Sequents have a rather nifty piece of technology which can tell you, objectively, exactly how stressed you are. Employers can use this to counter problems such as stress in the workplace, resolve personal issues, reduce absenteeism, avoid costly law suits and reduce insurance premiums.

It takes just 15 minutes to ptovide a detailed analysis for each individual. Admit it, you want to have a go, don’t you?

Tamsen Garrie of 4Networking in April’s edition of SHE Magazine

Sequents, our latest client, in Employee Benefits launching its unique stress assessment technology

Brad Burton, of 4Networking and Get Off Your Arse fame, guest blogs on Smarta about his GOYA2 book out now

1.    You don’t have to be all ‘corporate’ to get ahead

At first I thought I had to wear a suit to all meetings and events, couldn’t swear, and controversy was off the menu. Like client meetings when you have a ‘proper’ job.

Now I’ve built a brand on being loud, potty-mouthed and controversial. I’m not saying you should do that, but if that’s who you are, and you’re good at your job, then it’s ok to be yourself.

2.    You can’t spend like you used to

Every penny is precious in those early days. Buying £400 jeans is a thing of the past – for now, anyway.

3.    The only person you’re fooling is you

Stop making excuses. You may be frightened of failure; you may be frightened of success; but the only way to overcome those fears is just to get on with it. If the worst comes to the worst, and it all goes pear shaped, you can call it all an experience and get a proper job again. What have you lost? Nothing.

4.    It’s ok to go to bed in the middle of the day

Or watch Jeremy Kyle, or sleep till 9.30. It’s ok to take a day off. You’re not a machine, you need to recharge sometimes, and with all the pressures you’re under, you are going to have ‘down’ days. Don’t fight them, give in and get back on the success trail the next day, fully pumped.

5.    Brad Burton is always right

This can be infuriating at times, but it’s true. I do whatever [4Networking boss] Brad tells me to now, from getting a phone answering service to avoiding certain individuals. I know he has his haters, like all people in the public eye, but even some of them are hard pushed to deny this.

6.    You don’t have to cold call

People like to tell you that cold-calling is just one of those unpleasant facts of life (or business). I have never made a cold call to win a new client, yet here I am, 18 months on, still standing. In fact, I think cold calling is too labour-intensive, if it works at all. You can build a business on networking, PR, social media and relentless self-promotion. So don’t sit there staring at the phone if you’re in mortal fear of making an unsolicited call, just work around it.

7.    You don’t get a lunch break

I used to take my hour’s lunch break when I first started working alone. What’s that about? Let me tell you, lunch breaks, five o’clock finishes and free weekends are a thing of the past when you run your own business. But, on the plus side, you can go to the gym in the middle of the day to avoid the crowds, have a glass of wine while you tap away on your laptop at night and hangovers are much easier to deal with.

8.    You will get there in the end

I didn’t used to believe this. The people around me told me, but I couldn’t see it. But now, you know what? I’m getting there.

If you graft, and you are good, you will get there. Just keep going.

The first is the story of the barber, Ben Martin, who lost his business in the recession. Not to be perturbed, he took heed from a friend who owned a burger van, and set up a barber van in a lay-by on the A6 near Luton. He is being hailed everywhere for his entrepreneurial spirit, and I, in fact, actually heard the story on BBC Radio 5 Live.

A Barber. From Luton. On Radio 5. I wonder how many other times throughout history that has happened.

You see, not only has he had the get up and go to motor on with his business in the face of adversity, not only has he had the naus to come up with what is a very good idea, but he, or someone close to him, has sent out a press release. Priceless. It’s in all the papers and national radio. Guess where people in Luton are going for haircuts now.

You can read the full story here.

The second story, unfortunately, involves a rather more unfortunate institution of our country, the Daily Mail. I bet they were dead chuffed with their expose of former FA and World cup Bid chief exec Lord Triesman, whose crime seems to be having said something mildly silly and unsubstantiated in private. Well, if that’s an offence to lose your job over, I had better quit now. We all talk to those close to us. Just that they aren’t normally wearing a wire. At least, I hope not.

What the Daily Mail, presumably, hadn’t anticipated was the backlash from football fans against their newspaper for jeopardising England’s 2018 World Cup bid. This page from the title’s website shows some of the vitriol aimed at the Mail (check out the comments), and the general consensus is that they have overstepped the mark and shot the country in the foot.

