how to be more productive | List Producer

What’s a ‘Listicle’ Anyway?

September 11, 2014/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Fab Find, Fitness, Food, Happiness, Health, Holidays, Home, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Oprah, People, Reduce Stress, Relationships, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Technology, Tool for Success, Travel, TV/by Paula Rizzo

The word listicle, a combination of the words list and article, has officially made it onto OxfordDictionaries.com. It is defined as ‘An article on the Internet presented in the form of a numbered or bullet-pointed list.’ While it may have only recently come into common use, I’ve been writing listicles on this blog for years now. So to celebrate the new dictionary entry I’m making a listicle of my favorite listicles from ListProducer.com!

1. 10 Gluten Free Grains For Everyone – I spoke with Leslie Cerier from ‘The Organic Gourmet’ and she gave me list of grains everyone should try. This is one of my most popular lists, especially as more and more people are going gluten free. Read more

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?

Go on a ‘Fake-ation’ and Get More Done

September 4, 2014/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Books, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tool for Success, Travel/by Paula Rizzo

The week before you go on vacation is filled with excitement, tension and anxiety as you rush to get all your work done before you go. For some, that last-minute panic is the only thing that can inspire them to get completely caught up on your work. So why not use the “vacation feeling” to get more done? If you want to catch up on your back log at work just act like you’re going on vacation so you can stay laser focused.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Clean up & Close up – Make a list of everything you need to get done. Think about all the odd jobs you haven’t gotten around to finishing. If you know there’s something you’ve been putting it off, best to get it over and done with and then you really can relax over the weekend. Read more

Limit Your Options And Get More Done

July 29, 2014/1 Comment/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Food, Happiness, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

(Photo credit: maclauren70)

We often think that the more choices we have the better. That’s the whole idea behind bigger supermarkets and larger malls – more choices. But is that really what’s best for us?

For example, if you’re a bridesmaid picking your dress can be a fairly daunting task, especially if the bride has told you to wear whatever you like. You know very well that she’d be unhappy if you really did wear whatever you like so you second guess every option. But if the bride narrows it down to a specific color and designer — the choice suddenly becomes much easier.

This concept is called decision fatigue – the central premise being that the more decisions we make the less likely we are to make good decisions. Once you accept that fewer choices are better you can start being more productive and improve your judgement.

Follow the items on this list to limit your options: Read more

Be More Productive While Driving to Work

July 27, 2014/0 Comments/in Apps, Books, Increase Productivity, People, Saving Time, Technology/by Paula Rizzo

(Photo credit: neoporcupine)

In many of my post I advocate using your commute time on the train to get some of your work done. Which is great, if you live in the city like me, but I know many people who commute to work by car. I remember the days, I used to do it myself. I’d drive an hour each way back and forth to the city when I lived in the suburbs.

Here’s some ideas to get more done while you cruise:

Audio books – I love reading, but finding the time to sit down with a book can be difficult. So why not listen to one on your commute? iTunes does an audio version of most books, or you can always try a service like audible.com. You could also try an app like Umano which read out popular articles to you. Read more

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