Your to-do list is already a mile long and it seems to grow exponentially as the week ticks on. There are not enough conscious hours in the day to conquer the amount of stuff you have bitten off. The burning question is: How can I get more done?

Aside from cloning yourself, you aren’t sure what else you could possibly do to be more productive. The truth is you are losing precious time without even realizing it because of some not-so-productivity-friendly habits. Here is a list of four common time sucks and ways to sidestep them in the quest to be more efficient and take back your day!

1. Sorry, I need to take this. Let’s be real, people are glued to their phones. Period! You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone’s gaze cemented to their cell. Scanning emails, writing texts, or surfing the web; people walk down the hall without ever looking up from their screen. They are the most anti-social social devices in existence. When your phone is next to you or even in your eye line, you become distracted and easily lose focus on the task at hand. Don’t fall victim to the phone trap. Try putting it some place out of reach when you are working on important projects that need your undivided attention. Or better yet, put it in another room and designate specific times you can check it with an allotted time limit. You will be amazed at how much more you will get done because you won’t be constantly stopping and starting from a myriad of interruptions.

2. Save the juggling for the circus. We are a society of multi-taskers. Sadly, science has taught us that trying to tackle multiple projects at once is not beneficial and actually counterproductive. While you may feel you don’t have any other option than to juggle all your tasks at once, it will likely take you longer to complete all of them than if you divided and conquered your list. Try focusing on and knocking out one project at a time. You will notice more items being moved into the completion pile than ever before and that surge of accomplishment will fuel your desire to keep going.

3. Plan, what plan? While there are many schools of thought on what techniques lead to the most efficient output, everyone agrees having a plan of attack is the difference maker. Outline the steps you need to take to carry out your tasks. This way you will have a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished and how much time you will need to set aside. Planning out your next moves will save you time, frustration, and keep you from missing critical deadlines. Need help with forming a plan? Check out David Allen’s Getting Things Done; we like his approach and many call it a game changer.

4. Distractions are everywhere you turn. Your work environment sets the tone for how productive you can truly be. Only you know what set-up gets you in a to-do-list demolishing zone. Not everyone is sidetracked by the same situations. Identify the triggers that take you off task or get in the way of your focus. Once you know what your temptations are figure out how you can avoid or eliminate them from your work area. You are guaranteed to be more productive when distractions are removed and work is the only option.

Once you stop these productivity killers in their tracks, you will be well on your way to getting more of your checklist completed.

This article was originally sourced from Business2Community and written by Kristi Russo .

Have you ever looked at an optical illusion like the one above? (If not, you have now.) In this example, the first thing that most people see is a white vase.

However, upon closer inspection of the black areas, you notice two faces nose-to-nose. Now that you’ve seen both the vase and the faces, you can’t “un-see” either one. You can never go back to seeing a single image.

That’s the mark of an effective product, service, or strategy. Once you use it, you’re hooked on the results and can never go back.

Online member engagement falls into that category. An effective member engagement strategy gets your members participating and interacting with your association and their peers through its website, networking events, or private member community. That interaction then leads to stronger relationships that can help your association increase member satisfaction, renewals, and advocacy.

Here are three engagement tactics that every online community strategy should have to produce noticeable results. Once you try these techniques in your online community, you’ll never go back.

3 Essential Engagement Tasks to Increase Participation in Your Online Community

Task #1) Onboarding

When you have a new member, you need to do more than just welcome them to your online community by sending an email and a link. If you merely send them a short email with a link and then leave them on their own, they’ll click once and that will be the last time you see them. On the other hand, if you expand your email to introduce new members to everything your community has to offer all at once, it can be overwhelming.

So instead of creating one welcome email, develop an entire program around bringing new members into your online community. This is valuable because you want to make them feel welcome but you also want to become part of their online habit. If members get a periodic email from you, they’re more likely to remember your organization and its community. They also have more chances to take action on your emails and start engaging.

Create a drip campaign giving members fun new activities to do online each day or week. Your drip campaign can feature new members in a spotlight, interview them, or ask their opinion on something within the community. It can also point them toward blogs and discussion forums or encourage them to register for an event.

Your onboarding drip campaign can include any community activities or benefits that will appeal to new members. For higher engagement, try to personalize the campaign as much as possible. The more relevant and personalized your messages, the more likely members are to get involved.

