking.) You can also choose to set Google Maps' location permissions to "Always," which gives the app persistent access to your location data, and also lets it figure out when you've stopped your car. You can change this option on your iPhone by navigating t0 Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Google Maps. Is this feature actually new?This feature is genuinely great, and I'm happy Google Maps supports it—even if Android users are inexplicably being excluded for now. But you might also be wondering to yourself, wasn't this already a feature? It doesn't sound all that new. Yet you might have even seen a flurry articles like this one today, all reporting on this "new" Google Maps parking feature. As it turns out, the answer is a bit complicated. The coverage today all references this announcement on LinkedIn from Google Maps senior product manager Rio Akasaka—only that post is, according to LinkedIn, a month old. Some of the comments are more recent, but others appear to be from the original posting date. Potentially adding to the confusion, other navigation apps, like Apple Maps, already support automatically saving your parking spot, and while Google Maps has also had an option to save your parking spot for some time, it previously wasn't automatic. If you wanted the app to remember where you stopped, you needed to tap your blue dot on the map and choose "Save your parking." That's how it still is on Android, since the automatic feature only works on iOS. Looking through the comment sections on articles from outlets like The Verge or MacRumors, some users insist they've had this feature for some time—well before that month-old LinkedIn announcement. This commenter says they've had the feature for years, while this one claims they've had it for "ages." So what gives? Have at least some iPhone users have had this feature for years? It is possible Google has been testing out the feature with smaller subsets of users and only recently rolled it out en masse, but whether or not that actually happened is unclear at this time. I've reached out to Google for clarification about the timeline of this feature's implementation, and I will update this article if I get an answer. Until then, I can only hope Google is actively working on rolling out the feature to Android, as that really would be something new. View the full article

Several years ago, a reader shared with us this epic email that was sent by their company’s boss after a holiday party gone terribly awry, and as we enter the holiday season we remember its glory. “This happened about ten years ago, but the email I received from our boss was so epic I preserved it. Context: The second year I worked at this company, our holiday party was held on a dinner cruise boat. Our boss footed the bill for dinner and an open bar, and a few other companies also hosted their own parties on the boat at the same time. Since I was underage at the time, I did not drink, and actually left early with my date. Everything was fine when I left. The Monday after, I rolled into the office– the first person there– and was greeted with this email from our boss [identifying details removed]: ‘Good morning to all. I hope all of you had time to recuperate and reflect about the unusual chain of events and circumstances at this year’s Christmas party. Some of you went home early and did not take in the full range of events. Unfortunately, some of our staff got out of hand, including the spouses. Things were said, and things were done, that quite frankly were very inappropriate. Also, we had people from the adjoining group that decided to take advantage of our open bar and co-mingle with our group. In regards to the inappropriate behavior, I am not going to go into all of the details, but let it be said that the root cause was probably due to the open bar. Some of our staff decided that the open bar meant that the drinking could be unlimited, not only in how much, but how they drank. As a result, some our staff and spouses decided that shots were OK. Shots were ordered for some who do not even drink. Shots are not OK at a company Christmas party. Other staff and spouses got multiple drinks at once for themselves and for people not even in our group. Others decided it was OK to get openly drunk and beligerent, to the point of making racial slurs. I, myself, am guilty of attacking someone from the other group after he decided to retaliate by groping my wife. Having thought about the circumstances and the fact that we have to work together as a firm and team, some of you need to apologize for your behavior and/or for the behavior of your spouse. We specifically implemented a no fraternization policy and some of you could get fired on that alone, while other staff exercised no restraint over their spouse for their drunken condition. It is not OK for a spouse to misbehave, just because he or she is not an employee. Many careers have been destroyed, and people get fired, due to the conduct of their spouse. You are expected to exercise constraint over your spouse, or take them home. And if that cannot be done, then you should not bring your spouse. In regards to the Firm’s policy on drinking, there will be no more open bars. Unfortunately, some of you and your spouses exercise extremely poor