New productivity apps

Check through the apps in this Fast Company article to see if they’re the kind of thing you use, and how they might save you some time, effort, energy and attention. 

They’re not just about calendars or to do lists. 

They include mail, reading articles, background noise, reminders to move your body, notepads, photo editors… and plenty more. 

Might be worth bookmarking to read through, follow the links and check each one for suitability and relevance. 

Fed up with the push for productivity

The drive to ‘do more’ or to ‘make the most of our time’ was wearing a bit thin pre-pandemic. 

We’d reached a kind of ‘productivity fatigue’. 

James Clear, quoted in a Fast Company article by Aytekin Tank says that “Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important.”

We are more interested in - and it turns out, motivated by - progress... and so making ‘meaningful progress’ is what matters. 

When we do that, we’re more likely to be ‘productively creative’ in the long run. 

Sounds like the ideal result. 

Worry less about whether you’re being super productive. 

Focus more on whether you’re making progress on the things that are meaningful to you. 

Career killers to beware of

Balance, solution thinking, self-care. 

These kinds of things now fit into the category of helping your career ... not killing it. 

Check out this Forbes article and see how you might be killing it. 

And not in a good way! 

Self doubt. 
Willing to make mistakes. 
Risk taking. 
Empathy and biases ... 

They’re here too. 

Read on. 

When there’s no space for more to dos

It feels rough when your to do list gets a few more things added to it. 

Particularly when nothing has been ticked off or deleted from it. 

It can feel like there’s just no space. 

So how do tasks end up on your list? 

- Boundaries
Do you let or allow tasks to be added? 

- Requests 
Are they added once you’ve heard about them and accepted a task? 

- Assumptions 
Is it just assumed that it’s your task ... after all, you usually do it? 

- Defaults
Do you step in to pick up a task ... because no one else does? 

Or something else? 

This is not about being unhelpful or rude or not volunteering. It’s about recognizing what’s on your list of responsibilities and actions. 

And it’s even more about being aware of how they got there. 

Check the actions you’re planning on doing: today, tomorrow, next week. 

- Keep a handle on your boundaries. 
- Tune in carefully to requests. 
- Remain aware of assumptions. 
- Challenge the defaults. 

Why something is on your list is important to understand. How it gets there is just as worthy of our attention. 

It could free up a heap of space. 

A mindset for success or burnout

The deep beliefs we hold about what we’re doing and why, may not be as noble or effective as we think. 

After all, why do we work longer hours? 

Why aspire for higher standards?


Here’s a quick check of 9 mindsets (this article says ‘lies’) we may believe, unconsciously, that don’t serve us well. 

1. If you stop what you’re doing you’ll be letting everyone down

2. If you don’t do it it won’t get done

3. You have to work long hours or you won’t get ahead in your career

4. If you sacrifice now you benefit later

5. It’s only costing you some ‘time’

6. You don’t have time to do what you enjoy

7. You have to isolate yourself to get the work done

8. You can do it all on your own

9. You have to be perfect all the time.


Ticked any of them? 

What if you reversed, flipped or edited them, all 9 mindsets? 

1. If you stop what you’re doing it gives others a chance to step in. 

2. If you don’t do it maybe it won’t even matter. 

3. You can work shorter hours and still get ahead in your career. 

4. If you sacrifice now, you may make things worse in the future. 

... keep going. You edit the rest and see how it challenges beliefs about work.