Master your money. Get organized. Take back your time.
It’s easy for your Internet browser to be a clutter magnet that slows you down. Your browser is a mess of favorite sites and dozens of open tabs — videos to watch, articles to read, messages to which you need to respond, and more.
But, if you’re a Google Chrome user, you can transform your browser into a tool that supercharges your productivity and keeps you on task and organized. Check out these 7 incredible (and free!) Chrome extensions that are more than worth the download:
[Read more…]
Back in April, my husband and I did something rather significantly out of character. We planned a weekend trip for our family in one afternoon.
Now, when it comes to vacations, we’re usually big planners! We weigh our destination options, flip through hotel reviews, make spreadsheets of possible activities . . . it’s a job unto itself.
But, in a single afternoon, we planned from start to finish an overnight trip for our family. We booked a hotel, purchased tickets to a theme park, found some good places to eat, and more. We packed up that evening and headed out the very next day with our slightly confused but enthusiastic two-year-old.
And it was fun!
The success of our little last-minute adventure is a perfect illustration of a fascinating concept known as Parkinson’s Law.
In a 1955 essay published in The Economist, author Cyril Northcote Parkinson described what is now famously referred to as Parkinson’s Law. It states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
Take that in for a second.
Parkinson’s Law contends that the more time you have to accomplish something, the longer it will take. If we had a month to plan that spontaneous trip of ours, you bet that it would have taken us that long.
So . . . how can you use Parkinson’s Law to your advantage in becoming insanely productive? [Read more…]
If you haven’t already read it, check out Part 1 of this series!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.
Two weeks ago I shared three of my favorite kitchen tools for eating fresh, healthy foods without the hassle.
If you’ve got the right gear in your kitchen, it’s so easy to eat high-quality fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, and more without paying the huge markup that comes with the pre-prepped, bagged and boxed stuff.
So let’s dive in to three more of the best kitchen gear you can get for enjoying good-for-you foods on a budget: [Read more…]
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.
We all want to eat fresh and healthy foods. And we want to serve them to our spouses and kids too.
But eating junk is just so much easier! There’s none of the washing, prepping, slicing, cooking, and storing that you have to tackle with fresh produce, meats, cheeses, etc. Instead, you just grab and go.
And you pay a pretty penny for that convenience — not to mention the toll it takes on your health.
But what if you could enjoy fresh, healthy foods easily, conveniently, and at a great price?
Here are six of my all-time favorite kitchen tools for enjoying good-for-you foods on a budget: [Read more…]
As much as we’d like it not to be true, our time and energy are limited.
We are mere mortals with finite resources and the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else has. So staying productive and keeping sane means occasionally taking inventory of how we’re spending our time. And where we’re wasting it.
In scrutinizing your own recent activities, see if you’ve fallen victim to any of these 10 common time-suckers: [Read more…]
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.
Do you have a love-hate relationship with your calendar?
Maybe it’s a clunky thing tacked to your wall or a series of notebook pages. Maybe it’s an ugly electronic system from the stone age that your employer set up.
Your calendar is supposed to make your life easier by keeping you organized and in the right place at the right time.
If yours isn’t up to the task, it’s time to upgrade to Google Calendar. Need convincing? Here are 10 awesome ways that Google Calendar gets rid of the hassle and radically streamlines your life: [Read more…]
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.
Need a little inspiration this morning?
Having trouble getting yourself motivated?
Get on track with 5 invaluable pieces of advice from productivity gurus. [Read more…]
In the last 5 months, have you been mastering these 9 essential skills for busy people? If so, you’re now able to . . .
If you still feel too busy, focus on these five additional skills for seizing control of your time:
[Read more…]
What’s one of the best ways to waste your time?
Handling things repeatedly.
Here’s an example:
You grab the mail from your mailbox as you’re arriving home from work, and you dump it on your coffee table. Later, you open up the mail, scan it, and drop it back in the pile. Another time, you realize it’s time to pay some bills, so you sift through your pile to pull out the bills you need.
You return to the pile the next day to dig out your friend’s wedding invitation so that you can R.S.V.P. Finally, company is on its way over, so you grab everything off the table to tidy up and dust. Maybe you recycle the junk mail . . . or maybe you hide the papers under your bed until your guests leave.
(You might forget about them at that point.)
With this method of handling your family’s paperwork, here are just some of the problems you’ve inadvertently created for yourself:
So what’s the solution? [Read more…]
It’s been a few weeks since Christmas has passed.
One by one, your neighbors have taken down their lights and chucked their trees to their curb. Inside your home, the shiny glow of the holiday season has worn off, and you’re looking at your pile of presents with sober eyes.
You’ve tried on new clothes, flipped through new books, tinkered with new gadgets, and played with new toys. And — in the midst of enjoying your Christmas haul — you’ve found a few duds. Gifts that just aren’t you or don’t fit in with your life.
It’s not that you don’t love the people who gave you those gifts or the thought they’ve put into them. Maybe your friends missed the mark with your tastes, or the gifts would have been perfect for you at a different time in your life.
It’s hard to think about getting rid of any gift. Besides, isn’t that horribly rude?
No.
You’re not throwing the gift back at the giftee or telling her that it’s not what you want. You’ve offered that person a heartfelt “Thank you!” for generously giving you something that she thought you’d love. Now that gift is 100% yours, and you’ve got the freedom to manage your worldly goods how you see fit.
Need more convincing? [Read more…]