Join Jack Whitehall at the London Comedy Lunch 2014

It’s only August, but have you thought about planning a really special Christmas night out? Take a step back from the usual office parties and tackily themed festive events and treat yourself to a VIP comedy lunch instead.

On Friday 12^th December, Jack Whitehall will be headlining the 2014London Comedy Lunch, accompanied by Sean Collins and host Mark Dolan. With a line-up as promising as this, how could it be anythingother than a very memorable afternoon?

If you would like to book a table in the Ballroom, South Bank for a few hours of outstanding comedy and excellent food, while doing your bit for charity (charity details to be confirmed), get in touch with us today.

Jack Whitehall or Christmas crackers and droopy paper hats? The choice is yours…

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

Time Management: What Type of Procrastinator Are You – INFOGRAPHIC

“Procrastination [proh-kras-tuh-nay-shun]

noun

the act or habit of procrastinating, or putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention”

This is the Dictionary.com definition of the word procrastination and something all of us are guilty of from time to time.

If you’re like most of the rest of the world, you have something that makes you more likely to procrastinate, but again if you’re like the rest of us, you’re somewhat unwilling to admit to your weaknesses in this area. How many times have you said you’re putting a task off because you work better under pressure? It’s not completely true though, is it?

Find out the truth about this habit and other types of procrastination in this handy infographic from Joseph Ferrari PhD of the University of Chicago. Once you’ve identified your own procrastination type, get in touch for help defeating it.

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

cushion the impact for President!

You may be right in thinking that we have got a little carried away there but, although we are not running for any Presidency, we are on the shortlist for Concierge Company of the Year at the London Lifestyle Awards.

Your help would be most appreciated.

We are <-> this close to being crowned champions of our industry at the awards ceremony on 8^th October but first we need your votes.

If we have cushioned the impact for you (or if you’re just feeling generous and have a moment or two to spare!) please visit the London Lifestyle Awards voting page, scroll down to the Concierge Company of the Year category and select cushion the impact. Feel free to vote for your favourites in the other categories too – we know they will appreciate it as much as we do!

Once you’ve submitted the form, you will be sent a confirmation email. Click the link to prove you’re human and really intended to recommend us and you’re done.

Thank you once more to everyone who has helped us to get this far and cross your fingers for the final result!

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

10 Great Social Media Tools to Improve Your Productivity

Social media has become an essential tool for all businesses and it’s likely to become more vital to success; if you haven’t already got a strong social media presence and strategy, you should consider investing in one.

Many people are worried about not having enough time or are not sure about taking the plunge themselves.  If this applies to you, we can help to manage and grow your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. On the other hand, if or when you do decide to dip your toes into the seemingly murky waters of social networking, or if you have been taking part for some time already, these excellent tools will help to streamline the process.

Another step towards optimum productivity!

cushion the impact’s Top 10 Social Media Tools

• Hootsuite – Manage your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ accounts from your browser or mobile device. The free plan is more than enough for most people’s social networking needs and paid options are available for those who want even more.  
• Buffer – As well as allowing you to schedule future posts on the various networks, Buffer is a fantastically easy way of sharing great content you find online. Their email hints and tips are very handy too.  
• ManageFlitter – It’s all well and good following relevant Twitter accounts, but who has time to clear out the inactive ones regularly? ManageFlitter lets you see a breakdown of your followers and those you follow and has plenty of options for unfollowing those you no longer need in your feed.  
• Feedly – No more trawling the web for content; let Feedly deliver it to you, then share it with your own contacts. 
• Must Be Present – Monitors how quickly you respond to mentions and how you compare to others on Twitter.  
• Klout – The more influential you become on social media, the higher your Klout Score. It’s an easy and effective way to stay relevant.  
• Bit.ly – Sharing long URLs on social media can look messy and unprofessional. Use Bit.ly to create shortlinks and track clicks.
• Tweriod – Learn when your Twitter audience is most responsive and tailor your posts to achieve maximum views and interaction.  
• Rival IQ – Monitor your competitors’ activity on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+, as well as their SEO performance. Once you have the information, you can use it to become even better!
• Compfight – Hundreds of creative commons images and graphics for you to use on your posts, blog or other content. All you need to do is search and make sure to credit the owner appropriately.

