Productivity tips

Presidential Productivity: How America's Leaders Balance Priorities to Get More Done

When you're the decision-maker for an entire nation, even a tiny mistake could alter history. That's the situation President John F. Kennedy faced in October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Top Online Communities for Entrepreneurs, Marketers, Designers and Developers

The internet is an infinite resource of knowledge, with billions of pages about every subject imaginable. But its greatest strength is connecting people to that information—and to each other.

A Project Postmortem Toolkit: Apps and Approaches that Help You Learn More from Retrospectives

In war, you need to have a reason for every action. One misstep, and you put your entire squad in danger. That's why the U.S.

Google Fonts 101: Master the Basics of Web Typography

Fonts spark extreme emotions. We may not know a font's name or even notice its use most of the time, but we know when one is wrong, and when it's just right.

Strategy First, App Second: 5 Productivity Methods, and the Apps that Make them Work

Plenty of apps promise to help you stay productive. But it's hard to maximize your energy and stay on schedule.

Make Every Word Count: How to Nail Your Next Presentation

I once rapped Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" in front of a 300-plus person audience. The occasion: I was in charge of the personal training department on our college campus, and I needed a way to introduce our program during an all-staff meeting.

Plain Language: How to Simplify Content for a Better Reader Experience

Capable. Smart.

How to Use Simple Checklists to Boost Efficiency and Reduce Mistakes

Even if you've read an alarming story about medical procedures gone wrong, you still book doctor appointments to address ailments. You go with confidence, too, trusting that your physician won't make a mistake when it comes to your case.

14 Ways to Redesign Your Day for an Optimal Work-life Balance

For many of us, the balance between work and life has become so hopelessly out of kilter that getting a handle on it seems overwhelming and nearly impossible.

How to Take Effective Notes

I used to be a prolific note-taker. I would carry a notebook with me everywhere, and record anything I thought was interesting or important.

Why We Miss Deadlines, and How to Stop

We're obsessed with planning when we'll get work done. But when we need to knuckle down and put our plans into action, we push tasks back further and further, up until the last minute—or worse, past the established deadline. It happens to us all.

Strengthen Your Willpower: How to Build Perseverance and Avoid Distractions

Raise your hand if you can start working immediately whenever you want, never get tempted by junk food, always stick to your diets and exercise routines, and never get distracted by social media or email. No? Me neither.

AFK to WFH: 75+ business terms and acronyms explained

In the age of texting entire conversations and the widening adoption of team chat apps, the list of business acronyms is constantly getting longer. (Technically, they're initialisms, but you get the point.

8 Time-Tested Task Management Methods

Always on the search for a more efficient way to work, I have a penchant for exploring and writing about productivity methods.

You Are What You Read: Why Managing Your Inputs is a Crucial Part of Productivity

We have more information at our fingertips than ever before. Scarcely an hour goes by without our phones pinging with a news alert, a traffic update, or a new post from a favorite blog about yet another way to improve your life.

Download The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work: A Free eBook from Zapier

Building, managing and working in a remote team is becoming more and more common. However, best practices are still hard to come by. For the last 43 months, Zapier has grown as an entirely distributed team.

30 Highly Shared Posts from Company Blogs in 2014

We're serious about blogging at Zapier, and we have high admiration for companies that carry the same commitment.

How to Hack Your Diet for 2, 3 or Even 10x the Productivity

You've tried tons of productivity tools, read dozens of articles on how to get more done, and maybe even came up with your own tactics based on the practices of experts.