Task #2) Empower Veteran Members

Often, veteran members who are not active in your association are busy doing their own thing. You might reach out to them with greetings and member appreciation messages, but for the most part associations don’t think about this group on a regular basis.

However, like current business customers, veteran association members can be incredibly valuable. They make excellent advocates and expert contributors, and could even be mentors for some of your newer members. All you have to do is bring their attention back to your association and online community so they start engaging again.

There are many ways you can use your online community to reach out veteran members and make them some of your most active members.

Way #1) Look for incomplete profiles

Send out emails to those who only contain skeleton information. Make sure members know that by filling out their profile completely they’ll further their personal brand and be more likely to connect with other members.

Way #2) Feature veteran members in a spotlight

Everyone wants their skills to be acknowledged, so highlight your most loyal members’ expertise in regular spotlights.

Way #3) Approach someone with a unique skillset

Ask them to post to the community about recent events or industry trends. Let them know that you place a high value on their insight.

Way #4) Remind people to update their social media links

When members’ links are updated they can stay connected and reach more people with their messages. It’s one easy way members can start building their personal brand.

Way #5) Ask for their opinion on a recent blog that relates to their job or interests

People love to share their thoughts and opinions. They’ll often feel flattered that you ask and most members will be willing to share their expertise in ways that help your association and other members.

Way #6) Create a content summary newsletter

Send the newsletter to members who haven’t logged in all month. Send it with an email that reads, “Here’s what happened while you were gone.” Provide enough content in the newsletter to spark interest but not enough that it gives away everything. Link back to your site.

Way #7) Suggest people log in to manage their communication preferences

The more personalized their preferences section, the more likely they are to get relevant, helpful information.

Way #8) Run a report on who has been absent from your community and events for the past few months

Reach out to them and encourage them to start participating again by teasing them with content on the topics they’ve engaged with in the past. Show them that they’re missing out by not participating.

Task #3) Recruit Volunteers

Your online community is the perfect place to recruit and nurture volunteers because you know community members are already interested in your association. Every time they log in and participate, they express that interest. Here are a few ideas to get more volunteers out of your private member community:

Idea #1) Post volunteer opportunities as if you’re hiring for a paid position.

That means giving potential volunteers everything they need to know to determine whether or not they’re interested in and qualified for the opportunity. Include the number of hours a month the position requires and where it would occur.

Idea #2) Add a sign-up form.

Sign-up forms are essential because your community is open all-day, every day, but your association is not. Don’t give potential volunteers a chance to change their minds before your association office opens. Get them signed up while they’re excited and follow up as soon as possible.

Idea #3) Incorporate “virtual” and microvolunteering opportunities.

It’s impossible for every member to come to your office, so create volunteer opportunities they can do from anywhere in short periods of time. Helping in your online community by moderating comments or welcoming new members is one option.

Idea #4) Tell stories about how volunteers further your association’s mission.

Your online community likely allows for public and private blogs. Use these to post about the good work your volunteers are doing. Private blogs posts can encourage recognition inside the community, and public blog posts can increase your association’s reach, highlighting how active your members are and how they’re helping to improve your industry. That type of inspiration is often infectious.

Idea #5) Showcase and celebrate your volunteers personally.

Send each volunteer an email thanking them for their hard work, then do in-depth pieces that tell your community about each volunteer. In the piece, you can thank volunteers for their efforts, but go above and beyond their work in your association. Explain how they love dogs or go mountain climbing every weekend. Personal details will help other members connect with volunteers and also shows that your association values members not just as assets, but as people.

Idea #6) Use member profiles to find people with the expertise you need.

If someone has experience in PR listed in their profile and you need help writing press releases, don’t be shy about approaching them. Most people will be flattered that you notice and appreciate their hard-earned skills. To drive this home, make sure you compliment them on their expertise as well. A verbal acknowledgement of their abilities can help volunteers feel valued and encourage them to contribute.

Engaging Members in Your Online Community Takeaway

Managing and growing an online community can seem daunting. The enormity of the task and the time it takes leads to paralysis for many organizations. However, there is a minimum you can do that will make a big difference, like the three tasks above.

Start with these three tried and tested methods to get your association members to engage. Then, break down the rest of your tasks into manageable chunks so that you’re consistently increasing member engagement and your community’s value over time.

