Articles tagged "Personal productivity"

How to use Slack emoji to simplify work (and cut out noise)

Slack emoji reactions, sometimes called reacjis, are fun additions to daily work communication. We use them liberally at Zapier, from celebrations and polls to getting actual work done.

Quitting is good, actually

There are so many sayings with the same basic message: quitting is bad. This idea is instilled in kids, internalized by adults, and generally just considered common sense. It's also often wrong.

There's no such thing as perfection—only tradeoffs

Why do we do all of the things we do? Because someone (hopefully us!) thinks each of those things is objectively good. And if each thing is good, then collectively, they are all…perfect? Unfortunately, the math doesn't work out that way.

How I learned to prioritize by dropping things

Most productivity advice assumes you know which tasks are most important. The problem: I think every task is the most important thing. To combat this, I just drop things—gasp!—and see what happens.

You're doing emotional labor, whether you realize it or not

Feelings are hard work—if the past year has taught me anything, it's that. And the work of managing feelings is an important part of many jobs. One of my professors used to call that "emotional labor." 

You should absolutely wave at the end of video calls

It's been brought to my attention that some people think you shouldn't wave at the end of video calls. Those people are incorrect. 

Why you should use Google Sheets as your browser homepage

In the before-times, when I shared an office with other people, I used to be jealous of the "new tab" screens and plugins that my coworkers had. Every time they opened a new window, there'd be a calendar, a to-do list, or a picture of their cat/dog/turtle.

3 sneaky ways to avoid leaving your camera on during meetings

Sometimes you don't want to be on camera but your boss wants you to be on camera. You could deal with this like an adult, or you could use some silly tricks compiled by a random blogger. 

How to incorporate mindfulness into your small business

If mindfulness practice can create feelings of hope and optimism in the direst situations, it can also influence the things we do every day—both at home and at work.

How the Fogg Behavior Model can help entrepreneurs be more effective

As an entrepreneur, you're often working alone, building something new and unique. Without lots of people to reflect back on you, it can be hard to understand your own behaviors and hone them for increased productivity.