Have you got another fantastic resource we’ve missed from our list? Add a comment and let us know!

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

Mind-blowing New Experiences at August’s London Pop-ups

Variety is the spice of life and we believe in the importance of trying new things. Don’t get stuck in the rut of your comfort zone; book tickets for these fantastic pop-ups in London this month and get stuck in to something completely different.

Mary Poppins is just one of the highlights of this month’s agenda…

Mary Poppins Pop-up Restaurant Experience

In conjunction with HOTHOT Magazine, Mary Poppins and the Banks family cordially invite you to join them for a four-course dinner extravaganza on a selection of dates starting on August 29th. Taking place in a secret London location (near Dalston), diners will be requested to follow Ms Poppins into a world of delicious food and supercalafragilisticexpialadocious entertainment.

 The Colour Palate

 

We all have our favourite colours and those we tend to avoid whenever possible. Many colours evoke strong associations with emotions, black tending to be reserved for death, grief and other negative situations, pink girly fluffiness, red warnings and so on. How would you feel about eating a single-coloured meal in a matching room? The Colour Palate enables diners to experience the atmosphere created by coloured rooms, glass and fabrics which change interactively with each of the five courses.

Belvedere Martini Legends 

How does a vodka-themed, interactive sensory experience complete with martini flights sound to you? Good? If so, you need to visit Belvedere Martini Legends before the pop-up disappears forever at the end of the month. The Royal Academy Senate Rooms at Burlington Gardens are playing host to this event, enabling guests to find out once and for all if the prefer their martinis shaken, stirred, wet or dry and what their favourite garnish is. It’s what we’ve been waiting for all our lives! Tickets can be booked online.

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

 

 

 

VIP Events in Late 2014 – Concierge Recommendations

As you’ll no doubt be familiar with by now, we start every month by bringing you highlights of the upcoming London events. We recently published our guide to August events in London but today’s blog is something a little different.

If you have a very special occasion to mark or want to throw caution to the wind and jet off to a truly spectacular event, this post is for you.

Get in touch if you would like more information or tickets for any of these VIP events taking place around the globe between now and the New Year.

Late 2014 VIP Events

4^th September – Elton John’s End of Summer Party, Windsor

5^th-7^th September – VIP Paddock Club Access, Italian Grand Prix

13^th-17^th September – VIP and Backstage Access, London Fashion Week

12^th&13^th September – Very limited tickets available for Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s “On the Run” concert, Stade de France, Paris

21^st September – VIP Paddock Club Access, Singapore Grand Prix

28^th September – VIP packages, NFL Miami Dolphins vs Oakland Raiders, Wembley Stadium

21^st-23^rd November – VIP Paddock Club Access, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

1^st December – Private VIP Boxes, British Fashion Awards, London Coliseum

We are constantly on the lookout for more VIP and exciting events to bring to our clients. Keep an eye on the blog and our Twitter feed for regular updates.

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

Top 6 Proofreading Tips

One of the more common tasks we are asked to do is proof-reading anything from letters to web copy and everything in between.  No matter how much experience you’ve had, it’s always good to have a second pair of eyes look over an important piece before you send or publish it. Spell checkers are all well and good, but nothing beats an experienced proof reader.

Remember, if you’re not quite sure where to start with that report, letter or document, we could write it for you too!

Top 6 Proof-reading Tips:

• Re-read your work – We know it’s not the most exciting task in the world but taking a break from a document and coming back to read it again is a simple yet effective way to pick up errors.

• Read the document aloud – While you may be prone to scanning documents, reading aloud makes you pay attention to each word and will allow you to notice mistakes more easily.

