16 Apps for 16 Hours of Productivity It’s crunch time at work. You have five projects all due within the next few days, your big holiday campaign is only a few weeks away, you’re monitoring Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the go and you have two co-workers out with the flu. You need to be at your best, and can use all the help you can get. In situations like these, technology is your best friend. 7 a.m. You wake up in the morning and you check your phone. Email is one of the biggest time sucks for almost every human being with a computer. 8 a.m. Traffic is brutal this morning so you decide to take public transit into work. UberConference lets you start conference calls instantly on your phone. By the time you get to work, you’ve already sat in on an important call and have a recording you can use for notes when you’re not so busy. 9 a.m. You’re a social media manager, so the first thing you do when you get to work should probably involve social media. Why choose? Be more productive with social media 10 a.m. 11 a.m.
What You Do Right Before Bed Determines How Productive and Focused You’ll Be Tomorrow I have written and talked a lot about how the right morning routine can set you up for a productive day. The same is true for nighttime rituals. The right activities before you sleep can set you up for success the next day. Courtesy of iStock/SandraKavas I used to have the worst time getting to sleep at night. I knew it was important for my health and productivity, but my mind raced long after the lights went out. As a result, I woke up groggy, grumpy, and ill-prepared for the day. Eventually, my doctor suggested Ambien. Today, I am happy to report that I sleep like a baby—without the help of Ambien or any other drug. These nine activities make up my nighttime ritual: Eliminate negative input. Without good sleep, I find myself unfocused, fatigued, less creative, less resilient, short-tempered, and unproductive. Some of these nine activities may work for you; some of them may not. If you do, you’ll probably discover you’re more rested, creative, energetic, and productive the next day.
A Formula to Stop You from Overcommitting Your Time When I dive into time coaching clients’ schedules, I consistently discover that people misdiagnose themselves as having a “productivity” problem when, in fact, their bigger issue is an overcommitment problem. When they have committed to more external projects and personal goals and obligations than they have hours for in the day, they feel the massive weight of time debt. One of my coaching clients suffered from a huge amount of false guilt until he realized he had the unrealistic expectation that he could fit 160 hours of tasks into a 40-hour workweek. Effective time investment begins with accepting the reality that time is a finite resource. The single most important factor in feeling like a time investment success or failure is whether or not your expectations of what you will accomplish align with how much time you have to invest. Time investment success (External expectations) + (Internal expectations) ≤ 24 hours — (Self-care) Time debt stress Here’s an example of this breakdown:
How Can I Fall Asleep Faster? 22 Life-changing Tips on How To Phenomenally Boost Your Productivity I’ve been testing and adjusting various productivity techniques for the past five years, read lots of books (most of them repeating) and here’s some of my findings: It’s not about time. It’s about energy. We try to squeeze as many hours in one work day, to be “productive,” but in the end everything depends less on time, and more on your focus, motivation and overall well-being (all of them linked directly with energy levels). I’ve recently talked about my productivity techniques obsessions in an internal presentation at Grapefruit, and the resulting presentation is on Slideshare: Productivity porn Some of the key findings: Decide what’s important because in 5 years, 80% of what you do today will not turn into anything. Sleep, food and exercise can help you triple your outcome, because they increase focus, motivation and energy levels. The 2-minute rule: if you can do something (like replying to an email, or a house chore) in 2 minutes, do it now. Tiny habits (Tiny Habits w/ Dr. Pomodoros.
6 Bad Behaviors That Can Steal Your Sleep Sleep specialists warn against TV in the bedroom because it interferes with nighttime relaxation. You know that drinking coffee before bedtime is asking for trouble. But you may not realize the other daily habits that could be ruining your good night's sleep. Before you run to the doctor or start popping sleeping pills, check your routine for these possible sleep stealers, suggests Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine. Computer or TV use before bed You might think it's helping you to relax, but Letterman's Top 10 List may be too stimulating for your mind to unwind. Books in the bedroom Many people jet lag themselves on the weekend. —Joyce Walsleben, PhD, Sleep Expert Reading in bed isn't always a problem, but if it doesn't ease you into sleep, you should stop. Work late into the night Avoid doing work or paying bills at night, particularly in the bedroom. How to Eliminate Bedroom Distractions
Why A Lack Of Productivity Can Lead To Bad Habits We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. – John Dryden Are you as productive as you’d like to be? Do you feel like you could do a whole lot more with your time? And how often are you getting distracted within any given day? Too much? Are you finding it hard to break the habit? I’m going to show you why a lack of productivity can lead to bad habits. 1. By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination. – Christopher Columbus Have you ever noticed when you’re not productive you’re easily distracted? And If you’re not careful you’ll become more and more distracted, until it becomes a bad habit. And once you’re stuck in the habit of being distracted (like most), it’ll be a bad habit. A bad habit that’ll destroy your ability to focus. Spend more of your time being productive, so it’s impossible to spend the majority of your time being distracted. 2. Life is not a spectator sport. Who would you rather be? 3. 4. 5. 6.
