Productivity

Productivity

All I had really secured was a safety net. My family would be fine whether I worked or not, but we wouldn't necessarily thrive

On TikTok, creator @olivia.unplugged called everyone out with a single post shared on Sept. 3, in which she discussed the downsides of multitasking. As an alternative to the chaos, she offered the 90-minute rule, which aims to boost your focus and productivity. "We've talked about the Pomodoro method," she said in the clip, which has over 155,000 likes. "But I raise you one: The 90-minute rule."

It is now accepted wisdom that taking regular breaks during the workday makes one more productive. How long those breaks should be, however, depends on which productivity method you are subscribed to. Recently, a University of Cambridge mental health researcher has suggested that longer breaks could, in fact, be more effective at tackling those afternoon slumps. "The most productive people work for about 52 minutes at a time and then take 17-minute breaks," Olivia Remes shared on Instagram.

Creative Ops Masterclass is part documentary, part playbook,

Google Workspace is the modern business world's de facto productivity suite, and it's only gotten better over the years. There's the centralization of Google Docs, Drive, and Gmail, of course, but Google has bolstered its productivity suite with an AI infusion via Gemini, as well as simplified its offerings to work for massive corporations all the way down to individual users.

I have no idea how to make myself do things in the consistent, reliable way that others seem to: work out, get dressed, cook a veg bowl, book appointments. On rare days, I miraculously do them all. Most others, I thumb screens, nap relentlessly and eat neon-colored snacks covered in sugar and salt. After seven years of freelance life, it's gotten dire.

It's really good to press the reset button. So, in 2023, I brought it to the team and said, "Why don't we give everyone time to test this new Thinking Week? If it doesn't work, awesome. But if it does, we'll continue it." Obviously, we have to continue to serve our customers, but internal meetings were canceled, and all non-essential, outward-facing meetings were canceled, as well.

Taking time off should mean genuinely disconnecting. But without a clear plan in place, the stress of leaving work behind can feel overwhelming. That's where an out-of-office plan template comes in. It helps you set clear expectations, delegate responsibilities, and ensure a seamless workflow, allowing you to unplug and recharge fully. This guide will explore the best out-of-office plan templates to help you enjoy a stress-free break without work creeping into your downtime.

Every manager's been there: a team member leaves, and suddenly, so does the context behind half your projects. Why was this deadline set? What's the latest on that vendor call? Where are the files they swore they shared? If your team's work lives inside people instead of shared spaces, you need to try workspace software. In this blog post, we've shortlisted 11 of the best tools to restore calm after the storm hits. ⚒️

A Gantt chart is a project management tool that helps you visualize timelines for your project at a glance. It lists the project tasks that need to be completed down the left column and dates across the top row. A bar represents the duration of each task, so you can see at once when each task will begin and end. The visual makes it easy to plan a project and set realistic delivery dates because you can assign realistic start and finish dates for tasks that are contingent on the completion of other tasks.

Tardiness is a common issue and one that is often confused with ethics or character. "You'd be on time if you cared," or, "You're so unprofessional showing up late," may be phrases we tardy folks hear, reflecting the assumption that our arrival time reflects our personal values. I'm here to challenge that notion; showing up on time, or even early, does not necessarily reflect that you are a more virtuous person, just as being late does not indicate the opposite.

I mean literal play. The kind that is open-ended, imaginative, and unconcerned with outcomes. In my decades as a play designer and educator, I've watched executives, engineers, and designers from companies like Google, Nike, and Lego light up when they are given permission to play again. Not because they suddenly "learned" to be creative-but because they remembered they already are.

AI automation engineer sounds like a vague title, so here's the job, plainly: I embed with a team (HR, in my case), spot opportunities to enhance the team's work, and build AI-powered workflows that jump on those opportunities. The goal is to create measurable improvements that free my teammates up for creativity, strategy, and connection. I think we'll be seeing this title pop up more and more as time goes on.