This article was originally sourced from Socious and written by Christina Green.

Patronising and impoverished Grattan grab for attention on super objective

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) today strongly repudiated claims made by the Grattan Institute that the age pension and rent assistance would provide an adequate or acceptable retirement for Australians.

ASFA CEO Dr Martin Fahy said the Grattan Institute’s willingness to condemn hard-working Australians to a life of near poverty in retirement was patronising and represented poor public policy.

“The submission from Grattan, to the Senate Standing Economics Committee Inquiry into the Superannuation (Objective) Bill 2016, is attacking a super system internationally acknowledged as first class and one that is delivering a higher standard of living for retirees,” he said.

Dr Fahy said Grattan’s claim that annual expenditure of $43,372 for a single and $59,619* for a couple at age 65 would deliver a luxurious lifestyle suggests the think tank is out of touch with the reality of living costs in Australia.

“The ASFA comfortable standard is based on a detailed analysis of the level of spending needed to meet the realities of retirement, including: health and aged care with the associated out-of-pocket medical expenses; running a modest car; basic home maintenance; and, being able to run air conditioning in summer and heating in winter,” he said.

“The super system is working to provide more and more Australians with a comfortable retirement as the system matures. This is an excellent public policy achievement particularly when it is done at a fraction of the budgetary impost of systems in most other countries.

“ASFA projections show that those reaching a comfortable standard of living in retirement will increase from around 20 per cent now to 40 per cent of Australians by 2040, based on current settings and including the increase in Super Guarantee payments to 12 per cent.

“With increasing longevity, we want Australians to be healthier and more active in their retirement, not poorer and sicker.”

Dr Fahy said ASFA believes Australians are justifiably worried about longevity and aged and heath care costs in retirement and superannuation is a big part of the solution.

“Super makes a substantive difference to retirement incomes, including for low income earners,” he said.

Dr Fahy said Australians don’t aspire to retire on the age pension and Grattan’s aspirations fly in the face of a long tradition of a progressive improvement in living standards for successive generations.

For further information, please contact:

Teresa Mullan, Media Manager, 0451 949 300.

About ASFA

ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia's superannuation industry. It is a not-for-profit, sector-neutral, and non-party political national organisation, which aims to advance effective retirement outcomes for members of funds through research, advocacy and the development of policy and industry best practice.

This Media Release was originally sourced from Superannuation.asn.

Internet Australia, the NFP peak body representing Internet users, has called for a new parliamentary inquiry into the Data Retention Act.

Appearing on the ABC’s 730 program, CEO Laurie Patton was one of a number of commentators critical of a Government call for submissions for a radical expansion of the controversial scheme.

Under the proposal, what was initially designed for criminal investigations could be used in civil court cases.

IA wants a fresh inquiry into the entire scheme, with Mr Patton noting that he told the original inquiry by the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Intelligence and Security that the legislation was "fundamentally flawed" and had clearly been drafted by lawyers who don't understand how the Internet actually works.

"It is a mess," Patton told the ABC. "The only way out of it now is to go back to the beginning, back to the parliamentary inquiry that looked into it in the first place and get them to run the ruler over it."

IA is particularly concerned about the privacy implications if the scheme is expanded to include civil matters. “This takes us into uncharted waters when it comes to using communications technology and personal data in court cases involving private individuals and which have nothing necessarily to do with criminality”.

Noting that there is little information coming from the Government in relation to the proposed expansion of the scheme, Mr Patton told the 730 program “It’s concerning because we don’t know who’s after it and why”.

IA has long been critical of the data retention scheme, previously pointing out that the legislation was passed nearly two years ago on the grounds of an urgent need to combat terrorism. “It hasn’t even come into effect and yet the Attorney-General’s Department apparently wants to see it expanded”.

ISP’s are required to have systems in place by April 2017 to retain their customers’ metadata for a two-year period. However, IA points out that only a minority of ISP’s will be compliant and this makes the whole scheme of dubious benefit for its stated purpose of combating terrorism. The Attorney General’s Department received applications from 210 ISP‘s seeking funding to help them meet the costs of compliance, of which 180 were approved. However, industry estimates of the total number of Australian ISP’s ranges from 250 to more than 400.

