{"id":2536,"date":"2016-10-16T12:35:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T12:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/jannah\/?page_id=2536"},"modified":"2017-03-15T09:04:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T09:04:03","slug":"7-productivity-hacks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/7-productivity-hacks\/","title":{"rendered":"7\u00a0Productivity Hacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

These productivity techniques will keep you on track and happy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

1. Ignore the\u00a0News<\/h3>\n

As I lengthily discussed in an earlier article about productivity, the news can be a tremendous time sink. The idea that we need to keep up to date on the news is largely outdated. Most of what passes as news today is prettily packaged garbage\u200a\u2014\u200ait\u2019s trivial, depressing, and unreliable. If something major happens, you\u2019ll find out one way or another. Instead, focus your attention on what\u2019s useful and actionable in your life.<\/p>\n

2. Exercise in the\u00a0Morning<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s been shown that exercising in the morning can greatly improve your productivity. Exercise energizes rather than exhausts you, contrary to what the couch potatoes might tell you. (Not that I\u2019m judging. I can be very spud-tacular myself at times.)<\/p>\n

Exercising also promotes good health (quick, alert the press!), and some studies have shown that exercise can improve your mood for up to 12 hours following your workout. Less stress, more efficiency\u200a\u2014\u200ait\u2019s definitely worth setting that alarm 30 minutes earlier.<\/p>\n

3. Drink\u00a0Water<\/h3>\n

Most of us don\u2019t drink nearly as much water as we should. Our bodies thrive on water\u200a\u2014\u200ajust like the rest of the world! Drinking more water gives you more energy, keeps you healthy, and gives you an excuse to get up for bathroom breaks so you\u2019re not stuck in a chair all day (which is horrifically unhealthy too, so you\u2019re killing two birds with one water bottle).<\/p>\n

\u00a04. Don\u2019t Be Afraid to Say\u00a0No<\/h3>\n

This one is a pretty standard productivity tip, but it makes the rounds for a reason\u200a\u2014\u200awhen you\u2019re too eager to please, you often end up getting in over your head. Remember, it\u2019s not simply a matter of being agreeable\u200a\u2014\u200awhen you take on too much, all your work suffers. You may end up missing deadlines, and despite good intentions, you could end up disappointing others when you are unable to meet the extraordinary expectations you\u2019ve created for yourself.Sometimes you just have to say no, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n

5. Make the Most of Lost\u00a0Hours<\/h3>\n

Depending on your commute, you may spend hours driving to and from work in your car. Those hours don\u2019t have to be wasted\u200a\u2014\u200aconsider scheduling calls in the morning that you can take during your drive to work. Subscribe to popular industry podcasts and listen to them on the way home. Stuck waiting at the boarding gate before a flight? Catch up on industry news and articles.Make the most of those previously wasted hours.<\/p>\n

6. Down With To-Dos, In With Scheduling<\/h3>\n

Have you ever had that to-do item that simply wouldn\u2019t disappear? It hovers at the bottom of the list or scratched in the corner, petulantly scowling at you for days, weeks, even months! As more time passes, you feel even less inclined to give it attention.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all been there\u200a\u2014\u200ait\u2019s just one of the reasons I\u2019m saying out with the to-do list and in with scheduling. As Eric Barker, a writer for The Week<\/em> notes in the article \u201cHow to Be the Most Productive Person in Your Office\u200a\u2014\u200aand Still Get Home by 5:30,\u201d scheduling requires you to be realistic about what you can get done. It makes you seriously sit down and consider your available time and what specific slots you can designate to completing certain tasks in a given day.<\/p>\n

To-dos are pipe dreams. Scheduling is a game plan. Studies show that even scheduling free time can be rewarding and can result in better quality of time spent\u200a\u2014\u200aeven if that time spent is playing PS4 or reading a Stephen King novel.<\/p>\n

7. Equip Yourself With an Arsenal ofProductivity Tools<\/h3>\n

Staying on task can be tough, but there are tons of great tools available to help you out. Don\u2019t ignore these handy helpers\u200a\u2014\u200awhen someone offers you an ax in the zombie apocalypse, you take it, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

For tracking your time management, try Toggl or Yast.<\/p>\n

Are you a savvy social manager? Go with Hootsuite, which offers a central dashboard for managing all your social media accounts. Also considerBuffer, which makes it super easy to share found articles across various social sites.<\/p>\n

For saving articles to read at your leisure, go with Feedly, Pocket, orEvernote. These apps are compatible across devices; you can earmark a blog post on your laptop and read it later on the train via smartphone.<\/p>\n

Sick of forgetting passwords (then resetting them, getting an email, and choosing a new password, which you\u2019ll forget again next time)? TryLastPass, which keeps tabs and secures all your various passwords for you. If you use numerous accounts in one day (and who doesn\u2019t?), this one can be a serious timesaver.<\/p>\n

There are plenty more tools out there, so always keep your eye out for new productivity pals to help you in your workday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These productivity techniques will keep you on track and happy. 1. Ignore the\u00a0News As I lengthily discussed in an earlier article about productivity, the news can be a tremendous time sink. The idea that we need to keep up to date on the news is largely outdated. Most of what passes as news today is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2536","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannah.tielabs.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}