judgment. Because of this poor judgment, it puts the Firm at risk. Given the poor road conditions that night, some of you could have ended up dead. It is also unfortunate that a few have to ruin it for the whole group. I would like to start the apologies by stating I am sorry for not handling the situation that I was confronted with in a different manner. I feel embarrassed, and it was not conduct befitting of the firm’s president. I also felt betrayed by some of you for patronizing the one individual from the adjoining group, who’s behavior was lewd and offensive, not to mention the outright theft by running up our bar tab. I invite others to make some form of apology, either by email or in person for what they did or said, or what their spouse did or said. You can do this voluntarily, and you know who you are, or I will confront you by Wednesday of this week. I do not intend to ignore what happened. If I have to confront you, you could lose your job. I will be available Monday and Tuesday late afternoon, or you can email me and/or others. Let’s not let this one incidence stop us from being [#1 company in field]. We have a lot going for ourselves and let’s keep it going.’” Read an update as well. The post “I will confront you by Wednesday of this week” appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Discussions on reconstruction come as Donald The President seeks end to Russian invasion View the full article

Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of all projects within an organization to ensure that they align with the overall strategic goals, deliver value, and are executed efficiently. The main objective of PPM is to optimize the selection, prioritization, and execution of projects to maximize organizational benefits, minimize risk and improve resource utilization. Below are free project portfolio templates to help with PPM. ProjectManager’s award-winning project and portfolio management software is more dynamic than static project portfolio management templates. Our software has tools to plan, manage and track programs, portfolios, resources and more. However, for those not ready to upgrade, we also have over 100 free project and portfolio management templates for Excel and Word that can help. Below are just some that address the needs of project portfolio management. 1. PPM Dashboard Template Project portfolio managers must closely monitor projects to ensure they’re meeting milestones, but also to properly allocate resources. Using this free PPM dashboard template for Excel gives them a high-level overview of the key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and analyze the progress and performance of multiple projects. The free project portfolio management template identifies trends and helps managers make more informed decisions when managing a portfolio of projects. /wp-content/uploads/2024/08/KPI-Dashboard-Template-Screenshot.png The only problem with this project portfolio template is that it must be manually updated. The data is never current, which makes it harder to allocate resources and ensure that projects are delivering on the strategic goals. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with portfolio dashboards that deliver real-time data automatically. Once the baseline is set on the Gantt chart or roadmap, our software constantly updates to reflect actual data against the planned effort. Easy-to-read graphs and charts display KPIs, such as time, cost, workload and more across the portfolio of projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Portfolio-Dashboard-CTA.pngLearn more 2. Project Portfolio Template for PPM With all projects visible in one place, leaders and portfolio managers don’t have to gather information from many separate project trackers. This makes it easier to understand the “big picture.” This free project portfolio template for Excel provides a structured spreadsheet layout where you list every project in your organization’s portfolio, including project names, objectives, start and end dates, status, budget (planned vs actual), priority, assigned teams or owners and other relevant data. /wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Project-Portfolio-Template-1.png It organizes all projects in a single “master view,” so you can see at a glance how many projects are active, which are upcoming or completed, and where each stands relative to schedule, cost and priority. 3. Project Intake Template for PPM Managing a portfolio means choosing the right projects to initiate. This free project intake form template for Word formalizes that process to ensure that proposed projects align with organizational goals and objectives. Use this project portfolio management template to review and approve formally proposed projects to evaluate their feasibility and determine their priority within the broader portfolio. This reduces the risk of inefficiencies or wasted resources. Ultimately, it leads to better outcomes, improved resource and risk management and improved communications between stakeholders about expectations, goals and requirements. /wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Project-Intake-Form-Template.png The project portfolio template is designed to address all the issues that need to be judged when reviewing a project for approval. These include describing the project, its goals and objectives. There’s also space to explain how the project contributes to the business, operational and strategic objectives. The project scope statement is included to summarize the work that will be executed as well as resource planning and an estimate of the project’s costs. There’s a timeline, a cost-benefit analysis and a risk management overview. This all leads to the final section, which is the assessment, which explains why the project should be approved or rejected or if additional information is needed. 4. PPM Program Roadmap Template A program roadmap is a high-level visual plan that outlines the major initiatives, milestones, timelines and dependencies within a program; a coordinated group of related projects working toward a shared strategic objective. Download this free program roadmap template for Excel for a clear, consolidated timeline view of all the projects within a program: multiple related projects, their start and end dates, milestones and phases, all on one chart. /wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Program-roadmap-template-2.png Because you can see when projects overlap or depend on each other, you can more effectively allocate resources (people, budget, time) across multiple projects, reducing conflicts, bottlenecks or overcommitments. 5. PPM Cost Benefit Analysis Template Use this free PPM cost benefit analysis template for Excel to compare what the organization would expect to pay for a project against what benefits or opportunities the project could provide. This is an essential tool when determining whether a project is viable for the portfolio or whether it’s better to pass on. The more research on the project before committing to it, the better. This project portfolio management template is key to determining if the proposed project is a good fit. /wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Cost-Benefit-Analysis-Screenshot.jpg This project portfolio template does this by placing a dollar amount for every cost and benefit in the project. By subtracting the benefits from the costs, the profit, both financially and in terms of business objectives and goals, is revealed. When the benefits outweigh the costs, the project is likely worth pursuing. Therefore, this is a decision-making tool that all portfolio managers will want to have in their toolshed. 6. PPM Project Prioritization Matrix Another value project portfolio management template is the free PPM project prioritization matrix template for Excel. This tool helps compare projects objectively to determine which will bring value to the organization and those that can be passed on. This versatile tool can prioritize projects, manage time and reach a consensus. The origin dates back to President Eisenhower’s administration, where the tool was called an Eisenhower matrix, as he used it to help decide what was most important to focus on first. /wp-content/uploads/2022/09/project-prioritization-template-screenshot-final.jpg The project portfolio template is simple in design, but very useful in execution. It is divided into two axes, the vertical axis is divided into two rows. One row is crucial, the other not crucial. The horizontal axis is divided into two columns, one for do now and the other for do later. This breaks up the matrix into four quadrants. The top left is for what must be done immediately, the top right is for that which can be scheduled shortly. The bottom left is to delegate and the bottom right is to delete or move. 7. PPM Resource Capacity Planning Template Capacity planning is one of the pillars of project portfolio management, which is simply the process of managing resources, time, teams and work. The free PPM resource capacity planning template for Excel is used to balance available resources to meet the project’s capacity needs. This project portfolio management template helps portfolio managers keep up with changing demands. /wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Capacity-Planning-Template.png Using this project portfolio template allows portfolio managers to see the utilization, time and effort of teams across projects. It does this by first providing an overview of the project and then listing the tasks and their estimated duration, including start and end dates. Next, there’s a list of resources, with an hourly rate for each resource. That’s followed by the project timeline and resource availability, utilization and remaining resource availability. Users can also see who is over or under-allocated, the resource utilization rate and costs per resource. 