“So there are potentially hundreds of ISPs not known to the Attorney General’s Department, and not all of them will necessarily be collecting and storing the metadata they are required to keep.

We really don’t know how many. It’s extraordinary that the Government didn’t ask the obvious question right upfront: how many ISP’s are we talking about?”

IA has warned that the costs of the data retention scheme will inevitably be passed onto consumers. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated the cost of compliance to the industry at $738m over the first 10 years. IA believes that this underestimates the likely total given that the figure was based on an incomplete list of ISP’s.

“Adding civil litigation to the uses of the scheme can only increase the costs borne by ISP’s in complying”.

“The government funding is already nowhere near enough. ISP’s are out of pocket and they’re unhappy. This exercise has been a disaster from the start and by the looks of it things are only going to become more controversial”.

This media release was originally sourced from Internet Australia. 

Charity op-shops and the NSW environment minister are urging the public to help prevent turning charities into a “dumping ground” for unusable goods in the wake of the Christmas period.

Each year charities in Australia receive almost 800,000 tonnes of goods, of which almost a third cannot be reused or recycled, leaving charities to foot a multi-million dollar bill for disposing the unwanted goods.

On Tuesday, Minister Mark Speakman said the Christmas and New Year period saw a peak in the number of unusable donations and he called on the public to donate responsibly.

“During the holiday season, charities see a spike in unusable donations and even some unscrupulous behaviour of people using street-side clothing bins as dumping grounds for food waste and other rubbish,” Speakman said.

“Donating unwanted goods is a great way to help those less fortunate, but as a rule of thumb if it ain’t fit for a mate, then don’t donate.”

The NSW government is working with the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO), the peak organisation representing Australia’s charities and charity op shops, to create awareness about responsible donations.

NACRO chief executive officer Kerryn Caulfield said this time of year was “heartbreaking” for the volunteers and staff who return after the break to be faced with sorting through “piles of dirty, broken household rubbish dumped amongst the donations”.

“The summer holiday season is a hard time of year for many Australian families struggling with poverty, so donations of good quality goods are needed by the charities to raise funds so they can deliver their services,” Caulfield said.

“But giving unusable or broken goods to a charity bin or op shop is not a donation – it is dumping waste and the cost of disposal of this rubbish takes away funds needed for the charities’ community programs.”

Caulfield said Australia’s charity recyclers stand to lose millions of dollars this holiday season disposing of rubbish and unusable donations.

“Our research in 2016, showed that NSW charitable recyclers spent around $7 million per year disposing of this waste: inappropriate and unusable donations, soiled, damaged and dumped items,” Caulfield said.

“That money should be going to help others.

“We hope that by educating people on how to make their donation count we can eliminate this drain on charity resources and the volunteers and staff who have the unpleasant job of dealing with the rubbish.”

NACRO has issued three tips for those wanting to make donations of secondhand goods:

• Ask yourself, would you give this item to a friend in need (ie it’s clean, undamaged, good quality).
  
• Donate direct to the op shop during operating hours or call to arrange pick-up for larger items.
  
• Put rubbish and damaged items in your rubbish bin, not a charity donation bin.
  

Anglicare operations manager for shops and factories Julie McAuley said there were a lot of ways a considered donation could assist the community.

“We are always grateful for the many people who donate generously and thoughtfully. As profits from our shops fund our community programs in Sydney and the Illawarra, their contribution not only helps the environment, but also assists our work,” McAuley said.

“A simple piece of clothing that one person may no longer need can also be loved again by others and put to good use. There are a lot of ways a considered donation can assist the community.”

The Environment Protection Authority’s Reducing Dumping on Charitable Recyclers project, part of the NSW government’s $65 million commitment to addressing illegal dumping, offers charities grants to install surveillance equipment, lighting, fencing and gates to get donors “to do the right thing”.

This article was originally sourced from Probono Australia and written by Wendy Williams.

A new report says that busyness is a common mark of social status. While we all say we’re too busy, chances are good that you and your members have five minutes to spare.

This weekend I have to move, so I’m spending a lot of time packing. I hate moving, but I’m also frugal, so I do a lot of the work myself.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted to search for help that is just a click away. A popular service called TaskRabbit tells me that I can “live smarter by outsourcing household errands.” That sounds lovely. Meanwhile, another service, called Thumbtack, offers me several reasonably priced quotes for experienced movers. Maybe, just maybe, I will break the bank this one time.

