An important skill set to own in your life is your time management. Whether you're running a business, climbing the corporate ladder, or chasing your dreams, mastering your time can be the key to success in both your professional and personal life.

As someone who took a risk when I started my own business in 2019, I know firsthand the chaotic world of deadlines, meetings, and endless to-do lists. I pride myself on my time-management and organization skills and am happy to share a few tips to help you master this yourself. 

Andrew Exler Consulting was “officially” launched 1 year ago.

On paper, I have had the most successful year of my career, but that was not my goal in year 1. I knew my first full-year in business would be filled with peaks & valleys. I knew I would experience great wins, while also preparing myself to know that not everything would go as planned. I gave myself “cushion” to fail, understanding that when you fail, the only way to go is up.

As I look back on year 1 and prepare for year 2, here are a few things I learned along the way.

I believe LinkedIn is the most under-utilized social media tool we have in our society. Besides health and family, your professional network is the most valuable asset you have.

There are many ways to be successful on LinkedIn & maximize your presence. There is no scientific data to guarantee your success, only personal experience and analytical data which can provide guidance.

Here are my top 3 tips to maximize your LinkedIn presence.

2020 has been a tough year for a lot of people, we know that. However, for MANY people, tough times aren’t exclusive to 2020.

KINDNESS IS KEY!

I always allowed a toxic environment to surround & consume me throughout my life. I figured it was ok to associate with a person who is always negative. I figured it was normal to have words of negativity in my regular vocabulary. It wasn’t until I took a step-back on my life to see the big picture.

I was allowing daily experiences, negative people, and negative words impact my daily life. In early 2019, I decided that I was going to make a strong effort to rid myself, personally, of toxicity. It tooks small steps to remove certain negative aspects from my life. I made it my focus to eliminate:

• Toxic Environments/Culture

• Toxic People

• Toxic Vocabulary

Read more to learn how you can rid yourself of toxicity.

Life shouldn't be easy.

It’s important to own & celebrate your failures. If you can accept failing, you have already taken a step towards success.

Ask for help. Learn every step of the way.

This edition of #TheGroundFloor is exciting as it is the first podcast edition. I’m thankful to my friend, Matt Scoletti, for having me on his podcast called “Livin The Dream”.

In this podcast we talk about:

• What it takes to be happy

• Esports (& Lost Tribe Esports)

• Depression

• Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh

• My New Summer

• Life

• & more!

Enjoy this week’s edition of #TheGroundFloor!

Have you ever had a coach of some sort in your life? Have you ever been a coach? There are opportunities to take those experiences & transfer them into your professional life.

Guest Contributor, Tyler Pepe is a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at the start-up nonprofit, My New Summer. Before COVID-19 impacted the world and changed his plans, Tyler was completing graduate work in Organizational Behavior and Development at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel. While abroad Tyler served as Head Coach and Captain of the undefeated Herzliya Stars in the inaugural season of the Israel Lacrosse League. Prior to this Tyler spent 5 years as a Regional Director at BBYO.

I am very excited to welcome Tyler to #TheGroundFloor as he talks about winning at work

What is your dream job? Do you have what it takes to land your dream job at 26 years old?

#TheGroundFloor is thrilled to welcome guest contributor, Jesse Goleman, for this week’s edition. Jesse landed his dream job at 26 and he shares his secrets in this week’s blog!

Jesse is currently the goalkeeper coach at Northeastern University and the owner of Goleline, a strength and conditioning company tailored to the needs of goalkeepers. Jesse also currently holds the position of Director of Goalkeeping at Valeo FC. Jesse founded Goleline in the summer of 2019. Prior to that, Jesse has coached at Centenary University (NJ), Chatham University, Seton Hill University and Carlow University. During his assistant coaching stints, Jesse has coached over 20 all-conference selections, and one conference player of the year. In 2016, he was also on the coaching staff of the year. Jesse has also served in positions including Campus Recreation Coordinator at Centenary University, Youth & Teen Athletics Coordinator at the Pittsburgh JCC and Fitness Director at The X Health & Fitness Club in Pittsburgh.

Are you allowed to take a vacation from work? Is this something you should be guilted over?

As times have changed and remote working environments are becoming normal for many businesses, separating work from personal life has become more & more difficult. Many employers believe that since their employee is working from home, or can easily access their “office” from their computer, that they need to be working productively at every moment possible. This has certainly created a negative stigma around time-off, vacations and even tracking your hours since it is so difficult to step-away from work.

Luckily, I have a great network on LinkedIn & Twitter who provided some great advice.