apps

One simple way to disrupt bad habits and increase intentionality

Sarah · Aug 13, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Recently, a colleague was going to Airdrop a file to me. As we both stood there, she opened her phone…and immediately opened Instagram.

Her muscle memory was so programmed to go straight to Instagram that even though she intended to open her photos, she didn’t.

What habits do you do without thinking that lead to mindless spending of your time?

Social media is a big one. Instagram (and any other social media) are not bad in and of themselves. But social media is notorious for mindless time suck.

This also applies to non-digital areas of life. Maybe you walk into your house and immediately walk to grab a junk food snack or drink. Maybe it’s straight to the couch instead of a walk or a workout.

Is it possible to change these habitual routines – without endless charts or complex systems?

(I love charts and complex systems as much as the next person, but I don’t find them nearly as easy to implement as I’d like to think they are.)

What’s the solution? Disrupt your bad habits by rearranging your environment.

Three ways to rearrange your environment

Rearrange all the icons on your phone. You can’t automatically click on Instagram if Instagram is in a different spot. Maybe even delete most of your apps and see what you miss.
Rearrange where physical files and folders sit on your desk. Rearrange the icons on your computer. If possible, move your desk or sit somewhere different temporarily.
At home, rearrange the contents of your fridge or kitchen cupboards. Set the TV remote in a different room. Put your workout clothes front and center in your closet or drawers.

Rearrange all your phone app icons to disrupt mindless, habitual app usage.

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I rearrange icons on my phone at least once a month. There are quite a few I’ve deleted (some repeatedly) that end up back because I do intentionally use them. There are others I’ve never missed.

What can you rearrange today to increase your intentionality?

8+ of my favorite tools for communication

Sarah · Oct 29, 2015 · Leave a Comment

We live in a super connected world, but you already knew that. I don’t know that my children know what a landline is. We’re working through the difference between speakerphone and Facetime. At the risk of sounding really old – back in my day, call waiting was a really big deal!

Given our seemingly endless options for communication, how do you stay in touch? Here are 8+ of my favorite communication tools:

Slack

Slack is a team communication app that absolutely rocks. You can set up public “channels” or chat streams for your whole team, individually message anyone in the Slack team, and set up private groups with specific members.

In the workplace, this has been a phenomenal way to engage the team in both the serious/practical, as well as the ridiculous (#random channel, anyone?). The number of .gifs in my email inbox dramatically decreased as soon as we implemented Slack in my last workplace.

The ability to create new private groups for each project we worked on was also fantastic – no more, “Wait, did I tell that person?” Highly recommend. Best of all, the FREE version has been robust enough for everything I’ve used it for.

iMessages

A tried and true classic. When I converted to a MacBook a couple years after converting to an iPhone, the idea that I could have iMessages on both my computer and phone was awe inspiring. If I respond to your message lightning fast, it probably means that I’m at my computer. I assume that Android has something similar.

Skype

An oldie but a goodie. I do have to admit that since I use FaceTime for video calls (which I pretty much only do with the kids and geographically-distant family), I rarely use Skype anymore. Skype also has a chat feature, which I’ve never gotten into, but I’ve got friends that swear by it.

FreeConferenceCall.com

Conference call with anyone, anytime, for free! I love the ability to record calls for future playback. Occasionally, I’ve noticed some spottiness in the calls, but for the price, it can’t be beat.

Voxer

Voice chat with one or multiple people, all on your own time? For a busy mom, this means that I can hear my friends’ voices, but don’t have to answer the phone immediately. I also love the ability to send a voice message and get a text message back – because sometimes you’re just not in a place to talk out loud (hello, toddler bedtime routine).

Google Voice

The ability to publicly share my phone number but not have it actually be my phone number? Yes, please. Also, visual voicemail (aka – getting your voicemails as a text) = gold. I’m notorious for not checking voicemail, so the ability to get a text or email with the voice dictation is great. Granted, it’s often only about 60% accurate, but it’s typically enough to decipher the gist of the message and respond accordingly.

Facebook Messenger + Facebook Groups

I wasn’t sure what to think when they separated Facebook Messenger app from the regular Facebook app, but it’s grown on me. I also didn’t see the point of Facebook Groups…until I logged into it. Both apps help me to be more purposeful with my time, and eliminate the “I went on to post to one specific group, and 45 minutes later I still hadn’t done it!”

Any other social tool out there

Too many to list, but there’s really no excuse for not being able to find and connect with someone these days. That’s both super scary and super helpful. No matter what the movies show, “I lost your phone number” just doesn’t quite fly.

Which of these tools do you use and love (or not love)? Any others you’d add to a must-use list?

This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.

How to use technology & still rest on vacation

Sarah · Oct 17, 2015 · 1 Comment

A totally crazy tip to truly rest while on vacation: Delete any and all social media and email apps from your phone. Delete anything else that isn’t directly relevant to enjoying your vacation.

Secret: All those apps are in your account. You can re-download them when you get home with no issue.

But Sarah, why not just shut the phone off?

Great question.

Depending on the vacation, shutting the phone off entirely may be a great way to go. For others, keeping the phone on can save time and make the vacation more enjoyable – without being tied to your phone for typical daily notifications.