The Guardian, always pleased to have the opportunity to have a pop at its right-wing counterpart, is having a field day with this. Triesman seems to actually be getting quite a bit of sympathy, having had to resign, because, although his remarks (alleging that officials at the World Cup would be bribed by Spain and Russia) were probably not true and just part of a macho display, they were, nevertheless, made in private.

The Daily Mail seems to be coming out of this the worst. An internet campaign rages urging any individuals who have not had the good sense to do so years ago to boycott the paper. Its writers have battened down the hatches, editorially speaking, and continue to try to justify this completely unnecessary tapping up, by stating that Lord Triesman wasn’t very well liked anyway. So, if we don’t like someone, it’s ok to rip apart their career and private life? Daily Mail hacks ought to take note. They’re hardly the most popular.

It just seems bizarre to me that a paper that claims to be as patriotic as the Daily Heil should set out to do something so damaging to England. the World Cup in 2018 is being touted as the most profitable one ever, not to mention the public morale which it would generate and, if history is anything to go by, the increased chances of England actually lifting the trophy. A really, really, remarkable own goal. Well done ed.

Being a creative thinker is, in my opinion, a skill to be honed, but, for those less well practiced, there are some exercises you can do to get into the right frame of mind to get those gold dust ideas on demand, whenever you need them. These are some of my tips:

1. Get undressed

Ok, not necessarily naked (although if it makes you feel more comfortable you can, just be sure to draw the curtains first). Just take your jacket and tie off, and kick your shoes off too, if your feet can be trusted not to emit an objectionable aroma. Get comfortable and sit away from your computer, or at least turn the screen off. You don’t want to be distracted in full flow, and you need to detach your mind.

2. Broaden your mind

You may have heard the fact that we only use 10 per cent of our brains on a daily basis. Engage more of your brain and you will be surprised at the new thought content you generate. How do you do this? By doing things differently to usual. Try writing back to front, with your ‘wrong’ hand (both at the same time if you can), take a different route to work or mix up your routine in some way. The more you challenge yourself the better. You don’t have to wait for a brainstorm session to do this – try doing something out of the ordinary every day to give yourself a broader range of thought all the time.

3. Warm up thoroughly

Clear your mind of the day’s tasks and stresses and get into a creative rhythm with a good old game of word association. If there is more than one of you, chuck a ball or screwed up piece of paper between you as you play. This will focus your mind solely on the catching, and the words.

On your own? Play a song and dance and sing along. Write down every thought that pops into your head for several minutes then rip up and throw away the paper. Try to imagine nothing.

4. Opposites

This is a time old technique in the creative industries (you may have seen its use in a recent infamous Home Office brainstorm involving the Pope). Take your run of the mill ideas or activities, then think of what the exact opposite would be. Now relate this to your project.

5. Celebrity dinner guests

Think of a celebrity you might like to have to dinner (this could be someone you hate equally as well as someone you desire). Write down every attribute you can about that individual. So, for instance:

Will Smith – actor, black, Fresh Prince, married, sexy, rapper, and so on

Now detach these words from the original subject and use them to formulate an idea related to your project.

6. No bad ideas

The objective of an ideas session is not to come up with a final plan. One idea leads to another. They can be developed, especially between several of you, so don’t dismiss anything. Write it all down. Write everything down. Write half ideas and random words and see where they take you. Sequester a flip chart if possible and stick the pages on the walls as they fill up.

Once you’re done you can pick out the best bits to put into practice.

These are just some of my tips for creative brainstorming. If you’d like further help please get in touch with www.avidpr.co.uk.

If you’ve got a question about PR, need to find an angle to make something newsworthy, are looking for some perfect words for your marketing materials or want to know who to send your press releases to, book in a slot by following Mira on Twitter here and sending her a tweet or a message come Friday morning.

When starting out, most new businesspeople think that they have to lap up every bit of cash that comes their way. How else will you get off the ground? Or, you have started out on your own because you’re an idealist, you believe that business should be built on trust, and vow to have open, honest relationships with all your clients. So it’s one extreme or the other; prostitute your soul for a few quid, or idealism to the point of naivety. Either way, it’s only a matter of time before you get stung.

