“To err is human,” wrote Alexander Pope, but he could have just as easily written, “To communicate is human.” From pictograms carved into stone to the latest chat apps, humans are always finding better ways to communicate. It’s no surprise AIM and MSN Messenger were some of the internet...
Bad news: We’re biologically hardwired to procrastinate. Research shows we possess a limited amount of willpower that drains throughout the day, regardless of what we do. Stay on task for a full workweek and you might find yourself putting off your taxes until April 14. You simply won't...
You're in your browser constantly. So why not make your browser as productive as possible?
Google Chrome offers tens of thousands of extensions. Some are just plain fun (your own personal motivational Shia LaBeouf? A filter that hides all mention of the Kardashians?). Others are like booster packs for...
I’m a not-so-secret spreadsheets nerd. I’m even in a sort of Spreadsheets Interest Group. The number of passionate people there tells me we’ve all relied on a good old spreadsheet at some point in our careers.
Even in this realm, Google Sheets are something of a superhero...
It happens every day—you're in the middle of working on something but get distracted by a notification. Perhaps you got an email from a friend telling you to read this interesting article. Maybe you checked a favorite blog and see a post that catches your attention, or stumbled...
Imagine how much you’d accomplish in one day if not for annoying tasks like buying food. What if you could invest in a software class instead of paying for daycare or your student loans, or if you had more than 3 paid holidays a year?
From ping pong to...
As a college student, you balance classes, homework, extra curricular activities, job applications, internships, and (if you're lucky) a few side projects. It's like a four-year master class in time management.
At least that's my experience: I'm finishing up a major in philosophy at Carnegie Mellon...
Microsoft OneNote is a fantastic, versatile note-taking tool. One of its best features–at least if you're using the Windows version–is page templates. With OneNote templates, you can have a consistent look for all the pages in your notebooks, and can easily replicate notes for things like meeting notes and...
Important people are busy, so anyone who's very busy must be very important, right?
Not necessarily. Our core focus should be on doing the most important work, then spending plenty of time resting away from work so we're ready to be creative again tomorrow. Rushing between tasks seldom...
Conventional wisdom says that our boldest, most groundbreaking ideas come in crunch time. After all, who didn’t crank out full papers in college the night before they were due?
Turns out that the emotional stress created by time pressure actually prevents us—and our brains—from generating novel ideas...