On our most recent vacation, I used my phone a considerable amount, but not for anything that was draining to me (just the battery, haha). We were in the greater Los Angeles area and had a general idea of what we were doing or where we were going.

By strategically using apps, we could stay flexible with planning (code: have a very minimal plan and make it up as we went – that’s adventure, right?). Here’s what we used:

Essential Apps to Use and/or Install While Traveling:

Google Maps (or Apple Maps, if that’s your preference)
Yelp
A web browser (to look up those awesome restaurants and shopping, etc)
Evernote or another Notes App – where you have lists of all the places to go and things to do stored ahead of time.
Transit App – A friend just told me about this one – I haven’t used it yet, but have heard it’s amazing. It will show all types of public transportation and the best way to get where you want to go.
Best Parking – This one shows parking lots and garages nearby, whether or not they’re open and current rates. I use this one in my own city when I need to park in areas I’m not super familiar with.
Kindle / Oyster – For obvious recreational reading purposes.
A relevant airline-specific app. Fly Delta was great for checking in and keeping up to date on our flight status.

As a bonus, I had limited wi-fi access, so the temptation to download apps I was missing was much much lower than it would have been. There was one time I caved and logged onto Facebook from a mobile browser, but overall did that was pretty good.

Have you had success shutting off your phone on vacation? Or have any additional apps that are essential while traveling?

This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.

How to keep brilliant ideas from disappearing

Sarah · Oct 12, 2015 · 1 Comment

I have had a brilliant blog post…many times. I usually draft these brilliant posts or ideas in my head as I’m falling asleep, in the middle of the night, in the shower, or while I’m driving. You know, all inconvenient times to write things down.

I would be a multimillionaire if only I captured and followed through on executing all of the ideas I’ve had. (Wouldn’t we all?!)

What I need is a system and a process to ensure I can capture these ideas as they occur, and not rely on my faulty brain to remember half-baked ideas at some unknown point in the future.

It’s taking action in the form of capturing the ideas.

What are some ways to capture ideas?

Keep a notebook by the bed.
Keep bath crayons in the shower. Why not take notes on the wall?
Take voice notes while driving. (the audio note feature in Evernote is awesome)
Take text notes on a smart phone (or old fashioned note pad) while out and about.
Take a picture of an object or place that inspired an idea. You can also take pictures of the shower notes so they don’t get washed away before they’re used – and so you can reference them while at a computer.

Notes and ideas can be captured anywhere. The next step is crucial:

Have a consistent way to intake and process your ideas so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Set aside specific time each day or week to process your ideas. Systematically go through each place you have taken notes and then either:

Do the action item
Schedule a specific time to do it later
Delegate it to someone else or
File for reference.

Since I use Evernote for almost everything, I created a template to capture notes with either text or audio. Enter your email below to get the Brilliant Idea Log.

What’s your favorite place or tool to capture notes? How often do you process notes and ideas?

This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.

Top 10 Ways to Do a Little Each Day

Sarah · Oct 4, 2015 · 2 Comments

Are you more likely to do a little each day, or work in less frequent longer blocks of time?

By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished. We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year, by doing just a little bit each day. – Gretchen Rubin

Here are 10 ways to do a little each day, and end up with a lot accomplished.

Set a timer for 15 minutes, and work on one task. Don’t stop to do anything else until the timer goes of.
Make a list of an entire project/task/etc, and break it down into the smallest chunks that you can. Use any minor block of time to do one task.
Use commercials during TV (don’t skip them!) to make two minutes of progress. What can be done in two minutes? Respond to an email, update your Facebook page, unload the dishwasher, empty and repack a purse or work bag, pick up the living room, etc.
Make a list of things you can do in 5-15 minute blocks of time, and where you can do them. Use those small chunks of time. For example, I can make a grocery list while waiting for a meeting to start, or waiting in line just about anywhere. (We use the app Our Groceries, which I love primarily for the fact that it automatically syncs between my phone and my husband’s phone. I’m sure we could accomplish the same thing with Evernote or another tool that’s not single use, but we’ve used this one for years and why change what isn’t broken, right?!)
Keep blank cards in your handbag and use snippets of time to write and send cards.
Review your list of goals or Action Plan daily. They are posted in a place you can read and review every day, right? This will keep you motivated to actively work toward your goals, and top of mind as you go throughout your day.
Set aside a day, or several hour chunk of time to plan out major projects.
Review your calendar and block out regular, consistent blocks of time to work on priority projects. The length of time matters less than the ability to be consistent with the time. Follow through with using the scheduled time blocks to work on the task at hand.
Pick one thing from your to-do list, or one thing that someone has asked you to do, and simply say no. Cross it off the list. Time saved!
Make a don’t do list. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. If you have a hard time saying no, like me, then having a pre-set list of things you won’t do can save time in both the decision making process as well as the activities themselves.

This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.

apps

Three ways to rearrange your environment

Facebook Messenger + Facebook Groups

Any other social tool out there

Essential Apps to Use and/or Install While Traveling:

What are some ways to capture ideas?

Have a consistent way to intake and process your ideas so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Here are 10 ways to do a little each day, and end up with a lot accomplished.

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