I learnt that the hard way. Mine was a mixture of both. Feeling I needed to grab any money that was offered to me, and thinking I could do things differently.

Then you come up against people who can’t pay, don’t want to pay, don’t feel they should, or are just nasty pieces of work who trample on small businesses just because they can.

Of course, sometimes, these situations can’t be predicted. A lot of companies have become insolvent over the last couple of years, and we can’t always know this is coming.

But I feel that now, after one or two horrible, drawn out situations, I have developed an instinct for the messers about, time wasters and difficult characters I encounter, whose business will be politely declined.

If I think about it, I had it all along. But now I’m listening.

So, if you’re starting out, don’t dismiss that intuitive feeling you have about someone. It doesn’t mean you can’t work with them, just make sure you’re watertight in your Ts & Cs or get paid up front. It’s not just about your head. Trust your gut.

Yesterday, I took a day off. Not just a day off from work, but a day off from Twitter. I won’t lie to you, it was hard. I found myself twitching to pick up my iPhone and let rip with every trivial sentiment that popped into head, but I got through it. And now, I feel good, and I have learnt much. In fact, so confident am I that I have found the enlightened path that I’m smug enough to want to to share it with all of you.

Mira is now 'zen'. Or has it - whatever you do with zen.

I am a Twitter and email addict. I am always hooked up, via computer or iPhone. I can’t stop faffing around from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. It’s a problem.

This, coupled with having to deal with HMRC and DVLA in one day (one at a time is enough – let alone both) led to me feeling totally burnt out by close of play Monday. Thus the decision to take Tuesday off.

I woke up. What shall I do now? After wandering around for a short while (I would normally have got the day off to a start with a tweet and a check of my emails), I remembered the newspaper. I sat in bed and read it, not just the sport pages either- the features and everything. I had a cup of coffee with it. Then I went to the gym. But, instead of seeing it as something to be ticked off the list, I put my favourite songs on the iPod and sang along (not aloud – nobody wants to hear me belting out Ricky Martin in a public place) and focused totally on my work out. And I didn’t check Twitter or email once while I was doing it. And I really, really enjoyed it.

I went for a steam room, cooked a big tomato soup, read a magazine, ate dinner and went to the football.

I did have a couple of tasks to complete – unfortunately the tax man doesn’t care about my day off. I started them, and finished them, in one fell swoop. No putting the letter to one side to envelope up later, no postponing, no distractions. Start, see through to completion, done. And it felt goooooood.

So today, I have adopted a new, more ‘zen’ approach to my work and I am implementing some rules which I hope to be able to maintain permanently. These are:

1. Focus on the task at hand and stop thinking about what you need to do later. Stop rushing through and actually pause to enjoy the little things – this is called mindfulness and it’s something I intend to find out a lot more about.

2. Do one thing at a time, and finish it. Don’t have more than one internet browser tab or window open. Don’t type while on the phone or Tweet while waiting for things to load. You can answer your emails later, at a given time, and not as and when they arrive.

3. Never write a to-do list. if you do, you have too much going on. Distinguish between tasks that are urgent and those that are important.

4. Stay calm, have perspective. Even when dealing with HMRC. They don’t care if you are angry or frustrated, so it does no good. Smile.

5. Go outside. Stop Tweeting sometimes and notice what’s going on in the real world.

6. Take one day a month off from everything.

Today I can already feel my increased productivity resulting from a new-found inner peace, new efficiency and a renewed sense of perspective. Any you would like to add to the list, please feel fee.

You see, this is the thing. The whole point of a viral video is that it is funny, silly, shocking or whatever… it has something about it which makes people want to send it on to friends. Imagine receiving a five minute sales pitch, or even just a five minute infomercial, why would you forward that on? You probably wouldn’t even watch it, would you? Nevertheless, I see endless viral flops which are exactly that.

That’s not to say you can’t get your message across. You just need to be inventive with it.

That’s why (cue shameless plug) I decided to post a snap of me in my dressing gown and pink fluffy slippers. You see, at Avid we’re a bit bonkers, in the right way, and these pics, hopefully portray me in a ‘not your usual company director’ kind of light. Anyway, I’m on about 925 views – not bad for what is, essentially, a blurry pic of me in a fluffy hood. I’m aiming for the grand, so get viewing!

Mira in dressing gown