focus
Work
Zoning Out Is A “Crucial” Mental State, Studies Say
7:00AM Azadeh Ensha | We’ve offered tips ranging from using unplugged earphones to motivational wallpaper in an effort to help you stay better focused, but now studies suggest that it’s also “crucial” to let your mind zone out. More »
Work
Singletasking Is The New Multitasking?
9:00AM Azadeh Ensha | While multitasking is invariably useful, excessive multitasking can make it difficult to get things done (as we’ve previously noted). Productivity weblog WebWorkerDaily suggests now may be the time to adopt a singletask approach. More »
Work
Focus Faster By Preparing Your Next Task Before Taking A Break
5:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Avoid losing steam and wasting time getting back into your workflow with this simple trick. More »
Bruce Lee on “Hacking the Inessential”
7:05AM Kevin Purdy | Martial arts master Bruce Lee was obviously a man who could accomplish lofty self-set goals, and the Little Dragon’s principles of effort and work can apply to those cranking widgets rather than besting Chuck Norris. The Positivity Blog highlights some of his writings and teachings and how they apply to everyday work, including these simple concepts: “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” As the post author points out, that applies to both de-cluttering your work routines and space, as well as over-thinking problems to procrastinate them. If nothing else, Lee’s advice serves as more, uh, intimidating credos to keep posted near your desk. Photo by SqueezyBoy. Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape [The Positivity Blog via 43 Folders] More »Quickly Focus on Your Active Window with MinimOther
1:00PM Adam Pash | Windows only: Free, open source application MinimOther takes an aggressive approach to distraction by automatically minimising every window except the currently active window to give you a clutter-free workspace that allows you to focus on the task at hand. As soon as you activate one window, the last active window will minimize, so essentially MinimOther is endlessly minimizing every window but one active window. Granted, one of the great things about the personal computer is its impressive ability to multi-task, but if you ever need to get really serious about focusing on one app at a time, MinimOther might be worth a go. MinimOther is free, Windows only. MinimOther [Donation Coder via Shell Extension City] More »
Get Productive to Groove Salad
1:00PM Gina Trapani | Just in time for finals week, the HackCollege blog recommends studying to a continuous ambient music stream from SomaFM called Groove Salad. If you can’t stand the drop-dead silence of the library but also can’t concentrate with lyrics, ambient music’s the ticket. Groove Salad, “a nicely chilled plate of ambient beats and grooves,” will stream directly to your music player for free. Been tapping keys to it myself as I rewrite the Lifehacker book. Here are more good study music suggestions from readers. Groove Salad[SomaFM via HackCollege] More »
