Productivity Gift Guide for List Makers

gift-box

gift-box (Photo credit: premier-photo.com)

The holidays are a time for family and spending time with the people you love, but how easy is it to forget that while you’re freaking out about finding the perfect gift? Save yourself a little holiday stress this year and check out my guide to the perfect gifts for the list makers in your life.

These gifts are great because they keep on giving by getting you organized and helping make you more productive. I admit – I’ve put quite a few on my list this year!

1. Mighty Purse – Mighty Purse charges your phone in your handbag, a perfect gift for the modern girl-on-the-go who always needs to stay connected.  There’s nothing worse than being out of juice when you need to reply back to just one more email ($149)

 

2. Coin – Have you ever wanted to keep all of your credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, and membership cards on one card? You almost can! This gift won’t be available until Summer 2014, but you can pre-order now for 50% off.  The delay will almost make the gift better because your friend will get excited about how cool is it now and then all over again when it actually arrives ($55 with discount)

 

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5 Productivity Tips For Black Friday Shopping

christmas shopEven with some stores opening as early as 6 pm on Thanksgiving night, time is of the essence when it comes to Black Friday shopping if you want to score the best deals before time or inventory run out. I’ve personally given up Black Friday shopping all together in exchange for shopping early and scoring deals while still in my slippers on Cyber Monday. However you do your holiday shopping – it’s important to remember a few rules to shop smart:

1. One stop shopping. Stores like Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Target, and Walmart all carry a range of products from home goods to clothing to electronics. When you pick one store and do the bulk of your shopping there you’ll save time waiting in lines, money on multiple shipping costs, and the headache of tracking your “Black Friday Budget.” Read more

20 Apps To Beat Holiday Stress

Christmas gifts.The holidays are here!  It’s easy to Install apps so if you need an app to beat the holiday stress, it’s easy to do. But not this year! I’m still making lists, but I’ve learned to simplify my holiday season with a few great apps that do everything from finding the best deals to preparing the perfect meal for all of your guests.

If the holiday season is overwhelming you, download a few of these apps to help you stay sane:

1. Food 52: Is a vegan coming to your Thanksgiving dinner? Do you want to learn how to set a holiday table? Or brine a turkey? This app features recipes, advice, and products to teach you how to become a “smarter, better, happier cook.” It’s a great, quick reference for all things food.

2. TaskRabbit: I love this app so much! Think about all the things you could be outsourcing this holiday season: writing out holiday cards, waiting in line for the new “it” gift, shopping for all the items on your holiday grocery list…the list just goes on and on! Have someone else run your holiday errands for you!

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Fab Find: Cross Off To-Dos with HandyBook

Handybook LogoIf you’ve ever hosted Thanksgiving, you know how much has to get done before the turkey gets served. This year, many will be celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Thanksgiving as well, and that means double the prep! This is the time of year for long to-do lists, so it’s important to remember to get help to avoid getting burnt out and stay cheerful! Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Get outsourcing! Read more

Make Your Team More Productive With Asana

teamworkBeing productive is not always a lone effort. In my day job and with my interns for this blog, I frequently have to work with a team. Being productive with a team requires collaboration and good communication, but with more people involved there are more opportunities for someone to forget to “reply all.”

Recently my interns and I began using Asana, a web and mobile application, designed by Facebook employees to improve the company’s productivity. We like it because it has allowed us to send fewer emails and it never lets us busy ladies forget anything!

There are a few reasons we think you’ll love it too:

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