Tag Archive for: how to be more productive

Resist Your Inner Pack Rat and Clear Clutter

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Cluttered shed

Cluttered shed (Photo credit: UnnarYmir)

I have a confession to make. I’m somewhat of a pack rat. I like to keep things in case I need them. But I really needed to strike back this weekend. I’ve been irritated and borderline obsessed with the clutter that was living in my desk drawer at home. It was filled with lots of papers and things I didn’t need and lots and lots of power cords.

There are chargers for 4 iPhones, a Blackberry, a MacBook, an iPad Mini, an iPad keyboard case and some wireless speakers — I can’t take it! I’ve been researching ways to tame the power cords and got exhausted.

Orchestra To-Do App is Discontinued

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orchestra openingAnother to-do app is shutting down! Orchestra is joining Astrid and closing up shop.

Here’s the story

 

Despite Orchestra’s great success (ranking as the App Store’s Productivity App of the year in 2011,) the Orchestra team is changing their focus. Part of what made Orchestra a great app was its compatiblity with email — you could forward an email to Orchestra and it would turn it into a task on your to-do list. Somewhere along the way, the Orchestra team decided that they wanted to take this idea a step further and created Mailbox, an app to streamline your email.

 

4 Ways to Escape a “School’s Out” Mentality

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Summer family jump

Summer family jump (Photo credit: Evil Erin)

Summer is here and it can be hard to escape the “school’s out” mentality.  Co-workers are leaving for vacation, and the office is slowing down. The sun’s out and all anyone wants to do is head to the beach or camp out poolside. It’s easy to start counting down the days until your own vacation.

This can be tempting, but we can’t spend the whole season with our minds somewhere else — unfortunately! It’s important to keep a good balance between your work and the rest of your life, especially in the summer.
Here are 4 ways to stay focused when it matters:

5 Reasons to Say No and Get More Done

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NO!

NO! (Photo credit: guercio)

Everyone wishes they had more time — more hours in a day and more days in a year. Who would have thought that making more time for yourself could be as simple as saying “no?”  Yep — that one word will give you your life back.

It’s easy to agree to a coffee break or to see that movie your friend has been obsessed with for weeks. But its important not just to say “yes” as a default answer. Do you really want to drop whatever you’re doing to get coffee? Or just not say “no” to a friend? We all end up saying “yes” to things we don’t actually want to do.  Then you don’t get to do the things you really want to do.  Of course, there are some things that you just can’t get out of.   Read more

Congrats to Astrid: An Amazing To-Do List App

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Would you like a personal assistant to help you remember appointments and check things off your to-do list? I know of one who will work for cheap and keep you organized and make sure you hit all your deadlines. Her name is Astrid. And I’d like to offer my congratulations since the company was just sold to Yahoo.  

Who is Astrid?

Astrid is an adorable little octopus and one of my favorite to-do list apps for iPhone or Android.  If you don’t have one of those devices you can also access this productivity tool by going to Astrid.com.

Astrid will keep all of your tasks organized and remind you of what you need to do with motivational and encouraging nudges like “How about it? Ready tiger?”  You can also rename all of your lists and maintain them however you like — set reminders or not, give your tasks due dates or not. It’s up to you. Read more