• Use spelling and grammar checkers – These tools aren’t as accurate as an experienced pair of eyes, as we mentioned earlier, but it is still important to use them. It takes a matter of seconds and may pick up errors you hadn’t yet detected.

• Read from the bottom up – We’re not sure why, but reading a document backwards makes you concentrate on spelling more.

• Ask for a second opinion – Ask a colleague or friend to proof-read as a fresh pair of eyes can be a fantastic tool.

• Don’t skip the graphs – Many people put time and effort into proof-reading the text in their document but don’t look at graphs, tables, page numbers and headlines. Remember your audience will read the entire document, so you should too!

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

Stop Wasting Time at Meetings! Inefficient Meeting Habits You Must Break NOW – Time Management Tips

“The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favour of holding meetings.” T. Sowell

How many of you nodded at the quote above?

You may need to have some meetings, but we can guarantee you don’t need to have all of them. Stop jeopardising your own productivity and break these inefficient meeting habits right now.

Most of the cardinal sins of meetings are fairly self-explanatory but if you or your team would like more help, contact us for a free consultation.

20 unforgivably inefficient meeting habits

1. Starting late
2. Running over the scheduled time
3. Repeating early information for latecomers
4. Waiting for latecomers before starting
5. Holding it in the wrong location
6. Inviting the wrong attendees
7. Not having a clear agenda
8. Ignoring the agenda
9. Too many attendees (spoil the meeting…)
10. No decisions by the end of the meeting
11. No accountability taken for any of the issues raised
12. No follow-up actions assigned or worse, taken
13. Recurring meetings just because they always have…
14. Doodling, checking emails and other irrelevant time-wasting
15. Attendees not listening
16. Attendees distracted by refreshments
17. Last minute technology problems caused by ill-preparation
18. Last minute cancellation and rescheduling
19. Last minute meetings (in a non-emergency situation)
20. No need for a meeting – an email to all attendees would have been perfectly sufficient

Next time you consider arranging a meeting, think about whether you really need to. If an email will communicate the message perfectly well – use it!

Meetings are only a valuable resource when used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!

August Events and Dates for Your Diary

We hope you are enjoying the fantastic weather we’ve had recently (with the exception of some fairly spectacular storms, of course!) and are full of cheery summery-ness.

Whether you have been away on holiday and need a pick-me-up to ease you back into everyday life or are filling a last few diary slots before you jet off, August in London has plenty to offer.

Read on for some of our highlights or get in touch for personalised suggestions and VIP ticket information.

Dates to remember

The ballot for tickets for the 2015 Wimbledon Tennis Championships is now open. UK residents who wish to apply for tickets should send a stamped, addressed envelope between now and 15^th December to enter the draw

August events

1^st-23^rd August – Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

2^nd-9^th August – Cowes Week

3^rd August – Bollywood Showstoppers, O2 Arena

4^th August – The Expendables 3 World Film Premiere, Cinema TBC

5^th August – The Inbetweeners 2 UK Film Premiere, Cinema TBC

7^th August – Two Days, One Night Film Premiere, Somerset House

10^th August – FA Community Shield 2014 – Arsenal Vs Manchester City, Wembley Stadium

15^th-19^th August – England Vs India 5^th Test Match, Kia Oval

16^th-17^th August – Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2014, Ascot

16^th-11^th August – Rugby Union World Club Sevens, Twickenham

23rd August – Challenge Cup Final 2014, Wembley Stadium

26^th-29^th August – Royal London One-Day Cup Quarter Finals, Various Venues

28^th-31^st August – 2014 MotoGP British Grand Prix, Silverstone

29^th-30^th August – Ant & Dec’s Takeaway on Tour, O2 Arena

30^th August – National Youth Music Theatre Race Day, Sandown Racecourse

cushion the impact  provides award winning personal and virtual assistance and customised lifestyle management for hard working and hard living individuals and small business owners.  We know there aren’t enough hours in the day, so let us help you live an organised, efficient, & fulfilling life. Take a deep breath & call us today.  Your personal service awaits!!