In the 21st-century service economy, time is an ultimate luxury. Not only do we say we’re too busy, but we also use being busy as a mark of social status, according to new research published last month in the Harvard Business Review. Busyness is both marketable and fashionable.

Associations are also realizing that busyness is a common response from members. You’ve probably heard these before:

I was too busy to renew.

Your message got lost in my inbox.

Can you help me find something?

These common refrains come from your “five-minute members.”

In a recent article, Alexandra Mouw, CAE, senior consultant at the web and mobile services firm Results Direct, Inc., airs grievances and explains who are five-minute members. Membership directors and managers can probably relate too.

Regardless of how you feel about them, these members are very much a growing segment in the association space. They’re known for dipping in and out of touch, but most days they can probably spare just a few minutes.

“You hear members say, ‘I’m too busy,’” Mouw says. “But what they mean is, ‘I only have a moment to spare.’”

BUST THROUGH THE BUSYNESS

It’s a tough problem. How do you engage people when attention spans are shorter and information rains down like an avalanche? It’s a question that Nora Weiser, executive director of the American Cheese Society (ACS), ponders almost daily.

“Busyness is not a badge of honor for our members. Busyness means that we need to be doing more for them,” she says. “We try to be a tool for our members to get them off the hamster wheel.”

ACS members are not your typical 9-to-5 employees. They wake up before dawn to milk the cows, and many of them are small-business owners who might have only a few seconds to check email sporadically.

“We can’t expect them to read everything, so we use technology to our advantage,” Weiser says. “We’re looking to use a year-round mobile app that will allow members to use our services directly from a mobile device.”

In addition, ACS just hired its eighth employee, a content manager. Weiser says this new staffer will create relevant membership news and information while serving as a resource librarian, connecting members to archive materials upon request.

“What good is the information if your member can’t reach it?” she says. “There’s really just a five-minute window for you to get them there.”

LESSONS LEARNED

Companies like TaskRabbit and Thumbtack thrive because they alleviate busyness quickly. In the time it takes to fill out an online form, users get names and bids from providers who can supply the help they’re looking for. Associations should be thinking about membership in a similar way. The primary benefit is saving time, Mouw says.

Start by looking at the time it takes to renew a membership. The American Cheese Society limits member renewals to just five steps. When Mouw consults with associations, she recommends making the renewal process responsive and mobile.

“I’m rarely sitting in front of my desk,” Mouw says. “My day is filled with little snippets of time that I need to fill, and I think that is increasingly the same for most people. Your member engagement should fit those moments of time.”

As a rule of thumb, assume that most of your members have just a few minutes to spare. If you need proof that these members exist, Mouw recommends looking at engagement metrics, data points like email open and click-through rates, to determine when and how members access your information. If you’re noticing high open rates on nights or weekends, or lower than normal click-through rates, then you might be dealing with a lot of five-minute members.

While it may seem easier to write off certain members as just too busy to reach, it’s better to shift your mindset. What strategies or tactics are you using to reach five-minute members? How might it impact your message and communication channels directly?

This article was originally sourced from Associations Now and written by Tim Ebner. 

A big-name daily newspaper is trying a quiet test with a group of its subscribers—and the early success exhibited by this strategy makes it an idea that anyone with a community interest should keep an eye on.

The Boston Globe, like other legacy newspapers, has a lot of problems and some major issues to solve.

But it also has an audience dedicated to its mission—the kind of long-term subscribers who both care about their community and see that the Globe’s mission is just as important as it’s portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight.

Currently, the paper is contemplating a massive reorganization of its team with an eye toward digital—which might give more resources to the types of journalism that the paper is uniquely organized to build, while moving away from the everything-to-everyone model that’s long defined them to the public. (Boston media blogger Dan Kennedy has the details on that.)

But, today, I want to focus on a very small experiment that the paper is trying that I think associations should be watching closely. It’s being done on everyone’s least-favorite social network, Facebook. And it’s proof that, by thinking differently about what you’re offering your most dedicated members, you can succeed at using established tools in new ways.

