Are You Addicted to Productivity? | Life Hack

October 19, 2021October 17, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

“It’s great to be productive. It really is. But sometimes, we chase productivity so much that it makes us, well, unproductive. It’s easy to read a lot about how to be more productive, but don’t forget that you have to make that time up.”

Matt Cutts wrote that back in 2013

Like so many other people, I’ve also fallen into this trap. For years I’ve been on the lookout for trends and hacks that will help me work faster and more efficiently — and also trends that help me help others to be faster. I’ve experimented with various strategies and tools. And, while some of these strategies and solutions have been extremely useful — without parsing out what you need quickly — it’s counterproductive.

Why You Need To Take A Break From Work For Good Productivity | Life Hack

March 15, 2021March 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday was one of those days. I sat at my laptop screen with a to-do list the size of a small country and I just typed. I typed for two or three hours and by the time I was done with all the typing, I had made literally no progress.

Between second-guessing myself, deciding I didn’t like what I’d done, changing my mind, and just losing focus, I essentially wasted a good couple of hours sitting at a computer and “working” but actually getting no work done.

I got up, turned the computer off, and went for a walk. It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Walking away when you’ve got a long list of deadlines and time won’t do you the courtesy of just slowing down while you get back in the game. But I needed it. Then I came back to my computer a couple of hours later and ticked the two highest priority items off that list in less time than I’d spent to achieve nothing earlier on in the day.

How to Focus on Goals and Get Rid of Distractions | Life Hack

December 17, 2020December 16, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever had one of those days where you’re sitting at a screen trying to just tick something off your to do list and finding yourself completely unable to just focus on the task at hand? Maybe you’re on Facebook or falling down the rabbit hole of news, social media, and the countless other distractions the Internet presents instead of trying to focus on goals for the day.

You’re not alone. More than 84% of us are plagued by procrastination at least sometimes[1]. For me, procrastination is the leading reason I used to so frequently get to the end of the week without having achieved what I wanted to. That ultimately meant putting in more hours on the weekends and evenings when I’d rather be spending time with my family or working out and investing in my physical and mental health.

That was the core motivator for me investing two years in experimenting with different tools and tactics to improve my focus.

Getting in Your Zone: 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Prime Their Mind and Body for Optimal Productivity | Entrepreneur

December 9, 2020December 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As entrepreneurs, we don’t get to punch our time cards at 5:00 p.m. sharp. In reality, we are always on the clock thinking about our next pitch, marketing plan, or capital raise, sometimes during the most inopportune times. It’s time to start realizing the value that lies within taking care of ourselves, or dare I say – even taking a break. A break does not have to mean a long vacation. Small adjustments throughout our day can let us recalibrate and make sure that we take care of ourselves before trying to build the next great business. These vital self-care routines have been proven to help elevate the performance and mental health of all kinds of people from entrepreneurs to athletes.

1. Get some rest

Ironic, I know. How can more rest make me more productive? #TeamNoSleep! As we go through school, we get into some habits that don’t carry over into the real world. “All-nighters” during finals week seem to be a normal thing, as we stay up until the wee hours cramming those last few slides just in case it can grab us a few extra points. Entrepreneurship is a very different world. Our test questions come in the form of presentations, conversations, negotiations, and so much more. If your mental clarity is not where it needs to be, the opportunity is as good as gone. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults should get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep every night. That might sound crazy, but you will definitely feel the difference after a good night’s rest. Don’t be afraid to experiment with some products that may help you get that sound sleep faster, like chamomile tea, melatonin, or even CBD. Focus on your rest, re-energizing, and mental clarity — your body (and performance!) will thank you.

Boost your productivity with a second screen that attaches to your laptop | New Atlas

June 1, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Working with two screens can save you precious resources, like time and money. If you have two monitors at your place of work, but can’t access them for the time being, then your productivity may be stunted. Rather than pick up a desktop monitor that takes up a lot of space, it’s better to get a more versatile tech solution that lets you work productively anywhere. The Mobile Pixels DUEX Pro Portable Dual Monitor gives your laptop a second screen.

Can Procrastination Actually Be Good for Your Productivity? | AllBusiness.com

May 4, 2020May 3, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Everybody procrastinates from time to time, and most of us are always trying to find ways to procrastinate less. Procrastination is, for the most part, an inherently unproductive action. The basic idea is to avoid or delay a task, usually an unpleasant one, which hurts you in two main ways:

You compromise your ability to complete the task.

In some cases, the task gets harder to complete when you procrastinate; for example, you may have fewer options if you wait longer to complete the task, or you may have less time and fewer resources to work with.

3 Time-Management Myths You Should Stop Believing | Life Hack

April 3, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Time management has become something of a cultural obsession, and like any cultural phenomenon, it’s surrounded by some myths — including around the term’s true meaning.

What we really mean by time management is our ability to plan and control the time we have in order to efficiently accomplish our goals. It’s about balancing our tasks with the amount of time we have to get them done.

The last thing time management means is productivity for the sake of productivity. Unfortunately, the endless number of apps that promise to boost our productivity only reinforce that notion.

10 Practical Ways Less Is More | Life Hack

January 16, 2020January 15, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

One productivity issue I come across more frequently than other is a belief that doing more work is good and doing less is bad. However, the reality is a bit more complex than judging effectiveness based on the amount of work a person or organization produces.

In a factory setting, it is a good thing if you can increase the number of units produced while at the same time either reducing costs or, at the very least, not increasing costs. The less is more principle at work — less input to produce more output.

And we can create the same idea for our productivity. Leveraging our skills, know-how and creativity to produce excellent volumes of work by inputting less and producing more.

So, here are 10 ways less is more

How to Take Advantage of the 80 20 Rule to Succeed in Life | life Hack

December 5, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The world of productivity has several hacks or tricks to help you manage your time. The amount of time management tactics to productivity strategies out there is both amazing and overwhelming.

Of course, to make matters harder for people, a lot of these methods have been tried by various people who have stood by them… To-do list systems, the Pomodoro Technique, Parkinson’s Law…

All of these strategies are great strategies in their own way, but one strategy stands above all else: The 80 20 rule. Out of the many, this particular strategy has been used the most and is regarded as the most helpful in developing time management and other concepts in life.

But what’s so special about this rule? How does it give you success and how do you use it? Let’s explore the specifics.

9 Tips on Multitasking Management That Will Improve Your Productivity | Life Hack

January 11, 2019January 10, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When you’re hungry to grow, expand and drink deeply of life, you want to be as productive as possible. And with so many choices of how to drink deeply of life, we can add a lot to our plate. Enter multitasking management that will improve your productivity.

It starts, innocently enough, with inspired action and a will to accomplish, build and fulfill what’s in our heart or mind to create. But if we’re not careful, it quickly turns into being buried in work and delayed outcomes rather than the productivity we thought we were creating.