Productivity on Shine

5 little tips to help kick-start your work week

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A case of the Mondays is unavoidable. We can't hit rewind and relive the relaxation of our weekends — but we can eliminate some of the stress with a few tricks to put into practice over the weekend and first thing Monday morning. Just take a look at how you can make the most of your Monday back at the office and kick off your week on the right foot.

Today's Meditation - Get More Done with Less Stress

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By Jane Powell - www.MeditationsForWomen.com "Life is full of distractions." Does it seem like something or someone is always trying to steer you off track? You have a point of focus, an objective, or destination, then…

Six tips for prodding yourself to do something you don't want to do

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How many times each day do you try to work yourself up to tackle some undesirable task? If you’re like me – several times.

Here are some strategies that I've used:

1. Put yourself in jail. If you're working on something that's going to take a long time, and you have the urge to try to rush, or to feel impatient, pretend you're in jail. If you're in jail, you have all the time in the world. You have no reason to hurry, no reason to cut corners or to try to do too many things at once. You can slow down, concentrate. You can take the time to get every single detail right.

Friday "Office" poll: Does your boss distract you from getting work done?

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A little espresso and some dancing, anyone? Is there another boss who does more to distract his employees from the day's work to pay him the attention he so desperately needs? Michael Scott opened "Cafe…

A career in transition: 5 questions for Gina Trapani

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I’ve been thinking a lot about time management and productivity lately, so I decided to check in with Gina Trapani, who is best known as the founder of the blog Lifehacker, and the author of the book “Upgrade Your Life,” an indispensable guide to how to work smarter in the digital age. When I last interviewed Trapani, she was still editing Lifehacker, which is owned by Gawker Media. She left that position in January. These days she divides her time between computer programming, writing for her personal blog, Smarterware, and freelance writing for a variety of publications.

We chatted via phone and email about going through transitions and forging a new path away from a brand you’ve been closely identified with. The following is a condensed version of our conversations.

So how does it feel to be just Gina Trapani after four years of being Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker, one of the most powerful blogs in the world?

Lifehacker is this great brand, packaged really nicely and my name was tied very closely with it. Now that I’m not there, I’m not a brand anymore.

Proud of your multitasking? Think again.

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Today’s post comes out of desperation.

I spend my days toggling between computer windows. I start reading something, take a break to check email or Twitter, chase a link and open another window, telling myself I’ll get back to that first window later. I return to the item I was working on, many moments later, only to have completely lost my train of thought. At the end of the day, I close down the computer with some 20 or 30 windows open. If I’m using Firefox, my good fortune (or punishment) is that the next time I start up, those windows greet me anew, creating a virtual to-do list that I’m just as unlikely to get to as I was when I first opened each of them.

My multitasking is not confined to my laptop. While preparing my morning tea, I might be paying a bill and getting it ready for the mail, fixing the dog’s food and my own cereal, and trying to pay attention to the morning news. (After all, we should be able to do things while just “listening” since that’s we do while driving.) As my fiance passes me on his way to the shower, I kiss him and half-heartedly engage in a “what are we doing tonight” exchange while still trying to listen to the news. I’m waiting for the day the dog’s kibble ends up in my cereal bowl.