Mobile devices are more than just modern conveniences. In today’s business climate, having the right mobile tools at your disposal is critical to your professional survival. Staying connected around the clock is the accepted norm, not the exception and remaining competitive means keeping yourself up-to-date on the best apps to help you work smarter, faster, and better.

As thousands of new apps are released into the market every day, staying current on the best and most effective apps for improving productivity and performance can feel like a very daunting task. Luckily, Cydcor has created a shortcut to help you wade through this vast ocean of available apps. We’ve compiled a list of some of most useful apps to help busy professionals stay organized, communicate better and more efficiently, quickly get where they need to go, and be more productive.

Like it or not, being on time matters. In fact, it matters a lot. It communicates to others whether they can trust and rely on you. It gives others insight into how you view them and how you view yourself. Being chronically late can have countless unintended consequences, and it’s a seemingly small thing that can have a huge and lasting negative effect on your career. By contrast, learning the importance of punctuality – or being consistently on-time, or even early – is an incredibly simple way to set yourself apart from the crowd. It allows you to make an instant good impression, and it can help you reach your goals faster by helping others see you as someone worth listening to.

There is no excuse for being late. Barring true emergencies, being on time is completely within your control. Taking ownership of your time, knowing the importance of punctuality, and choosing never to be late again, is one easy thing you can do to change your life and career for the better.

In case you still need reasons to be on time, here are 7 big ones:

1. Being Late Weakens Your Position: When you’re late, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. Nobody wants to start an important business meeting with an apology. You may also be stressed and scattered, which may make the other person question their choice to work with you. If you can’t even be trusted to be on time, why would a customer trust you with their money?

• How to flip it: When you know the importance of punctuality, it puts you in the driver’s seat. Being on time helps you be cool, calm, and collected, and you make a great impression by showing the other person you respect their valuable time. By arriving early, you allow yourself a few extra minutes to think through your argument, and you appear more confident, poised, and in control.

2. When You’re Not on Time, You’re Stealing: If time is money, then by arriving five minutes late you’ve just stolen something of value from the other person, which is NOT a great way to start any important business negotiation. The other person feels like they’ve already given you something, so they’re not going to be as likely to give you more.

• How to flip it: Being on time instantly makes the person feel valued and appreciative, which could make them more open to your sales pitch.

3. Being Late Communicates a Lot…and None of it is Good: Being late tells others a lot about you, your integrity, and your respect for other people. It tells them you think your time is more important than theirs, and whatever you are doing is more important than what they could be doing. It shows disrespect and disregard, and it tells the other person you’re totally unreliable, careless, and disorganized.

• How to flip it: Being on time tells others that you’re trustworthy, considerate, and prepared. You’re showing them they are important to you and you are bringing your A-game.  

4. There’s No Good Excuse: Other than a real emergency – and no, sleeping late and traffic don’t count – being on time is 100% within your control, and it’s easy! Sure, staying on schedule does take some planning and organization, but compared to almost every other challenge you could face at work, being on time is a cakewalk. Being late is like shooting yourself in the foot.

• How to flip it: Being on time is an incredibly simple way to impress others, make people like you, and make yourself look good. Why wouldn’t you do it?

5. Being Late Wastes Time: When you’re late, you’re not buying yourself a few “extra minutes” you’re throwing away those minutes on things that could have been accounted for with a little planning. Being late often forces you to do extra work by scheduling follow-up meetings when you can’t finish your whole agenda, or by slowing you down on a project because you haven’t organized your thoughts ahead of time.

• How to flip it: Knowing the importance of punctuality, on the other hand, saves you time. Good time management makes you more efficient, which means you can leave work right at 5 pm to make it to your child’s baseball game or get in that evening workout you’ve been skipping.

6. Being Late Wastes Money: Ever miss a flight or a show because you were running late? Ever have to pay extra for parking because your meeting ran over? Does your child’s daycare charge you by the minute when you don’t pick up your kid on time? Being late can lead to some costly mistakes.

