Weekly Round-Up #147: Taking Breaks, Better Handwriting And A Good Night’s Sleep
In this week’s round-up we take a look at why it’s so important to take breaks at work, how a few simple tweaks can improve your sleep and some guides on how to improve your handwriting.
Welcome to this week’s round-up, I hope you’ve had a productive week.
In the week’s round-up we look at why you should take breaks at work, how to tame your handwriting and what could be stopping you getting a good night’s sleep.
Top 20 Websites Teaching You How To Be More Productive Influenced Digest
Whilst I’m not on this list (sob!) the article gives you some websites you may not have heard of before and covers pretty much every aspect of Productivity (don’t forget to check out my 100+ productivity blogs list if you’re looking for even more productivity inspiration.
Science-Backed Reasons To Take Breaks At Work – Productivity Theory
Do you keep on pushing on through the day without taking a break? Think that stopping working for even 5 minutes will hamper your productivity? Well, science thinks you might be wrong! Taking breaks can actually increase productivity – and it’ll help your health too.
5 Common Mistakes That Cause The 12 Week Year To Fail (And What To Do About Them) – Asian Efficiency
I’d only just heard of the 12 Week Year* which is a productivity system where you “do as much in 12 weeks as others do in a year”. I haven’t looked into it yet, but it’s on my radar for next year – and apparently I need to avoid these 5 pitfalls in order to stay super-productive and complete my 12 week productivity challenge.
How To Stay Hydrated Besides Drinking Water – Lifehack
I am the world’s worst at drinking water. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I hate it, but it’s way down my list of drinking choices. It’s also really difficult to find something that isn’t laden with a load of calories or chemicals. There is good news though, you can get your “water” through other sources (and no, alcohol doesn’t count!)
7 Negative People You Need To Ignore – Marc And Angel
Unfortunately there will always be people that are negatives in your life – and there’s not a lot you can do about it, but you can learn to spot them and deal with them or cut them out of your life. Marc And Angel cover 7 types of negative people you may come across (they’re obviously feeling generous as I managed to come up with 12 toxic people you might have to work with!
I Started Saying ‘No’ To These 6 Things. My Life And My Business Got A Lot Better. – Entrepreneur
We know that it’s okay to say “No” but maybe we need to focus on what we’re saying “No” too. Instead of saying “No” to everything, if you’re specific about what you don’t want to get involved in, then you can free up a lot of emotional and actual time.
How To Do Faux Calligraphy – Our Journey In Journals
I’ll be releasing my “How To Bullet Journal” guide soon so it seems appropriate to give you a couple of links so you can practice your fancy handwriting! We used to have caligraphy lessons at school, and it’s something I really wished I kept up with – I still remember some of the basics but it’s always good to have a refresher and this guide gives you all the basics.
Beginner Brush Lettering – The Basic Tools And Techniques – Little Coffee Fox
Little Coffee Foxes article covers more of the technical and equipment aspects of brush lettering and caligraphy and it’s well worth checking out if you’re not sure what each type of brush pen looks like, or if it will suit your writing style.
List-Journaling May Be The Ultimate Keystone Habit – Foundation for Economic Education
In order to build a habit it’s easier to start small, work at getting that right, and then build on your success. Whilst it’s agreed that daily journaling is a really important habit to have it can be a very daunting one to start which is why this article advocates creating lists in stead of full-on journal posts. Then, once you get used to this method of journaling you can increase the output as you feel more comfortable.
This Simple Daily Habit Will Make Your Day Better – Inc
If you’re not convinced of the benefits of journaling then this article from Inc covers the benefits of putting pen to paper on a daily basis. From your mental health to your confidence, journaling can have wide-ranging effects on your life.
Serotonin’s Role In Depression And Willpower (And How To Make More) – The Best Brain Possible
Serotonin has long been linked to well-being and feelings of happiness, but apparently it can have an affect on your willpower too (I’m guessing that’s all linked to the “happy effect” of the chemical). So, if you’re feeling a bit down – which may be the case as the nights start to drawn in and the skies get a little greyer – then give your serotonin levels a little boost with some of the tips in this article. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off for a massage!
Time Management Tools In Your Home – The Order Expert
Think you need to go out and buy a load of fancy stuff in order to manage your time effectively at home? Think again! The Order Expert covers a few things you’re bound to have lying around the house and probably don’t even realise they could help you get your time sorted.
7 Of The Best Time Management Software For Freelancers – Forbes
You don’t just have to be a freelancer in order to track your time. It could be that you’re trying to get on top of your email and want to track how much time you spend on it, or maybe you want to track how much time you spend on each of your hobbies. Whatever the reason, there’ll be an app that will suit your needs in this list
11 Productivity Tools To Help Web Developers Beat Deadlines – Sitepoint
Again, this article isn’t just for Web Developers, but for anyone wanting to managing projects or tasks and keep track of how much time is spent, what stage of a project you’re at or to keep track of appointments then there are some great picks here.
Why Google, Twitter, And Linkedin Employees Are Kicking These Seven Work Habits – Fast Company
While we have all heard that Google, Twitter and LinkedIn are great places to work, productivity is also a very personal choice. This article was written at the beginning of the year, but perhaps it will give you some food for thought for your office-based resolutions for next year.
Stop Letting Email Control Your Work Day – Havard Business Review
Regular readers will know that I have a love-hate relationship with email. Whilst it is my favourite mode of communication, it can be a pain to organise your inbox. If you’re one of those who struggle with their email the The Harvard Business Review has some great tips on how to manage your email, and if you want some guidance on how to manage your inbox, sign up for my free course below.
Time Management: More Than A Skill, It’s A Quality Of Life Issue – Prince William Living
So it’s all well and good being super-organised with your time – but what are you doing with all of that newfound extra time? That’s where you can start to add quality of life to your routine too.
Redefining Closure In Order To Move On And Get Living Again – Tiny Buddah
Do you hang on to events that have happened a long time ago? Do the events of the day replay over and over in your head? If so you may be doing yourself more harm than you know. Some things need to be moved on from and Tiny Buddah discussed the reasons why and the route you may need to take in order to finally achieve closure.
Bruce Lee’s Never Before Revealed Letters To Himself About Authenticity, Personal Development, And The Measure Of Success – Brain Pickings
You may think that Bruce Lee was just a fantastically agile Martial Arts performer but apparently he was a rather introspective and philosophical character who wrote some fascinating letters which deserve a read.
10 Offices To Inspire You – Staples
If you’re thinking of having an office refurb in the new year then get some inspiration from Staples 10 office ideas to make your work areas nicer to work in and help your employees and co-workers become more productive.
Ideal Home Sleep Environment – The Sleep Doctor
I have struggled for years to get the perfect bedroom setup. Now, I can’t blame all of my insomniac tendencies on the piles of clothes I used to leave on the floor, or the bills and paper work I used to leave laying around, but since designating my bedroom a clutter free zone my sleep has certainly improved (I also think my eye mask and memory foam mattress topper helps!) but there are also a number of other factors that may be stopping you from getting a good night’s sleep.
37 Cleaning Basics You Should Probably Know By Now – Buzzfeed
Being an adult is hard, especially if you’re not sure what you’re actually doing! Well, Buzzfeed is here to help wth some cleaning hacks you should know but maybe don’t – very helpful if your Mum’s been doing the cleaning for you and you’ve just moved out on your own.
Have A Great Weekend
I hope you have enjoyed this round-up, as always if you have any links you like to share with me and my readers please contact me through the website or send me a tweet.
Until next week, Stay Productive!
- Follow Katy Whitton on:
