By Chris Brahm, Aaron Cheris and Lori Sherer Shutterstock Big Data analytics tantalize with the promise of nearly automated customer experience programs. Just tune the latest analytics software to your customer interactions and to social media sites, the pitch goes, and you can track and analyze how customers behave, as well as what they think about their experience with your company’s product or service. In reality, it’s not that simple.

You might feel hyper-effective at work, but guess what? During an eight-hour shift, the average person is only truly productive for three hours a day. The rest of the time is sucked up by meetings, email maintenance, distracting colleagues, and social media. As an entrepreneur (with ADHD), I know how hard it can be to stay on task. But managing four companies with more than $250 million in revenue has forced me to find creative ways to keep my eyes on the prize.

(Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images) What are the biggest mistakes founders make when they try to raise early-stage money? originally appeared on Quora – the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Mike Maples, Founding Partner at Floodgate, on Quora. There are many nuanced “do’s” and “don’ts” on the topic of fundraising.

Shutterstock It’s that time of year again. Children are back in school. Football games are on television. Halloween candy, pumpkins and cinnamon-scented pinecones are lining grocery store aisles. It means that cold and flu season is just around the corner; the time of year when many Americans will show up sick to work. A survey conducted by Wakefield Research found that 62% of American workers have gone to work sick. For some, the choice is losing pay or coming to work.

Whether it’s in response to an upcoming presentation, interview, round of layoffs, new position, or networking meeting, anxiety is an emotion we encounter repeatedly throughout our careers (and…lives). It’s not a comfortable experience, and it’s not meant to be.

By Paolo Gallo Shutterstock First, let’s start with one over-arching question: What is a successful career? It’s time to move away from the idea of success defined by an organization or your supervisor, to significance defined by us. Relentlessly grasping after the next rung of the ladder doesn’t work, for the following three reasons. First: If we only value those who have reached the top of the hierarchy, then by definition we’re writing off the other 99.99%.

Shutterstock Successful management is all about building long-term productivity, both for your team and your organization. The quality of relationships you establish in the role can help you or hinder you. Accordingly, here are five personal traits to cultivate to help you become a more productive manager. Try to understand the perspectives of others – especially your own manager.

Shutterstock Lately I’ve been re-reading some strategy classics, with a focus on Eastern thought, like The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War, and several others. I was curious to see which of these had advice that would make sense for public speakers trying to establish a paid career in public speaking. I ended up abstracting the best five ideas from these venerable works and some modern ones that seemed relevant too.

Shutterstock As a psychotherapist, I’ve witnessed how resentment can become a toxic force in people’s lives. I’ve seen couples compete against one another as they strive to out-do their partner. And I’ve seen families destroyed by envy when one member becomes more successful than the rest. Today’s world makes it hard not to resent other people’s success. Spend two minutes on social media and you’ll see how well everyone else seems to be doing.

Success is ours to claim. (Photo: Celinne Da Costa) Exactly one year ago, I made myself a promise: I could not, and would not, postpone my dream to travel the world any longer. It had to be done. Fast-forward to today, and I find myself writing this article while at a meditation retreat in the Nepalese mountains.