• How to flip it: Always being on time can save you from a wide variety of late fees and penalties, and it can help you catch those precious first-come, first-served deals.

7. Being Late Makes You Scatterbrained: The stress you feel when you’re constantly running late interferes with your ability to make decisions, think and speak clearly, perform with precision, and get things done with a winning attitude.

• How to flip it: By being on time, you’re able to start meetings, projects, and your work day clear-headed and free from the nagging emotional distractions.

Being on time doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it doesn’t have to. Even those of us who struggle with punctuality will admit that being on time just takes a little planning, and most importantly, admitting to ourselves that being on time matters. Just think about it. When you really care about being somewhere on time, you’re able to make it happen. Right? That’s because the biggest trick for improving your time management isn’t a trick at all. It’s just knowing the importance of punctuality.

Distractions are everywhere! Sometimes it’s hard to believe anyone can get anything accomplished when friends can reach us at any time on our mobile phones, social media notifications nag us to check in, and a 24-hour news cycle means there’s always something new and interesting just one Google search away. But focus, like exercise, eating right, and flossing, is just another habit. It’s a behavior we need to constantly practice and hone, and it IS something we can train our busy brains to do better.

Here are eight essential tips to help you be more productive:

1. Minimize Multi-Tasking: It’s a buzzword mentioned in almost every job interview, but multi-tasking isn’t necessarily a good thing. Studies have shown that people who try to juggle more than one task at a time don’t perform as well as those who focus on the task at hand. Instead, allot specific amounts of time to each project according to its importance, and give your full attention to each task during its assigned time slot.

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2. Do the Complicated Work First: It might seem easier to get the simple tasks out of the way, but people tend to be most energized and focused in the morning, so use those most productive hours to tackle the projects that will require the greatest amount of concentration.

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3. Exercise Regularly: Your brain is a muscle, and what’s good for your body is good for your brain as well. Besides getting the blood flowing, exercise helps reduce stress, which can be a huge distraction when you’re trying to get things done.

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4. Prioritize: Not everything is equally important. Make to-do lists, with the most critical tasks at the top. Making lists not only helps you build momentum as you check off key projects, it also helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

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5. Take Breaks: Think you don’t have time for a break? Think again. Believe it or not, studies have shown that taking short, planned breaks actually improves concentration and focus at work. Taking breaks also helps avoid distractions brought on by boredom and combat our brains’ natural tendencies to worry about the things and people around us. This instinct was super helpful when we were cavemen in the wilderness – not so useful when we’re trying to meet a deadline at work.

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6. Practice Good Concentration Hygiene: Until you have trained your brain to withstand all of life’s most tempting distractions, set yourself up for success by eliminating the distractions ahead of time. Hide your phone in a drawer, turn off the radio or TV, and move to a quiet place where you can commit to the task before you.

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7. Stop Being a Perfectionist: There are few things more distracting than worrying about failure before you’ve even started. Commit to getting the work done, and avoid the natural instinct to overthink what you’re producing. You can revise your project as many times as you like, but you’re not likely to produce much of anything if you’re too busy telling yourself that everything you do is mediocre.

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8. Have a Plan: Before heading into the office on Monday morning, carve out a little time over the weekend to create a roadmap for the week ahead. Taking a few extra minutes to plan out your days in advance can help you be more productive throughout the week and save you the stress of sitting down and not knowing where to begin.

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Staying focused at work is something almost everyone struggles with. It’s not an easy thing when everything in our lives seems to be designed to grab our attention. But focus is something you can learn to do better. Start with the tricks above and take it slow. Even if you can only concentrate for five or ten minutes at a time in the beginning, just continue to work at it, and in no time at all, your brain will start to build the defenses it needs to banish distractions for good.

