Weekly Round-Up #71: Feeling Overwhelmed, Getting the Short Stick At Cleaning and Keeping Pets Happy
This week we look at a surprising use for Evernote I hadn’t thought of, How to Say No (and when “No” should mean “No” and where you can get some free printables for your planner.
Welcome to this week’s Round-Up. This week we look at how you can manage the feeling of being overwhelmed, whether women are hard done by cleaning (or just obsessed maybe?) and how to keep your pet happy during the hot summer months.
How to be creative when you feel overwhelmed – Darren Hill – The Creative Minimalist
There are so many distractions going on in our lives that it’s easy for them to build up and sap our creativity. In this post Darren gives us some great advice on how you can manage them in order to get back to your creative self.
One question to ask yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed – Modern Mrs Darcy
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed then take a look at this post from Modern Mrs Darcy who asks you to narrow down your tasks to your “Big 3” wants/needs or desires. This will certainly help focus you and cut through the clutter.
How to Graciously Say No to Anyone – Mashable
Still feeling overwhelmed? Then perhaps it’s time to start saying “No” so you can concentrate on what you need to do rather than what others want you to do.
This post shows a nice way to say no to people, although I could see the “offering alternative forms of help” leading you into all sorts of other queries/issues/problems. I’d recommed weigh up the pros and cons and offer and outright “No” if it’s warranted.
Ruth Whippman on tidying, Marie Kondo and women – The Pool
Apparently women are doing more than twice as much tidying as men and in this article Ruth Whippman asks if we’re being conned not only by the male-half of the population but by cleaning “guru’s” such as Marie Kondo.
50 Ways Successful People Live On Their Own Terms – Infographic – RSVLTS
I was almost turned off this post when point number 1 was stop consuming caffeine… I’ve cut down massively since I stopped working in an actual office but I still probably have 3-4 cups of tea and coffee a day. Even though there are caffeine free options available, sometimes you just need the jolt!
Anyway, this collection of infographics is really worth a read to help you live your live well.
12 Surprising Ways To Use Evernote You Might Not Have Considered – Michael Hyatt
I have dabbled with Evernote and keep on coming back to it every now and again but one item in this article caught my eye and that was Number 3 on the list – using Evernote to subscribe to newsletters using your Evernote email address. I think this may be the solution I’m looking for to manage all of the recipe newsletters I subscribe to as everything will get stored in my Evernote database and become searchable – bonus!
Opera’s browser comes with a free VPN service baked right in – The Next Web
As security concerns become a higher priority for the everyday computer user, Opera has unveiled a new version of its browser with a built in VPN and you don’t even need an account.
Why is this great news? Whilst there are VPNs available on Chrome, you have to pay for most of them – or they have limited functionality – and with Opera supplying it baked right into the browser you can surf securely and access location-restricted content (not that I suggest you do that of course!)
Completo Task Management – Completo
According to the marketing material I received:
“Completo is a task management app that integrates proven corporate management processes and the latest neuroscience research to make users not just more organized, but more productive – at work and at home. Instead of remembering things when they’re useful to us, our memories tend to kick in at the most inconvenient times, like right in the middle of the night. ”
I have to admit I haven’t used it yet as it’s iOS only at the moment and I only have my iPod touch which I rarely use (iPod Classic all the way, baby!) but from the videos on the website it looks like it could possibly be one the the more intuitive task management apps available in terms of its functionality and flexibility.
If you try it and like it let me know and I’ll move it up the review list
Pet Bubble Fountain – RebeccaS70 on Instructables
Okay, I know this isn’t productivity related but if you follow me on Instagram (and if you don’t, why not?) you’ll know I’m a bit of a Crazy Cat Lady! As the weather starts to warm up it’s important to make sure that your pets (be it cats, dogs, rabbits or even birds) are properly hydrated and what better way than a cheap and fun bubble fountain?
Hat Tip: DIY Gift World
Free Planner Printables – Planner Addiction
So you may have noticed more planner printables creeping into the free subscriber downloads area. The reason being is that I’ve just bought myself a Happy Planner thanks to the Wonderful Mrs. Brimbles and am really getting into customising it.
Have A Great Weekend
I hope you’re enjoying the series of guest posts I’m running on the blog this month there’s plenty more to come and I’m still taking submissions so if you’re interested in sharing your views, advice and experiences with our little group of friends then please get in touch.
Until next week!
- Follow Katy Whitton on:
I use Completo and can say it is very easy and helps me organize check list by importance. Instead of using a calendar where i look at the date of everything, this lets me see important things first. It’s just a better set up overall. Gives you bar graph to look at that shows you how well you’re doing with completing your tasks, which is a nice touch.