A well-designed Notion goals template helps you clarify your objectives, create actionable steps, and stay focused on your goals. It gives you a visual system to plan, track, and reflect. Here's what to look for in the best Notion goals templates: Clear goal hierarchy: Your Notion template should help you organize your big-picture goals into smaller, trackable tasks to define priorities and avoid confusion

Organizations that invest in continuous improvement processes are up to 80% more productive and often see noticeable efficiency gains within weeks, all from small, consistent changes that stick. The engine behind those gains? The PDCA cycle-Plan, Do, Check, Act. The concept is simple. The challenge? Applying it consistently across multiple teams and projects to meet specific needs. That's where PDCA templates come in handy. They remove the guesswork, turn big goals into repeatable workflows, and give you a roadmap to test, learn, and improve.

Not too long ago, appointment scheduling meant endless back-and-forth emails, busy phone lines, and scribbled notes on sticky pads. This system was both time-consuming and prone to a lot of confusion. Then came tools like TimeTap, which simplified the scheduling process with automation and easy online booking. For many small businesses and service providers, it replaced chaos with clarity. But as client expectations evolved, so did the need for more flexible, feature-rich solutions.

Fibery is a work management platform that integrates tasks, documents, databases, and whiteboards into a single workspace. It excels in process design and knowledge management and is designed for environments that demand adaptability. The tool works well for teams looking to streamline collaboration while maintaining workflow flexibility. Plus, the platform's flexible linking system allows users to sync tasks to notes or databases to documents, creating a more structured workspace.

Studies show that 92% of people fail to reach their long-term goals, not because they lack motivation, but because they lack a clear, actionable plan. Without the right system, goals get pushed aside, to-do lists grow out of control, and progress remains stagnant. And let's be honest: most "goal planning templates" you find online are either bland spreadsheets or overstuffed planners that create more stress than structure.

If Michael Scott's 'vision board' from 'The Office' taught us anything, it's that scribbling, 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky - Michael Scott' on a whiteboard isn't exactly a strategy. It's iconic, sure, but not the kind of plan that keeps your goals moving forward. A GPT vision board tool is the answer. Imagine if, instead of hockey quotes and improv flyers, The Office's protagonist had a board that showed real milestones, next steps, and the bigger picture.

TikTok has been abuzz with the workplace trend " task-masking "-that is, making yourself look busy so that your boss thinks you're hard at work. Cue behaviors like pounding hard on the keyboard, always keeping your status to "active," or walking around the office with your laptop and looking like you have somewhere to be when you don't. "It's all show. It's all performance," one TikTok user posted. "They could be typing a thousand words a minute, but really be typing nothing," posted another. Some argue that it's backlash against return-to-office policies: "Many of these employees, especially Gen Z, feel like their presence doesn't equal productivity," a TikTok user said. And crucially, "it's not just about laziness," wrote another, arguing the pressure to look busy "could actually be a sign of overwhelm."

ChatGPT for writing marketing copy, Claude for code, Gumloop for automating workflows: what we have now is a sprawling bouquet of tools that operate in siloes, don't have the full context of your work, and steadily stack up subscription costs. But there's another, bigger problem: The bill doesn't just come in dollars; it comes in hours. ⏰ Hours toggling between chat and your writing tool for the latest feedback; hours making a decision with only half the facts; hours of momentum lost switching between platforms.

Clear daily structure with modular blocks: Uses consistent headings for Day 1 through Day 75, toggle sections for each checklist item, and ample whitespace for different logs Customizable habit tracking that's flexible: Includes checkboxes or progress bars for each task, like water intake, two workouts, reading, and picture, allowing you to adapt tracking on the fly Embedded progress visualization: Integrates visual elements such as calendars or progress streak counters (e.g., 10/75 days done) so you can quickly assess consistency

Airport lounges can be a haven for frequent travelers, offering a quiet break from chaotic airport terminals. For remote workers, they can turn travel downtime into productive work hours. Whether you're prepping for a meeting, catching up on email, or squeezing in some focused writing before a flight, you can use an airport lounge as a mobile office. Although airport lounges can be great for work, getting tasks done sometimes takes strategy.

When your priority becomes moving forward without using more energy, consider dropping one of your criteria for the task. Drop a characteristic you think the solution must have. For example, you might believe you need to give your niece a unique gift each year, when really she would prefer $20 cash and doesn't value uniqueness. Removing the single friction point blocking your progress can ease the emotional weight of the task, often with little or acceptable sacrifice in the outcome.