Weekly Round-Up #23 – Make your mornings better, you’re doing emails all wrong… and performance reviews too!
In this weeks round up we look at the new tidying craze sweeping the world as we all learn to declutter in a new way, how emails are being ended badly (surprise?) and why your performance review may not be as good for you as you think.
And…. we’ve made it! Welcome once again to the weekend and here in the UK the weather has finally realised we’re supposed to be in the summer season and has warmed up – I can’t believe my heating was still coming on in the first week of June! Anyway, I’ve travelled through the Internet this week and have rounded up a list of aricles I think you’ll find interesting below.
Productivity Hack: The Surprising Benefits of Using Your Apps on Separate Devices – Make Use Of
With most of us having access to a desktop, laptop, tablet and smart phone using apps and all of the notifications that come with them can be rather intrusive. In this article the author tries out using certain apps only on one device with surprising results.
You’re Ending Your E-mails Wrong – Bloomberg
Apparently signing off an email with the word “Best” is a thing? Who knew! I’m guessing this must be an Americanism as I can’t say I’ve ever come across it from a U.K colleague. Anyway, if you’re using this closing, stop! I think you should stop as it’s not a full sentance (best… what? Best foot forward? Best of Friends?), Bloomberg say that it can be viewed as charmless. What’s wrong with the good old fashioned “Kind regards” is what I want to know!
42 Productivity Experts Reveal How To Build Habits in 3 Steps – High Performace Lifestyle
This article is quite a long read but well worth it. 42 productivity bloggers suggest their 3 top tips for being more productive and build workable habits. They forgot to ask me to contribute but I’ll let them off this time! For the record my 2 would have been : Get a good night’s sleep, practice makes perfect and don’t fear failure.
Any.DO Now Turns Email into Tasks – Lifehacker
You may recall I wrote a review of Any.DO not so long ago and I do really like it as a task management app. They’ve now added functionality to their Google Chrome extension that allows you to set an email as a to-do item. So, if you’re a Gmail power user and a fan of Any.DO check it out.
5 Common Morning Routine Mistakes – Time
I’m slowly getting better at streamlining my morning routine, such as not going on Facebook first thing which is a real time suck! This article covers 5 simple tips to help you make your mornings better, in turn giving you a happier outlook on the day.
The life-changing magic of tidying up: How this 1 tip changed everything – Today
Do your clothes bring you joy? If not then you’re doing it wrong! This article shows us how using tips from Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (affiliate link) can really make a difference. I already store my t-shirts upright and I can tell you it make loads of difference and after reading this article I think I’m going to buy the book and give the other techniques a go.
23 Healthy Office Snacks that Boost Memory and Brain Power – SnackNation
SnackNation asked me to take a look at their post about 23 foods that you can snack on to help boost your brain and productivity. Food and productivity? It’s a win/win! I have to admit I am a sucker for a tuna sandwich so it’s nice to see that fish is on the list and it’s doing me some good!
Employee performance reviews: productive or destructive? – Find My Shift
I last wrote about appraisals back in 2008 (where does the time go, eh?!) but even after all this time they’re still a useful tool for both managers and employees if run in the correct manner.
I was contacted by the guys at Find My Shift asking if I’d like to share their post and infographic about appraisals (or performance reviews) with you. There’s some really interesting information in this article, for example did you know that performace decreases in 30% of employees after a review? Talk about a negative impact!
If you’re a manager or an employee, check out the Performance Review Infographic over at Find My Shift, you’ll find some really useful info on how to get the most out of your review.
Over To You
Do you have a post you think I’d like to see? Then please Contact Me. Have a great weekend!
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