Here’s the skinny: The Globe recently decided to create a Facebook group that is only open to its paying subscribers. It’s effectively designed to turn something that a newspaper might generally focus on—public-facing distribution—into a way to nurture the community that actually really likes receiving a pile of dead trees on their stoop every morning.

Reporters have access to the group, in case one of their stories becomes a point of discussion, good or bad. In addition, circulation folks have their eye on the group in case someone doesn’t get their paper—not an insignificant issue for the Globe, which just 12 months ago had disastrous delivery problems that were bad enough to drive headlines.

SMALL BUT ENGAGED

Matt Karolian, the Globe’s director of audience engagement, says that this approach is meant to take something that has worked well for the company—that is, Facebook—and apply it in a new context.

“We’ve squeezed all the water out of the Facebook page stone — where the pages are great and can generate a ton of traffic,” Karolian told Harvard’s Nieman Lab last week. “But there’s a whole bunch of Facebook that isn’t pages, that people use extensively but publications aren’t using extensively. And there’s untapped opportunity in Facebook groups.”

So far, the group is proving itself a useful benefit for the roughly 2,000-plus subscribers that are a part of it. Despite being a much smaller network of people than the newpaper’s 500,000-strong Facebook page, the group drives twice as much conversation on an average post. While the network is moderated to prevent heavily promotional content, the approach taken by Karolian and his team is mostly hands-off.

At this point, the group’s member count also is just a tiny fraction of the people who actually receive the paper in subscription form. ( According to a piece on Bates College’s website, the newspaper stands at a circulation of 250,000 on Sundays and 150,000 on weekdays—both numbers far removed from the their peak totals in the mid-1990s.) The Globe isn’t heavily promoting the effort and letting it grow organically.

Still, a strategy like this might prove handy for keeping the current subscriber base happy.

“For publishers who have a paywall, building as much value into the paywall as possible makes a lot of sense, and so far this group appears to be something of value. We want to be able to create more of these touchpoints for readers,” Karolian added in his comments to Nieman. “If other metro dailies could go ahead and do this as well, it would help us all have a much larger dataset to understand what’s successful, what isn’t.”

BUILDING COMMUNITY THE RIGHT WAY

This approach might sound somewhat obvious to folks running a private community in an association, but I still think it’s worth analyzing, simply because they seem to be doing a good job putting the pieces together.

Putting your most passionate supporters in the same community and giving them extra TLC is the very definition of creating value—a huge challenge, especially for a newspaper.

Small steps like this one help to right the ship by bringing together the most active and interested community members in a more effective way.

And let’s be honest—comments on a newspaper article or on a Facebook page are terrible. If offering a narrower audience to its most engaged users helps raise the tenor of conversation, that’s probably a good thing for a newspaper.

Another thing I like about this is that there’s a customer-service element being brought into the group. And I don’t just mean among the circulation people. The idea that reporters are stepping in to play or offer perspective is inspired, and helps to encourage a more personal relationship with the news.

As I’ve said before, foundation is a hugely important part of building a community, because you only get to really do it once. The Globe can only do so much about the broader internet, but by focusing on the people who have the highest potential to engage certainly encourages positive trends down the line.

If there is a quibble to the strategy, it’s that the group cedes ownership to Facebook, which is, as we’ve discussed, a double-edged sword: It helps build the audience from pre-existing roots, but it comes at a cost of independence. Still, there are nonetheless many directions to take this basic idea—both in terms of technology (Slack groups, as tried at Gimlet Media, would also be a good strategy here) and in terms of narrowly focused groups themselves (free idea for the Globe: put one of these together for Red Sox fans).

Again, maybe this is obvious to your association. Maybe you’re already doing all this. But it’s good to see someone else get it right—especially in an industry as challenged as the newspaper business—because nailing the strategy is often the hardest part of the community-building process.

It’s one small, useful solution that could help The Globe solve a bigger problem.

This article was originally sourced from Associations Now and written by Ernie Smith.

AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, today welcomed the appointment of Greg Hunt as Health Minister, saying that Mr Hunt’s experience as a senior Minister in the Environment and Industry portfolios should prepare him for the demands of the Health portfolio.

Dr Gannon said that Mr Hunt, who has been in Federal politics since 2001, and who was named Best Minister in the World at the 2016 World Government Summit, faces many challenges from day one in his new job.

