Apps | List Producer

9 Ways to be Productive on a Snow Day

February 7, 2013/2 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Relationships, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

SNOW DAY in TIMES SQUARE 2011 – Manhattan, New York City – 01/26/11 (Photo credit: asterix611)

The mention of extreme weather does a funny thing to people. It throws us into a total frenzy. No one wants to sit in a freezing home in the middle of winter. All you can think of is how much milk you have in the house and whether or not your car has gas. My office has been a buzz about the Nor’easter headed for New York City for days.

A snow day is a good excuse to do all the things you’ve been “meaning” to do but just haven’t gotten to do. If you do get snowed in — here’s my list of things you can do to be productive:

Clean out just ONE desk, junk or dresser drawer. Get to more if you can but start with just one.
Catch up on your saved DVR shows. (in your PJs)
Look up and try out a new workout on YouTube.
Start compiling all the paperwork you need to do your taxes. I recommend Evernote to keep track of it all.
Do some online shopping to cross off some birthday or holiday gifts from your to-do list.
Do research for an upcoming wedding, vacation or project.
Download the Next Issue app to browse all your favorite magazines in one spot.
Try out a new recipe. One of my favorite blogs Cooking With Books should give you some inspiration.
Begin a new book. Check Goodreads.com for fabulous recommendations from friends.

Vision Boards: You Become What You Believe

January 6, 2013/5 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

I’m not crafty but at the beginning of every year I make a vision board. It’s my one craft project for the year and it’s so much fun. Reading magazines is my guilty little pleasure and it comes in handy for this task. Over the past few weeks I’ve been ripping out pages, pictures and words that speak to me. I spent this evening gluing my favorites on a piece of poster board.

What is a Vision Board?

The idea is to have a place for all the things you’d like to accomplish, places you’d like to go and things you enjoy. Oprah talks about making vision boards because as she says, “you become what you believe.” So if you use this tool as a jumping off point for your goals you are more likely to achieve them. I use it as a reminder of my goals — like having a three bedroom apartment or going to Venice. I also put photos of people I admire, things I enjoy like drinking tea and other ambitions like writing a book. Read more

Shopping Site Saves You Time and Money

December 20, 2012/0 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Holidays, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m done with my holiday shopping and plan on enjoying Christmas music, movies and all the food, family and festivities that go along with it.

Shopping App

Over the past few months (I start shopping for the holidays in August) I’ve already cashed in on some great deals thanks to retailers like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and The Limited running amazing promotions for up to 40% off! I’ve also used some online auctions and if you want to learn more about them, check out some dealdash reviews. But not everyone wants to watch and wait for deals. Now you don’t have to! There’s a fabulous new site called Hukkster.com that will do it for you. There are so many sites similar to Hukkster that uses the impulsive buy tendency we all have, and it’s great, especially when you are shopping for holidays!

The site was started by two former J. Crew merchandisers who wanted to help people save money, clear clutter and save time. Katie Finnegan and Erica Bell just launched this site to the public but I’ve been using the beta version for a bit and I’m really loving it.

Here’s how it works:

1. Do a little online holiday shopping on your lunch break

2. Find something you love but don’t want to pay full price to purchase

3. “Hukk it” using their handy bookmarklet

4. Get an email notification when that item goes on sale

5. Save money

6. Cross another person off your holiday gift list! Read more

9 Unique and Productive Gift Ideas

December 9, 2012/0 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Holidays, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Gift giving is such a fun and rewarding activity if you do it right. Around the holidays people get so bogged down with crossing off everyone from their lists that sometimes they miss the best gifts! I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites for productivity, practicality, and fun too, but in case you are still looking for the perfect gift you should head over to giftlist and get some inspiration from their lists too. Hope this helps you put a dent in your holiday shopping.

GustBuster: If you’ve ever had a fight with an umbrella, had one turn inside out or bust through the frame during a downpour — you need to buy one of these for yourself and a friend. I’ve had my current Gustbuster for 11 years! Yep, you read that right. You can find them at most golf stores and online too. They run between $30 and $60. It’s much more productive to buy one umbrella that really works instead of going through one after another of those other ones you can get on the street. Read more

Track Packages and Spending With Slice

October 22, 2012/2 Comments/in Apps, Holidays, Increase Productivity, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Technology, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Life just got so much easier for me. I’m constantly buying things online — especially now that I’m in full on holiday shopping mode. Sometimes its hard to keep track what I’ve bought and when the deliveries will be made. I don’t have a doorman and if there is alcohol in the package then an adult has to be home to sign for it. And that isn’t always possible so either my husband or I end up stalking the UPS or FedEx truck. But no more!

I’ve discovered Slice.com. It’s the perfect away to keep on top of all your shopping and save money too. You can link it up with your email so the website and app will find all of your recent purchases and organize them for you.

Slice will tell you when the package is expected to ship, when it actually ships, where it is currently and when it’s supposed to arrive at your door. There’s even customer service numbers and return policy information attached to each order.

Your history will show all the items that you’ve purchased and categorize them for you so you can track your spending. (This is useful eventho it’s a bit scary to see where all your money actually goes.) And the coolest feature of all — you will be alerted if an item you bought went on sale and that merchant will issue a price adjustment if you ask. That alone is worth signing up for Slice.com.

It’s free to sign up on the website and the app is also free. I’ve been singing it’s praises ever since I found it. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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