How to build new habits easily
Goal:
Would you like to learn a new language, start drawing, writing or train a lot? There are some simple ways to do it and to motivate yourself. According to studies it takes about 28 days to develop a new habit. So follow me and I’ll show you how.
How:
First step is to define your goal. Remember: you don’t have to start big. You can start with setting a simple goal: train 15 minutes a day. Once you have a goal you should schedule it. What is the ideal time to do it? If you don’t have time? Wake up 15 minutes earlier. Boom, you have time now.
Method 1: Calendar reminder
The simplest method is to use your phone’s calendar or the calendar on your desk and add this new habit and a reminder. Simple as that. Be disciplined, and always do the task, regardless if you’re doing something else at the moment. If no one’s health is in danger, stick to your plan.
Clean desk policy explained
Goal Have a decluttered, clean desk in your office and at home. Why? You’ll be able to focus a lot better if piles of papers don’t distract your attention every few minutes. How? Remove everything from your desk which you don’t need every day. Things to keep: post it notes, clean papers, pens or pencils in a holder. My father had a master when he was...
Stop wasting your time on social media
Goal Reduce the time you waste on-line, and spend it on yourself: on self improvement, meeting friends in real life or working on those projects you always wanted however never had the time to start How? Why? Let’s think a bit. How many hours do you spend on social media on a week? How many useful things did you learn? How many of...
Declutter your e-mails: zero inbox method
Goal: The main goal if this method is that your e-mail inbox always remains empty. This way you will not lose or forget any important e-mails. How: If you’re like most people chances are that you have hundreds of e-mails in your work or private inbox, however this is an inefficient way to organise your e-mails and tasks. So instead you should keep...
How to improve your life and be happier 1.
Intro
You might think this sounds bullshit, however bear with me for a moment, as I’m talking from experience. You don’t have to take big steps at any time. Trying to make huge steps and stopping after two will take you nowhere. Taking small steps constantly will take you to the highest peaks. Set a goal. Break it down. Focus on the next step and go on. This is how you climb Mt. Everest.
How? I’ll list a few bigger topics which I started to do. Not all at the same time, however once I got the momentum things just followed, so I could say it was roughly a few weeks between I’ve started doing these. And I did it in this order, however that’s up to you to decide if you’re willing to go on a similar journey with me.
Organize yourself aka Getting things done
I had the getting things done (GTD) book by David Allen for a few months on the shelf when I decided, it’s time to read it. I wish I would have done it earlier, it would have saved me some from worry on how to get the dozens of projects and tasks done and how to organize them.
So what is this book about? Get things off your mind. It describes a way on how to organize your daily, weekly, monthly tasks and life goals. David estimates that it one needs about two years to fully implement GTD in her life. I think I can do better, however I have to tell you that I already had a similar system, so I just had to adapt it. I’m using GTD since two months and my life feel already a lot more organized, and I never forget anything. I might sound like someone who wants to sell the book, however I want to sell the idea.
Getting things done method
Getting things done (GTD method)
I’ve read the book from David Allen a couple of months ago and started to implement the methodology right away. For me it was rather easy to do this, as I already had the tools (mostly software) to create my lists and planning tables. I’ll describe a short version of this method, however I highly recommend that you read the book for detailed explanation and real life examples. If you would like to read more details on the software I use please read how to be efficient.
Goal:
Get things off your mind so you can focus on the action which you’re actually doing. Your mind should not wander. This will help you to be in the flow.
How:
This method is quite simple, however, it might take a few weeks until you get used to it and build your own system. I’ll describe my way to do it, however, create your own way to implement it in a way which makes most sense.
How to be efficient – my tools
Introduction
Being efficient is crucial for your everyday life regardless if it’s about how you spent life with your family members or if you’re working on projects. Below I’m listing my favorite tools which help with efficient work. I truly believe in these products and I’m using all of them for at least two years. For a more detailed description on how I use these tools please check the getting things done method, however I suggest to read this article first, so you have a better understanding what tool is what for.
Notes (Evernote)
By far my favorite tool is Evernote. I have it on my mac / phone / table. You could log in in any browser. This application has the possibility to create and share notebooks and notes with #tags. You can even group notebooks. All notes on your devices will be synchronized, conflicting edits will be shown, although best to avoid any conflicts. It has a great user interface with many feature, and it could be used as part of business and share notes within a team take meeting notes. And of course it supports including photos, links, attachments, lists, basic formatting in your notes. Best moment: when I took a photo of a business card, it read the data on it and pasted in the note as text. It doesn?t always work, however a nice feature.