Tips, Tricks, and Tools for Actually Doing Professional Development

Published: Aug. 14, 2018, 1 p.m.

As I write this, we’re exactly one day after the wrap of IMPACT Live 2018.

It’s been a crazy couple days and I honestly feel like I could sleep for 48 hours and still be tired.

However, one of my favorite parts of IMPACT Live is that I basically have no choice but to unplug from work and actually focus on some professional development (PD).

One of the great things about our culture at IMPACT is we are encouraged to work on our own professional development, especially through events.

To be frank, IMPACT Live is a big investment for our company.

It's all hands on deck and we all have assigned roles, but we're also there to learn and absorb as much as possible.

I was able to sit in on most sessions and I not only felt like I was learning, but like I was recharging my passion-o-meter.

One of my favorites was on Sonic Branding with David Meerman Scott and Juanito Pascual, which basically is how music can serve your brand. (How cool is that?!)

This all was a welcome intervention for me, because I am actually REALLY bad at doing professional development on my own.

It's not for a lack of desire or passion; I’ve got lists of articles, books, online courses, and even a Google calendar reminder recurring DAILY to get me going, but when push comes to shove, the first thing to get pushed in a client crunch is this time I’ve set aside.

This week’s episode is going to be a little bit of the blind leading the blind, but Justine typically has it all figured out so, I’m hoping she can magically fix all my problems here.

How do you make time for professional development? What tools do you use to help you? Let us know in the comments!