7 Habits That Will Prepare Your Body for Sleep Boosting your body temperature will help you get to sleep faster. A consistent wind-down routine every day can help you fall asleep more quickly and reliably. Try any or all of the following relaxing behaviors for a restful night. Take a hot bath Your temperature naturally dips at night, starting two hours before sleep and bottoming out at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., according to a 1997 study conducted by New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. When you soak in a hot tub, your temperature rises—and the rapid cool-down period immediately afterward relaxes you. Two hours before bed, soak in the tub for 20 or 30 minutes, recommends Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor at New York University School of Medicine. Install a dimmer switch Late in the evening, your body releases the chemical melatonin, which makes you sleepy—but only if it receives the right cues from your environment. Chill Out Before Bed
23 Pieces of Life-Changing Wisdom You Can Learn from Your Everyday Life - Buddhaimonia 9. Be considerate and compassionate with others The selfishness of humanity gets all the news, and yet my experience is mainly of something very good. - Ajahn Sumedho You live life intrinsically connected to others, the sooner you realize this the sooner you'll make your entire life (and the lives of others) easier and more enjoyable. Being considerate of others feelings, beliefs, and overall well-being isn't just being nice, it's an all-around more evolved state of mind. In your daily life, this is expressed simply through living with compassion and understanding. The way you treat others often comes back to you and expressing compassion is an altogether healthy mental activity that helps cultivate peace and happiness within you, not to mention the fact that by living in such a way you're helping make the world, of which you're a part of, a better and more peaceful place. 10. Look around you- what does your life look like? Tread carefully in your everyday life. 11. - Zen proverb 12.
What Happens When You Want to Go to Bed Early but You Actually Don’t Do It We can also have doubts about how it’s possible that these people to be so productive. I want to show you in this article the other side of the effort that these successful people make (that you can replicate too, if you want) to wake up early. Most of them get enough sleep to be well rested. Here you have the times when some of these successful people go to bed: Arianna Huffington: 10 pm.Jack D’Orsey: 10:30 pm.Tim Cook: 9:30 pm.Benjamin Franklin: 10 pm.Thomas Edison: 11 pm.Jeff Bezos: 10 pm.Ellen Degeneres: 11 pm. Every change in our sleep habits in our transition towards becoming an early riser starts with going to bed earlier. That’s the key. This is a habit that requires some effort in order to be changed; it’s not an easy one. My opinion is that it has to do a lot with the “decision fatigue”. This power decreases during the day, and it goes down even faster if we spend a day in a bad mood, we are tired or feel demotivated.
The Complete Guide to Productivity Like us on Facebook. We'll love you forever. Let’s face it. We all want more time in our lives. It could be an evening to spend more time with our family and friends, a 30-hour day to grow our business, or simply time to close our eyes and relax. If you would like to make more effective use of your time, maintain your energy levels throughout the day, and achieve your goals faster — read on. I’ve already written a few pieces on how to have more time and avoiding the 9 to 5, but this is going to be a complete guide to productivity. In this complete guide to productivity, we’ll discuss: SchedulingGoal PriortizationGetting HelpProductivity Treasure Chest This is going to be longer post so I recommend either grabbing a cup of joe or brew some tea before digging in. Scheduling Scheduling your day, week, and even month ahead of time is going to be crucial for maximizing your time and getting things done. As Peter Thiel says, “a bad plan is always better than no plan at all.” The 90 Minute Rule 2. 3.
Easy-to-Moderate Exercise Before Bedtime Promotes Deep Sleep Squeezing a workout into the daytime hours of a jam-packed weekly schedule often takes Herculean effort or is downright impossible for many people. Unfortunately, some sleep experts offer a blanket recommendation to "avoid evening exercise" without fine-tuning their prescriptive advice based on the impact various intensities of physical activity have on sleep quality and insomnia. Prohibiting evening exercise across-the-board creates a conundrum for anyone who wants to sit less and move more but doesn't have time during the day to work out. Fortunately, for anybody whose daytime schedule is too hectic to accommodate a healthy dose of physical activity, there is good news. A recent paper, "Effects of Evening Exercise on Sleep in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," offers fresh, evidence-based advice on the do's and don'ts of exercising before bedtime. article continues after advertisement Source: ETH Zurich/Jan Stutz