Tag Archive for: how to be more productive

5 Ways To Stay Productive While Sick

Woman with tissue and hot drinkWith winter cold season just beginning, it’s important to be proactive and boost your immune system with extra vitamins and get your flu shot. I got my flu shot last month but there’s always a chance that you’ll catch a bug at some point this season. Most of the time, it’s nothing a few wellness products and some concealer can’t take care of, but there have definitely been times when a cold takes me completely out of commission.

Here are a few ideas to boost your efficiency even when you’re feeling under the weather:

1. Sleep! Even when you’re not sick, it’s important to get enough sleep at night, but when you’re sick and your body needs to recover, sleep is even more important. Think it’s overrated? I was recently at an event with Arianna Huffington and she revealed that she’s crazy about maintaining her sleep schedule. She attributes a ton of her success to getting enough sleep so that she can be more focused and productive.

2. Outsource. With services like TaskRabbit and Wun-Wun, someone else can stock your medicine cabinet and pick up chicken soup for you. Simply send them your wellness list and wait, health is on its way.

3. Maintain your To-Do list. It’s always a good idea to keep a notebook next to your bed for late-night bursts of inspiration. When you’re sick, keep your to-do list bedside so you can easily add tasks you’ll need to accomplish when you’re better. This will allow you to easily prioritize these tasks and head back to work as if you had never been gone!

4. Delegate. Whether it’s your co-workers or family members, most of us have a team we “work” with every day. Delegating tasks to others allows us to stay super-productive while personally only focused on a few tasks. People understand if you lean a little more on them when you’re sick, especially if you’re someone who always makes sure to do a good job.

5. Use the buddy system. I once asked a co-worker to keep an eye on my email as well as hers when I was out sick and to call me if anything needed to be urgently addressed. I could sleep soundly knowing that not every ping of my cell phone meant I had to get up and attend to some task. Later, I was able to return the favor when she took a personal day!

Remember: the most productive thing you can do when you’re sick is focus on getting better. Take care of yourself and try a few of these tips and the rest will follow. Stay well!

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:

Read more

App Makes Life Easier and Delivers On Demand

wunWhile I love my to-do list, sometimes it gets really overwhelming to try to accomplish so much in one day. I’ve posted about limiting your to-do list before, but sometimes it just is not possible to cut your list down. That’s why I love apps where you can outsource your errands!

Unlike TaskRabbit which allows you to hire someone to assemble furniture or deliver groceries, the Wun-Wun app exclusively offers deliveries. With this app you can have anything you want delivered to you anywhere in Manhattan!

Sign up with a credit card and phone number and with a few taps one of their 200 helpers is on his way. Most deliveries are free (the app itself costs $0.99) but restaurant and coffee deliveries cost $20.

Just for fun, here is a list of ways you can use the Wun-Wun app:

1. Have someone else do your grocery shopping while you binge-watch “Breaking Bad”
2. Have wine delivered to your apartment while cooking for a dinner party
3. Have deodorant delivered while at the gym
4. Have your picnic brought to you in Central Park
5. Have medicine delivered to your door when you’re home with a cold

The best part is you never have to pay cash (or leave your couch) and the tip is included. The possibilities are endless really. Once you start outsourcing your life — you’ll find that you have much more time to do the things you really love!

wun2
Wun-Wun via The App Store $0.99

How to get “Unstuck”

You know when you have a really difficult decision to make or a project to start and you just can’t seem to get it? Procrastination can be a debilitating thing and leave you stuck for too long. I recently got turned on to a life-changing (and free!) app called “Unstuck.” This amazing iPad app is like having a life coach in the palm of your hand! It can help:

  • set goals and make plans
  • make decisions
  • get help overcoming obstacles
  • deal with major changes
  • find motivation Read more

What are we to do about Orchestra to-do app?

The app will be shutting down today at noon Pacific time.

The app will be shutting down today at noon Pacific time.

Sorry, loyal Orchestra users, the to-do app will be officially shutting down tomorrow at noon Pacific time. I know I turned many of you on to the app and now we are left in limbo.

A note from the company stated: “After tomorrow afternoon, all cloud services including sync, task delegation, access to the web app and customer support will be unavailable.”
What is a list maker to do when their favorite to-do app shuts down? Just in time to get you organized for the weekend, here’s a short list of my favorite to-do apps (in no particular order):