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Boost Your Productivity in Just 15 Minutes

September 7, 2014/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Food, Health, Home, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

We’ve all been there, working on a difficult project where everything seems to take so much longer. Or a Monday morning when our minds are just moving a little slower. What you really need is something to help kick start your energy.

Here are some quick things you can do in 15 minutes or less to make you more productive and help you get motivated:

10-Minute Yoga – Exercise is a great way to stay healthy, reduce anxiety and elevate your happy hormones.

Listen to Music – According to a recent study listening to music for 15 minutes can not only helps to improve your mood, but it also increases your creative problem solving abilities and task performance. So next time you need to brainstorm ideas – plug in your headphones and put on some of your favorite tunes!

Add a plant to your desk – Plants can help to liven up an otherwise dull office, and studies show that productivity can increase by up to 15% when plants are introduced into the workplace. This is most likely due to the perception of improved well-being. As well as the calming effect that plants and greenery naturally have on humans.

Go for a Walk – Like yoga, walking can help to boost creativity and mood, but an article in The New Yorker claims it goes beyond that. Writing and walking use similar parts of our brain. When we walk, we are surveying the world around us and constructing a mental map. This mental exercise can help us to organize our thoughts and come up with a plan of action.

Sniff a Lemon – It’s true — Scent Psychology finds the scent of lemon sends your concentration and energy skyrocketing. It can also calm you down without making you less alert. So start using all those senses to get stuff done.

What are some of your quick tips for boosting productivity?

5 Tricks For an Easier Morning

September 2, 2014/1 Comment/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Home, Increase Productivity, Reduce Stress, Technology/by Paula Rizzo

I believe that there’s a lot of truth to the saying “The early bird always catches the worm.” Every morning I wake up at 6:05am, hours before I need to be at work. It’s gives me a chance to relax, do yoga, read the newspaper, check email and eat breakfast before work so I feel accomplished before even getting to the office.

However, I know waking up early isn’t easy, and it’s very tempting to lay in bed until the last minute. So I’ve got some tips for you on how to get up early and get more done.

1. Try an alarm clock app – There’s an app called Walk Up that makes you walk a certain number of steps before the alarm will shut off. It can’t be fooled either — so you better get up and take those steps! FreakyAlarm will make you take photos of specific objects or even do mind-testing exercises before it will shut off it’s annoying alarm sounds. Talk about hitting the ground running! Read more

Checklist to Overcome the End of Summer Blues

August 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Children, Food, Happiness, Holidays, Home, People, Reduce Stress, Travel/by Paula Rizzo

As the summer draws to a close the cooling temperatures and waining sunlight can leave us feeling down. But it’s not over yet, there’s a chance for you to extend your summer experience and keep the good feelings going through into the fall.

Eat Summer Foods – While most summer foods are actually available all year round, they are undoubtably at their peak right now. So indulge in some tomatoes or strawberries while their still in season. Read more

Cameron Diaz’s Shopping List Tips

August 22, 2014/0 Comments/in Fellow List Producers, Fitness, Food, Health, Home, List Making, Shopping/by Paula Rizzo

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A friend recently informed me that in her new book, “The Body Book“, Cameron Diaz mentions how important shopping lists are to her health. She even included a few tips for when you sit down to make your own shopping list for the week:

1. How active will you be this week? Cameron believes it is important to design your nutrition around your body’s needs. For example, if you plan on hitting the gym five days that week then you need to plan meals to support that higher level of activity. Read more

Checklist for Bringing the Suburbs to the City

July 10, 2014/0 Comments/in Decorating, Food, Holidays, Home, Movies, Saving Money/by Paula Rizzo

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I grew up in the suburbs so moving to the city was a bit of a culture shock for me. It’s always a bit of worry when you’re moving to a completely different town or city. You have no idea what to expect.

Grow your own vegetables – My dad has a garden that is his pride and joy in the summer time. He grows tomatoes, kale, basil, peppers, zucchini and lots of other veggies. So going outside to grab an eggplant or a squash was super easy growing up. But now in the city it’s a bit more challenging to grow a garden.

Host a garden party on your fire escape – Okay, so it won’t be your typical garden party with gazebos and fancy hats – but it is possible to bring a relaxed, outdoor vibe to a fire escape or roof deck near you.

Sign up for a farm share – To get that home grown feel in the city, why not join a CSA. Farm shares work with family farms to deliver organic and naturally-grown produce from a small local farm directly to your door. The shares allow you to become a “member” of the farm for a season. It’s great because as the harvest changes you get to discover plenty of new tastes and foods.

Watch an outdoor movie – You can’t get much more suburban the laying in the grass, stargazing and watching a movie with friends. Now you can experience this in the city too. Bryant Park runs a summer film festival every year showing all of your favorite classics.

How do you bring the suburbs into your life?