“The AMA would like to see Mr Hunt get off to a flying start by scrapping the Government’s freeze of Medicare patient rebates, which is causing great hardship for patients and doctors,” Dr Gannon said.

“The new Minister must also quickly get across the many reviews instigated by his predecessor, most importantly the review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the review of Private Health Insurance, which are key to the sustainability of our health system.

“The ongoing issue of public hospital funding is another priority, along with Indigenous health, mental health, and prevention.

“The AMA will meet with the Minister at the earliest opportunity to discuss the broad range of health policy issues that need urgent attention, especially in the context of the 2017 Budget in May.”

Dr Gannon also congratulates Ken Wyatt on his promotion to Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health.

This media release was originally sourced from AMA.

The Exercise Association of New Zealand (ExerciseNZ) wants people to put their mental wellbeing first when considering New Year’s resolutions and is emphasising how physical activity leads to people being happier and having a healthier state of mind.

A total of 14.3 percent of adults in New Zealand exercise for less than 30 minutes a week, yet those who exercise say they’re happier and have more energy. Research shows that sleeping well, eating healthy and exercising all relate to a better wellbeing. Physical activity can reduce depressive symptoms, stress and improve moods.

Less than half (48 percent) of New Zealand adults are physically active despite the Ministry of Health recommendation that adults should take part in moderate exercise for at least two and half hours a week. For extra health benefits the recommendation is five hours a week.

ExerciseNZ chief Richard Beddie says those who make physical activity a top goal for 2017 are likely to feel better about their health, be less stressed, have more mental clarity, be more positive and happier.

“At this holiday time of year it is important to leave the previous year’s baggage behind. As a new year approaches people naturally reflect, recharge and start planning for what comes next. When reflection of negative occurrences overpowers happy and positive thoughts, this can lead to unhealthy rumination and feelings of hopelessness and depression.

“Physical activity can have an incredibly positive influence over the state of mind and practicing mindfulness techniques in combination with exercise is a great way to keep focused on the here and now and to remove that unwanted clutter.”

Yoga is increasingly being recognised as one of the best ways to improve physical and mental wellbeing because it helps improve multiple facets of someone’s life all at once. People who practise yoga experience improved sleep patterns, have more energy and an increased focus which leads to improved general habits like eating heathier and exercising more.

“Exercise is no longer just about go hard or go home. More Kiwis are taking up yoga as a way of combining physical activity with mindfulness techniques to restore a healthy balance, de-stress and maintain an overall state of wellbeing,” Beddie says.

ExerciseNZ recommends the use of registered exercise professionals to be most successful in adopting and maintaining exercise regimes. NZ Register of Exercise Professionals: http://www.reps.org.nz/

This press release was originally sourced from Scoop. 

A NEW but familiar face will be taking over in 2017 as CEO of the Cattle Council.

Duncan Bremner prepares to take the reigns over the council after previous CEO Jed Matz spent four years in the position.

For Cattle Council president and beef producer Howard Smith, there was nothing fishy about the new appointment.

"Mr Matz has been very successful in his time as CEO,” Mr Smith said.

"He has helped lead the industry through a very prosperous period and he decided it was time to move on.”

Duncan Bremner who already has a wealth of experience in leadership positions, was an easy decision for the new appointment said Mr Smith.

"Duncan has a range of rural experience that makes him a perfect choice,” he said.

"He has worked with Animal Medicines Australia, the Australian Road Train Association and he has even been a journalist.”

However it is the political experience of Mr Bremner that will make him most integral to this position said Mr Smith.

"Over the next year, especially with the developments in the global and domestic beef industry, Mr Bremners background in politics will be important,” he said.

"Mr Bremner was first secretary to former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson and has worked with the rural based national party.”

Mr Smith said that the cattle council is hoping to move towards an all direct elected membership so more beef producers can participate in the course of the beef industry.

"To make this transition better we need a long term funding stream and the ability to communicate and participate, and with Mr Bremners contacts and experience this will be easier to achieve,” he said.

The future for the beef industry in 2017 seems somewhat unpredictable, but a new council structure and Bremners appointment are positives for the industry said Mr Smith.

"These are exciting times forth we should be optimistic,” he said.

"If we can get it right and get out of the commodity phase it'll be a bright future.”

This article was originally sourced from Chinchilla News and written by Rory Hession.