Productive people appear to have the ability to do it all, but that’s only an appearance. The truth is they’ve figured out some important lifestyle habits, that while simple, most of us have not yet mastered.

Here are 10 simple things that productive people are doing better than you -- at the moment:

1. Get enough sleep. Your body literally restores itself during sleep. In the four stages of a healthy sleep cycle, the first three are all dedicated to what is called Non-REM sleep and specifically act to restore the physical body. You know from experience what a bad night's sleep feels like the next day. You feel slow, sluggish and foggy

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Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” The right question is “What is the minimum that I need?”

Proposals before Congress to crack down on so-called patent trolls have pit major tech companies against each other. But they can be just as divisive in the public sector, too.

To see why, just take a look at the central Illinois cities of Champaign and Urbana, which are home to the state’s flagship public university.

The local bus agency was forced to settle with a so-called patent troll who claimed the intellectual property rights to technology that helped passengers track the arrival times of buses. Now the agency is weighing its options after receiving a threatening letter from a patent holder who claims exclusive rights to sell equipment for recording video on buses.

Image: A bus stop on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. FlickrCC/Benjamin Stone 

It is easier to invest in private companies than it is to unlock value from these investments. While the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investment space is gaining more and more momentum in Africa, the process of exiting these investments remains a challenge. What many investors and entrepreneurs don’t realise is that positioning a business for a successful exit already starts in the due diligence process — even before investment. Exit strategies will most likely influence the investment term sheet and govern the relationship between the entrepreneur and investor. It is therefore critical to align interests between them.

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When it comes to making decisions about whom to hire and promote, skills and prior work history are only part of the equation. As many employers know, a candidate's attitude and personality traits play a huge role in how well that person can perform in the workplace.

"An overwhelming amount of data supports the claim that personality predicts job performance better than any other known evaluation method, including interviews and IQ tests," said Robert Hogan, a psychologist and president of personality-test provider Hogan Assessments. "Personality should be a major factor used to make personnel decisions." 

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Tools like Google Street View and even Apple's iPhone allow you to view the world as captured in panoramic photos, but a new camera called Centr delivers the same kind of immersive experience in high-definition video.

Created by a team of ex-Apple employees, Centr is a beautifully designed, palm-sized panoramic camera that you can control with your smartphone or tablet (iOS and Android).

Image: CENTR 

Humans are creatures of habits, and these habits can be analyzed and codified into rules that help us perform better. Many times, we're not even aware of the habits that control our choices.

Conside the child's game, Rock-Paper-Scissors. The odds of winning are one in three. At least, that's what chance predicts. But people do not play randomly - they follow hidden patterns that you can predict to win more games than you should, a study has revealed.

Image Courtesy of Kittikun Atsawintarangkul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you’ve graduated from college somewhat recently, you probably still remember the delicate art of choosing where to sit in your classes. When you were in a large classroom with hundreds of other people, you could either choose a seat towards the middle or back to remain anonymous, or you could choose a seat closer to the front to avoid being distracted. When you were in a smaller seminar or section that met at a large round table, you had to negotiate how close to sit to the professor or TA (or even risk sitting in a chair at the edge of the room if you came late).

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IT'S NO SECRET THAT THE U.S. HAS PRETTY LOUSY WORK-LIFE POLICIES. BUT IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD? DEPENDS ON WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU. HERE, WE EXPLORE WHAT WORK WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU LIVED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.

BY RACHEL GILLETT

If you were to make a list of all the things you consider when taking a job, what would be on there? Would you include maternity leave policies, amount of vacation days, or average pay rates?

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Slidejoy, founded by Sanghoon Kwak G’14/WG’14, Jaeho Chung alumnus, Robert Seo WG’12,  has won the $30,000 Perlman Grand Prize at the 2014 Wharton Business Plan Competition. The prize was awarded at the Wharton School’s annual Venture Finals, May 1, 2014, where student finalists received more than $125,000 in combined cash prizes and in-kind legal/accounting services.

3D printing has long been considered a tool to quickly design and make one-off prototypes. But as the technology is becoming more accessible, more affordable and more capable, it is beginning to redefine the way we think about manufacturing almost anything – and the way we run our businesses.

Building bone as a young adult can have benefits that last a lifetime, a new study showed. The research also confirmed that physical activity as we get older can help us maintain bone strength.

Bone is a living tissue. It responds to physical activity by becoming heavier, bigger, and stronger. It does this best when we’re young. Bone mass usually peaks when we’re in our 20s. After that, we often begin to lose bone.

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Economic Gardening initiatives, including the Advance Maryland program, are gaining momentum across the State, but to understand the origin of the term, one must first look to Littleton, Colorado.

In the late 1980s, with the closing of a major missile manufacturing plant, the Denver suburb faced thousands of layoffs. Town leaders were left with two thoughts: What to do next and how to be less vulnerable in the future?

Image: http://mdbiznews.choosemaryland.org 

Those who know about entrepreneurship education in the United States know of Ewing Marion Kauffman. Kauffman was a philanthropist in Kansas City who sought to enable generations to create wealth, value and jobs by encouraging and preparing them to take the entrepreneurial path. Are entrepreneurs following his example? I note today the work of another entrepreneur, Dr. Ir. Ciputra, who is busy with a similar mission in Indonesia.

Image: http://entrepreneurship.org 

Wondering what the future of health IT in Marylands holds? Judging by the startups that presented their successes during Maryland's first health IT accelerator demo day we are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the exciting new technologies that will be making their appearance over the next few years. BHI is proud to have been a founding sponsor of this initiative. With the added support of major players from Maryland's biohealth community, DreamIt Health Baltimore has proven to be a success - one that shows that for Maryland to truly become the next big biohealth hub, all key players need to work together in making that a reality.

As success after success piles up, crowdfunding money-raising platforms have proven to be a great way to fund your next startup. Settle on one of the multiple approaches of crowdfunding, and your product or service just might be the next FORM1 or TikTok.

By definition, crowdfunding is simply the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.

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A key element in economic and industrial development is the ability of countries to absorb technological know-how from abroad. Developed countries' intellectual property (IP) systems were gradually developed to accommodate the increasing capacities of local industrial sectors. Many developing countries by contrast lack an IP system that appropriately reflects their stage of technological development.

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The Muse offers career advice for the digital world, including exciting job opportunities, expert advice, and a peek behind the scenes into fantastic companies & career paths. There’s no such thing as second chances when it comes to making a great first impression. Whether you like it or not, it only takes a few seconds for people to make an opinion — and often, it sticks.

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French poet Anatole France (we know, ironic) is famously quoted as saying, “to accomplish great things we must dream as well as act.” It is in that spirit that we are pleased to present Mark50.

The Mark50 list celebrates 50 innovators who have left their mark. They didn’t just do great work; they changed the trajectory of their industry or business. They challenged the norm. Looked under the rocks most of us overlook. They turned an idea on its head, or started something new, or just did it better, by doing it differently.

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Guys, have you ever had one of those mornings when nothing seems to goes right?

You attempt to shave your neck-beard, but your dull razor leaves your bathroom looking like a murder scene. Then after getting ready, you realize your shirt is wrinkly, your sweater is fuzzy, your shoes stink, your belt no longer fits and you're suddenly aware that your tie is seven years out of fashion.

Image: http://mashable.com