Work smarter not harder!
Tips, tricks and integrations to help you achieve more by doing less.
Welcome to another edition of ProductiveGrowth🌱, weekly stories about productivity, leadership, motivation, and anything else that helps us and our teams grow and be more productive. Plus, industry news on the companies, products, and services that allow us to work less and do more.
TL;DR
Happy Sunday!
Sometimes, we let others manage our days. We let everyone add tasks to our to-do list as if we didn’t have enough work on our plates already. But that behavior needs to end now.
We tend to confuse being busy with being productive. The larger our to-do list, the better employees we think we are. That’s a mistaken belief.
Rather, productivity is about gaining control of the decisions you make, the apps you use, and the time you spend on each task. It means tackling priorities in a smarter and more effective way.
In each of today’s articles, you’ll be able to learn a new tip, trick, or hack that will make you achieve more by doing less.
Hope you enjoy,
Steve.
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EDITOR’S PICKS
📆 Connecting To-Doist to your Google Calendar
“If you can't find 10 minutes at the end of the day to do the planning for the next day, something is seriously wrong,” shares productivity and time management coach Carl Pullein. In this video, Pullein shows how to sync To-Doist tasks with Google Calendar.
I’ve noticed that even when I use project trackers, kanban decks, or any other trendy productivity apps, the only thing that helps me remember an important activity is a reminder on my calendar.
📚 Have we been reading books the wrong way?
We are. Or at least Tiago Forte, productivity expert was. “In 2016, I read 57 books... by the end of the year, I could scarcely recall even one useful idea from each book,” said Forte. Reading this was like holding a mirror. I’ve read hundreds of books and hardly remember 10 that I constantly quote. He explains the best way to actually remember what he’s read is by summarizing the book in a blog post after reading. You don’t even need to share it, but reading with the plan to write a summary will change the way you approach a book. “The moment I decide to summarize a book, it’s as if my vision suddenly sharpens.” I cannot wait to try this method. Read all about his learning in this article.
🥫 Some things are better in a can (like Gmail canned responses)!
Have you ever wondered how much time you spend answering your email? You’ll be surprised once you add up the minutes, especially when you notice you’re constantly getting the same requests over and over. The repetitive behavior of replying to these emails drains productivity. Instead, take back control. One way to do so is by creating templates in Gmail and using them to reply to different emails with the same question. You’ll find a tutorial on how to do it in this article from Growth Quarters.
🖐🏻 Saying “no” will save you time
You might be a people pleaser if you struggle with setting boundaries or saying “no” when asked to do something you don’t have time for or simply don’t want to do. Saying “yes” just to avoid confrontation or anxiety is the worst kind of agreement. It causes resentment and will make you feel trapped and even more anxious. This story from NPR’s Life Kit podcast shares five tips to get over your fear of saying “no,” and will free you of those undesired and unnecessary yesses you’ve been giving out of pressure.
1 Quote
“Power of productivity is not in working but in relaxing.” - Talees Rizvi
1 Question
Are you in control of your life?
DISCOVER
Most online to-do list software is based on the Japanese Kanban organization method. Kanbani is no exception. This app allows you to create decks and cards with all your ‘Doing’ ‘Pending’ and ‘Done’ tasks. It’s also encrypted, and it’s completely free. Read the full review here.
IN THE KNOW
Industry news on the companies, products, and services that allow us to work less and do more.
Sales, IPOs, Bankruptcies, Funding and Industry Gossip
The renowned breathing, meditation, and sleeping app, Calm, doubled its valuation to $2 billion. Lightspeed Venture Partners, TPG, and Insight Partners are the main funders.
WorkRamp is a platform that offers solutions for remote training and learning in corporations. They just secured $17 million in a Series B round of funding.
OfficeTogether - a software that allows employees to plan their time in the office, see if it has the capacity, and has an automated COVID symptoms questionnaire - just raised $2.2 million in seed funding.
Releases
Looking to improve the WFH experience, CISCO announced new features on their video conferencing platform, Webex. These features include noise cancellation; transcription; in-meeting gestures, and more.
Job Opportunities
Dynamic Signal - San Bruno, US - Software Architect
Monday - Miami, US - Customer Experience Advocate
Peakon - Copenhagen, Denmark - Product Manager
Events
Dec 16th (virtual) - Workshop Your Goals for 2021 by Coach Margo Crawford and Groundwork
Dec 17th (virtual) - Top Productivity Tools and Apps for Working Remote by Gregory Parham
Dec 17th (virtual) - Productivity Thursdays: Resource Management & Time Tracking by Marque360, Microsoft Partner PPM and Power Platform Partner
Dec 24th-25th (Vienna, AT) - International Conference on Leadership and Management by World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
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Edited by: Lauren Maslen.