We all want to get ahead, and figuring out what’s keeping your goals out of reach can be tricky. It takes asking a lot of important questions and making sure all the pieces are in place to ensure your success. You’ll want to be sure you’re getting the right training, connecting with the best possible mentors, and working for a company that positions you for growth. But, don’t forget to take a good hard look where it matters most: yourself. Your attitude and the way you approach life, your job, and the people around you can be the critical factor that decides your fate. Luckily, your workplace attitude is the one piece of the puzzle entirely within your control. All it takes is accepting responsibility for the role your attitude plays, along with a willingness to change.

Here are 10 easy ways to change your attitude for the better:

1. Stop Complaining: Everyone complains from time to time, but a nonstop stream of complaints gives the impression of someone who’s constantly dissatisfied. While it’s normal to be occasionally frustrated when things don’t go your way, nonstop complaining shows an unwillingness to take action on your own behalf. If you’re miserable in your job or hate where you live, ask yourself what you can do to change your circumstances.

2. Banish Excuses: If you have the bad habit of justifying your own behavior, you’re missing a lot of opportunities for growth. Only by being accountable for your own mistakes can you hope to learn from them. Taking ownership is necessary to improve your performance in the future.

3. Assume the Best: Instead of adopting a can’t do workplace attitude, be optimistic and focus on what you can do. If you assume things will not go your way, why would you try at all? Your negative assumptions could be keeping you from taking risks and trying new courses of action, which could produce exciting and unexpected results.

4. Stop Sweating Everything: When everything bothers you, and you’re almost always angry and  stressed out about something, all that tension drains energy you need to be great at your job. Getting caught up in your emotions also prevents you from being able to objectively look at situations to try to understand why problems occurred so they can be avoided in the future.

5. Own It: If you spend a lot of time explaining why things are not your problem, you’re also missing the opportunity to take credit when things improve. Passing the buck may protect you in the short term, but it cheats you out of chances to grow and take on positions of greater responsibility.

6. Learn to Compromise: It may seem like you’re standing behind your beliefs, but people who never compromise can make collaborating with others a miserable or even impossible process. What you call your independence or strong mindedness could be preventing you from making valuable contributions to team projects, or you might be derailing the team’s efforts altogether. Instead of drawing a line in the sand, strongly state your concerns, but listen to other ideas as well. The best course of action is often somewhere in the middle.

7. Embrace Questions: When people question you, it can feel like they’re doubting you. The reality may be that they are just seeking clarity or shedding light on a detail you overlooked. Questions from others can help you provide critical support for your own ideas, which could bolster your argument and give your proposals a better chance of being approved. Instead of bristling, welcome questions with open arms.

8. Stop Jumping to Conclusions: You call yourself decisive, but others would call you impulsive. While overthinking every situation could slow you down, not thinking at all before you speak or act can mean overlooking the potential consequences. Try to tame your kneejerk reactions, by taking just a few moments to cool down and think about how your response might be perceived by others.

9. It’s Okay to Be Wrong: You associate making mistakes with weakness, but nobody can be right all the time. Refusing to admit that you might have made an error or might not fully understand something, doesn’t make you look smarter; it often does the opposite. People who don’t acknowledge their errors appear not to know they have made them.

10. Celebrate the Achievements of Others: When others around you succeed, it can feel like it’s hurting your own chances for success. The praise others receive sometimes makes you feel invisible. But you might be overlooking how your colleagues’ successes contribute to your team’s overall growth. Instead of resenting their achievements, appreciate the way their stellar performance inspires you to up your game.

It’s never fun to admit that you might be the source of your own problems, but taking responsibility for your own workplace attitude is an essential step to overcoming those hurdles. Don’t beat yourself up. Instead, take an honest look at yourself and your interactions with others, and make a list of areas you’d like to improve. Write down tangible actions you can take to avoid being viewed as having a bad attitude at work in the future. You may even want to ask your coworkers how they perceive you. While their impressions may be hard to hear, their outside perspective is likely to offer insight into behaviors you weren’t even aware of. Understanding the problem is the first step toward being able to fix it.