8. PPM Project Budget Template While portfolio management is often focused on governance and resource management, costs are always part of the larger picture. That’s why it’s so important to use this free PPM project budget template for Excel. When planning on whether to include a project or when that decision has been made and the project’s costs have to be forecast, this project portfolio management template helps accurately estimate what the financial commitment will be. /wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Project-Budget-Screenshot.jpg This project portfolio template lists all the project tasks and even the subtasks. Then each task or subtask is broken down into how much it’ll cost to execute. There are columns to capture the planned labor costs, actual hours and rates. Some columns identify the materials used, including how many units and the price per unit. Of course, projects often have other costs, which is why there are columns for travel, equipment and food. The template is also fully customizable so users can add any other expenses they might have. 9. Multiple Project Tracking Template for PPM Use this free multiple project tracking template for Excel to monitor the progress of a portfolio. It captures all the relevant project information in a single document. This project portfolio management template can be used throughout the portfolio’s life cycle. Projects are constantly in flux and the best way to allocate resources effectively is by tracking those projects to understand what they need and when they need it. /wp-content/uploads/2023/02/multiple-project-tracking-template-for-excel-projectmanager.jpg The project portfolio template lists all the projects, their tasks and their dependencies. It shows who’s assigned to which tasks, the priority as well as the start date, planned end date and actual end date. The planned and actual costs are also listed. As this data is added to the template, it is easy to see which projects are overspending or falling behind schedule. Then those projects that aren’t tracking as expected can be adjusted to get back on schedule or within budget. 10. Program Roadmap Template for PPM A roadmap is a tool that helps view the strategy of all the project phases, objectives, milestones, deliverables, resources, risks, dependencies and the planned project timeline. This is an invaluable project portfolio management template. Use this free program roadmap template for Excel to help make large decisions about projects within the context of its strategy, resource allocation and more. /wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strategic-Roadmap-Template-for-Excel-ProjectManager-2.webp This project portfolio template keeps the project teams and stakeholders aware of project objectives. It’s also an integral part of the process to respond quickly to market changes or when a project pivots, as it shows how those changes will affect the larger strategy. Roadmaps help set expectations, get buy-in and update stakeholders on progress. 11. PPM Project Update Template Keeping a portfolio on track requires consistent updates. This free project update template for Excel is the perfect tool for portfolio management. Because portfolio management involves overseeing multiple projects simultaneously, often with different scopes, teams and timelines, having standardized updates from each project is extremely useful. /wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Project-update-template.png Because the template is ready-made, project managers don’t have to reinvent the reporting structure each time. That saves time, reduces reporting errors and ensures completeness. The template acts as a standard communication backbone for a project portfolio, enabling clarity, alignment and strategic oversight across multiple initiatives. 12. PPM Status Report Template When portfolio managers need to check in on the progress and performance of their projects or keep their stakeholders informed, they can use this free PPM status report template for Excel. This project portfolio management template improves communication and helps to deliver project update presentations with greater impact by capturing the current status of projects in terms of health and progress. /wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Project-status-report-project-overview.png The project portfolio template covers everything from project information to a summary of the project’s status, which includes completed work, upcoming work, project deliverables and milestones. There’s a section on the project’s health, which includes overviews of the budget, schedule, scope and quality control. There are even risk and change management logs. 13. Project Request Form for PPM Need to propose new projects to stakeholders or teams? Utilize our free project request form for Excel. It captures key information upfront—such as the project’s purpose, expected benefits, scope, costs, required resources, risks and alignment with organizational goals. This gives the PMO or portfolio managers enough detail to evaluate whether the proposed project should move forward. /wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Project-Request-Form-Screenshot-600x526.png Use this template to bring structure and fairness to how new projects enter the portfolio. Instead of informal conversations or unclear requests, every idea is documented, comparable and evaluated against the same criteria. This helps the PMO prioritize high-value initiatives, prevent resource overload, screen out low-impact projects and maintain alignment with strategy. 