Articles tagged "Personal productivity"

When to automate a one-time task

Usually, we talk about automation as a way to create systems and processes that run themselves. But you can also use automation to save time on large, one-off projects.

You're not who you were before—and that's ok

It is entirely ok to not hold yourself to standards you set for yourself when you had more energy, less stress, and less overall mess occurring around you. It is ok to set the bar lower. You're not a low performer for it.

Use the good days to set yourself up for the bad ones

Since we're all going to be wildly fluctuating on the good/in-between/bad spectrum for the foreseeable future, we might as well plan around it.

Why you should build LEGO sets at work

It might seem odd, building Lego sets in your office. But digital jobs don't give you a lot of physical indication that you're making progress. LEGO sets do.

Try highlighting your completed tasks instead of crossing them off

Recently, Keren Kinberg, a frontend engineer here at Zapier, discovered a simple way to make her paper task list more effective: highlighting completed tasks instead of crossing them out.

Managers: Never just text your reports the word "hi"

If my manager ever texts me "hi", "hello", or "hey" without any further context, I will assume that I'm fired. It's the only logical conclusion. The same goes for "are you around?", "let me know when you get in," and "can we talk?"

Stop doomscrolling: 6 better ways to spend a 15-minute break on your phone

We don't need to hide our phones during a break. We just need mobile break options that improve our state of mind—not bring us down. With a lot of personal trial and error, I've found six different (and better) ways to use my phone on a break.

How to turn off Google's Smart Compose feature

Predictive text has precisely one acceptable use: generating unhinged gibberish for text messages to disturb your friends.    This is wonderful and makes the world a better place. In Gmail and Google Docs, though, predictive text is distracting. 

The 3 game-changing lessons I learned from my business coach

The day after my first session with my business coach, he fell 30 feet in a freak rock-climbing accident, breaking three vertebrae in his spine, two ribs, his left ankle, and his right shoulder—as well as suffering a concussion. He was lucky to be alive.

Lead your remote team like a magician by conquering these 5 cognitive biases

To lead in a remote environment, you have to understand your own cognitive biases, the shortcuts your mind takes to manage the overwhelming amount of information you navigate every day.