14. Project List Template for PPM In project portfolio management (PPM), a project list serves as a master registry of every active, planned, or archived initiative across the organization. This project list template for Excel gives visibility into the full scope of work, showing which projects are underway, which are coming next and how they relate to strategic goals. With a reliable project list, portfolio managers can better prioritize, balance resources, and ensure alignment across teams and departments. /wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Project-list-template-for-Excel.png The template provides a ready-to-use spreadsheet to capture essential details for each project, including the name, owner, status, priority, start and end dates and other metadata. This standardization makes it easy to maintain, filter, and sort projects, ensuring nothing gets lost. By consolidating all projects in one place, it simplifies oversight, helps detect conflicts or overcommitments, and supports clearer decision-making and reporting at the portfolio level. 15. Resource Plan Template for PPM Use this free resource plan template for Excel to always have the right resources at the right time. This project portfolio management template does that by identifying, listing and organizing all the resources needed to complete the projects as well as determining the quantity needed for each resource, including cost and when it’s needed in the project. /wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Resource-Plan-Screenshot-e1704301619226.jpg When using this free project portfolio template, there are fields to fill in on the project info, resources and costs. Once this section is completed, there’s a calendar to the right. It goes for a month, but this customizable template can be changed to reflect a week or several months, depending on the project’s needs. Then fill in the calendar to plan resources and ensure that the project is always covered. How ProjectManager Helps PPM Project portfolio management templates aren’t the ideal tool to manage multiple projects. Projects are dynamic, templates are static. It’s simply a poor match. Someone has to manually update those templates, which takes time away from more valuable work. Project portfolio management software is a far better solution. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has features that automatically update in real time, like the project portfolio dashboard that provides a real-time overview of project health without having to do anything but toggle over to the tool. Manage Resources With Roadmaps Our powerful project portfolio roadmaps work better than project portfolio templates. Our software can collect all the projects in a portfolio and display them on a Gantt chart that can help with resource management, time tracking and task management. Users can filter by assignee, project manager or customer to make forecasts. View which projects are open and see who is assigned to which tasks. It also helps highlight key metrics to keep stakeholders informed. /wp-content/uploads/2024/08/portfolio-roadmap-light-mode-webp-e1723229198497.webp Get Detailed Portfolio Reports Keep stakeholders informed with high-level and in-depth reporting features that share progress and more. Customized project portfolio reporting goes deeper into the data, generating reports on portfolio status, tasks and timelines as well as customizing reports to see only the data that users want to see. There are also reports on variance, timesheets and workload, among others. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Reports-Light-2554x1372-1.png Related PPM Content Project portfolio management templates are only a small part of project portfolio management. To learn more about the best ways to manage multiple projects, check out the recent posts below. Free PMO Templates for Excel and Word How to Make a Portfolio Management Report: A Quick Guide Best Project Portfolio Management Software How to Manage Multiple Projects: Strategies & Tools Project Intake Process: Prioritizing Project Requests Project Selection: Use These 8 Selection Methods ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams, whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post 15 Free Project Portfolio Management Templates for Excel and Word appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

One of the best lessons I've learned across years of DIY projects is the fact that, whether powered by hand or by electricity, your tools can can serve more than the purpose for which you purchased them—provided you get creative with how you put them to use. Often, you can use two tools together to improve their performance, make them more versatile, make them easier to use, or even to to replace a tool you’re missing. Here are 10 unexpected ways to combine your hand tools and power tools to make DIY work a little easier. Stick an Allen wrench into your drill Power drill and Allen wrench being used to extract eyehook Credit: Jeff Somers Eye hooks serve a wide range of uses, but if you’ve ever had to drive a bunch of them into wood, you know how frustrating they can be. The usual move is to either slip a screwdriver through the hook and twist, which is slow and awkward, or to clamp a wrench or pair of pliers on top and twist, which is...also slow and awkward. This works better: Place an Allen wrench in your power drill’s chuck, slide the end of the wrench into the eyehook, and let the drill do the work. It's faster, it saves your elbows and wrists the strain, and you’ll wonder why you never thought of it before. Use a shop vac to inject wood glueWood glue can be a lifesaver when you have a damaged piece of lumber—but only if you can actually get the glue inside the crack. If you’ve ever tried, you know that you wind up with glue smeared everywhere, but only a small amount seeps into the crack, leading to a pretty quick failure. By combining a shop vac with your gluing efforts, you can make this much more effective. Position the shop vac up close against one end of the crack and turn it on. Then apply the glue from the other end, moving toward the shop vac. The suction will pull the glue into the crack, filling it up and resulting in a stronger bond. Use a sander to clean your putty knives Orbital sander cleaning knife Credit: Jeff Somers Drywall knives and putty knives can develop a thick, lumpy buildup of drywall mud, paint, and anything else they’re used to scrape. Eventually, they’re almost useless because their flat surface has developed its own topography. You can try cleaning them, but water will rust them and it’s often a laborious process, especially if they’re covered in cement or thinset. If you’ve got an orbital sander, however, cleaning your putty knives and drywall knives is pretty easy. Using a moderate grit (120 works well) pad, just sand down your blade with gentle pressure—don’t overdo it; just let the sandpaper do its work. You’ll have shiny, clean blades in no time. Use a carpenter’s square and a chalk line as a makeshift levelGetting things level is surprisingly challenging—at least for me. I can measure things five times and still somehow wind up slightly off. That makes a spirit level an essential part of my toolbox for any project (and even then, I am level-challenged, somehow). If I forget my level, I’m in trouble—unless I happen to have a carpenter’s square and a chalk line. Place the bottom of the square on the surface you’re checking, and loop your chalk line over the top at the 90° mark so it dangles down. Then adjust until the line is directly over the 45° mark on the bottom. That’s means it's level. Use a screwdriver and hammer to remove stubborn nails Hammer and screwdriver extracting nail Credit: Jeff Somers Trying to remove a stuck nail can be an entire project in itself. Your progress freezes while you sweat and strain, and eventually you start to damage the surface as your attempts to pull that nail get wilder and more violent. To protect a surface you don’t want to damage and give yourself a little extra leverage on the nail, place a screwdriver under your hammer. This will give your pull a little more oomph while stopping your hammer from gouging the surface beneath. Use a vise grip with a putty knife to remove a headless nailGot a stubborn nail and don’t have your hammer or prybar? Or dealing with a nail that’s lost its head? You can get it free with the help of a vise grip and a putty knife. Lock the vise grip onto the nail and slide a putty knife onto the surface behind the nail. Rotate the vise grips like a lever, and the nail will slowly pull free, while the putty knife blade protects the surface underneath from damage. Combine a wrench or pliers and a screwdriver for more torque Screwdriver and pliers extracting screw Credit: Jeff Somers When dealing with a screw that seems to be frozen in place, your hand screwdriver often can’t deliver enough torque, and using a power drill with a screwdriver bit is often overkill, stripping the screw in no time. To increase the torque your screwdriver can provide, combine it with a wrench or pair of adjustable pliers. Lock the pliers onto the screwdriver at a 90° angle, push down, and turn with the plier handles. Even the most stubborn screws will work themselves free. Use locking pliers and a flat prybar to remove nailsAnother way to tackle a nail that just won’t work itself free (or that’s lost its head) is to combine a vise grip and a flat prybar. Lock the grips onto the top of the nail to act as the head, then angle the prybar underneath and apply pressure. You can also slide a putty knife under the prybar blade if you want to protect the surface you’re extracting the nail from. Use a hammer and driver bit to remove painted over screws Hammer and drill bit cleaning screw head Credit: Jeff Somers When I used to rent, I was always infuriated by the “landlord special” repairs that covered screw heads with multiple layers of paint, often to the extent that I couldn’t get a screwdriver or bit to bite. That meant a lot of slow effort scraping paint out of the grooves until I got them clean enough to extract. Instead of doing that, combine a hammer and a screwdriver bit: position the bit on the screw head and give it some solid taps with the hammer. The crusted paint will fall right out, and you can get on with your work. Use an adjustable wrench to find the right drill bitHow much time do you think you’ve wasted trying to eyeball a drill bit when driving bolts? You estimate the bit size, you drill the hole—nope, too small. So you grab the next-largest bit and do it again. Or, worse, you estimate the drill bit and the hole is too big, and now you’ve got a problem. If you’ve got an adjustable wrench, spare yourself the drama. Tighten the jaws of the wrench onto the bolt, then see which drill bit matches the wrench’s opening. You’ll never have to drill three times for one bolt ever again. View the full article