Have you ever wondered how we keep up with such a large, long-standing site? Our process has certainly evolved over time. When I started at the company, we used Trello to keep track of everything. Later, we moved to Asana, then Todoist. And since around 2021, we’ve been using Notion.

Of all the systems we’ve used, our Notion setup is the most heavily customized for our needs. Known as Creator’s Companion, the system is the brainchild of Thomas Frank (with significant contributions from Martin Boehme).

While Thomas designed this new system primarily to manage our YouTube channel, it’s also proved immensely useful for managing this website. Recognizing this, I thought it would be interesting to show how we use Notion to direct our monthly content production.

I’ll start with a look at how we come up with article ideas. From there, I’ll move into the process of using Notion to help research, write, and edit an article. Finally, I’ll show you the role Notion plays in our post-publish tasks.

If you’re looking for a better way to manage your growing website, this article is for you.

Step 1: Idea Generation

Around the end of each month, I meet with Martin (our director of operations) to brainstorm article topics.

During the meeting, I record promising topics in the “Ideas” section of our team’s Notion. I also use this area to record any article ideas I come up with outside of meetings.

From there, we develop the article ideas further and decide which ones will be the best fit for our audience. We do this through a combination of keyword research (using Ahrefs) and intuition.

With the topics decided, I can move on to the next step: planning the month’s content.

Step 2: Planning and Deadlines

Once Martin and I have picked the article topics for the month, I move each article’s card from the “Ideas” to the “Planned” section in Notion:

I then go into each article’s card and choose the “CIG Article” template. This automatically creates several sections that I’ll use going forward, including an area for research and another for tasks related to the article:

After I’ve applied the article template, I choose a publication date. This is my deadline going forward:

Once I’ve picked a publish date, I can move on to the next step: assigning article tasks to other team members.

Step 3: Assigning Article Tasks

Every article we publish also gets shared on our Twitter and Pinterest accounts. But before I can share the posts on social media, I need corresponding share images. This is where our designer Ashley comes in.

To let Ashley know which share images she needs to create, I assign a task in Notion called “Create share images.”

Since the article template includes a “Tasks” section, this is a quick process. All I have to do is name the task, set a due date, and then assign it to Ashley.

After I assign the image creation task to Ashley, I assign myself a task to share the post on social media.

The result looks like this:

After I’ve assigned the tasks for each article, I move on to the next (and longest) process: research, writing, and editing.

Step 4: Keeping the Articles on Track with Notion

Each Monday, I check Notion to find the article that’s due at the end of the week. I then move that article’s card to the “Research” section in Notion:

The research process typically takes me a couple of days, though sometimes longer if the article topic is especially technical. As I research, I record all my notes inside the “Research/Outline” section of the article’s card in Notion.

These notes include info for the article and any keyword research data I’ve gotten from Ahrefs:

After I’ve finished the research phase, I move the article’s card to the “Writing” column. And then I write the article, which typically takes a couple of additional days:

When the writing is over, I move the article card to the “Editing” column:

Since I edit the articles myself, this is mostly for my reference. But if I were managing a team of writers, I could use this Notion column to quickly see, at a glance, which articles were ready for me to edit.

Tracking my progress in Notion this way also lets my manager see that everything’s on track without having to exchange emails or Slack messages.

When the edits are done, I publish the article. Then, I paste the link to the live article in the URL field of the article’s Notion card:

With that done, it’s on to the final set of tasks.

Step 5: Post-Publish Tasks

Now, I move the article card to the “Post-Publish Checklist” column:

Unlike videos, which have an extensive list of post-publish tasks, the checklist for articles is short. It consists of the two tasks I mentioned earlier: creating the share images and sharing the post on social media.

After Ashley creates the share images, she uploads them to Google Drive. I then download the images, upload them to Buffer, and share the post on Twitter and Pinterest.

Finally, I move the article’s card to the “Completed” column. This archives all information related to the article in a different area of our team’s Notion:

I repeat the above process each week until a new month rolls around. And then it’s back to the brainstorming phase.

Improve Your Content Production Process with Creator’s Companion

I hope this article has shed some light on how to better manage your blog using Notion.

If you’re interested in using the system I discuss in this article to handle your content production, you can learn more about it below:

Creator’s Companion: The Ultimate Template for Content Creators

Tired of juggling note-taking apps, to-do lists, and spreadsheets while making YouTube videos and blog posts? Me too.

Creator’s Companion is the exact system my team and I use to run my 2-million-subscriber YouTube channel, the blog you're currently reading, and all my other channels and social media profiles.

Check It Out

I'll earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: How We Use Notion to Manage a Blog That Gets 200K+ Monthly Visits

Fortunately, we have a lot more language learning tools available than our ancestors (who basically just had books and other humans to learn from).

Indeed, we have an overwhelming number of resources available. Hardly a day goes by without me hearing about a new language learning app that promises to revolutionize the learning process or offer a quick path to fluency.

But no matter how great (or how expensive) the app you use, gaining fluency in a language requires lots of study and practice. You can do things to make your study time more effective or even more fun, but there’s no substitute for putting in the hours.

Having said that, language learning apps can play an important role in your journey to fluency. And not all of them are created equal.

In this article, we take a look at six of the best. Whether you’re looking to practice vocab or find a private teacher, there’s an app for you on this list.

Duolingo

Overview: The best free app for learning the basics of a wide variety of languages.

Price: Free (with ads). For $6.99 / month, you can remove ads and unlock additional practice options.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

If you’ve looked into learning a language at all, you’ve probably come across Duolingo. The app launched in 2011, and it’s continued to grow ever since.

Of all the apps on this list, Duolingo offers the most learning content for free. It combines listening practice, vocabulary lessons, grammar info, and even speaking practice. And as long as you don’t mind a few ads, you get all of this without paying a dime.

Duolingo also boasts a vast number of languages. Currently, you can use the app to learn:

• Arabic
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• Esperanto
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Greek
• Haitian Creole
• Hawaiian
• Hebrew
• High Valyrian
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Indonesian
• Irish
• Italian
• Japanese
• Klingon
• Korean
• Latin
• Mandarin Chinese
• Navajo
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Scottish Gaelic
• Spanish
• Swahili
• Swedish
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese
• Welsh
• Yiddish

What’s more, Duolingo lets you learn languages you won’t find in other language learning apps:

• There are languages with a small number of speakers, such as Yiddish and Navajo.
• There are dead languages such as Latin.
• And there are even fictional languages such as Klingon and High Valyrian.

If you’re trying to learn any of these languages, Duolingo is the place to begin.

The only downside of Duolingo is its focus on translation. Even when you reach higher levels, the app continues to present lessons in English. This can impede your ability to learn to think in the language you’re learning.

But if you’re a complete beginner, Duolingo is still a great place to start your language learning journey (especially since it’s free).

Lingvist

Overview: A fantastic app for learning vocabulary in several widely-spoken languages.

Price: $9.99 / month after a 14-day free trial

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Many language courses focus too much on grammar in the beginning. And while grammar is important for learning to speak, vocabulary is far more important for communicating.

If you know a bit of vocabulary, you can make yourself understood (even if you sound a bit childlike in the process). The same is not true if you know grammar but lack essential vocab.

Recognizing this, Lingvist focuses on vocabulary. The app starts by teaching you the most common words in the language you’re learning. The goal is to learn vocab that covers “80% of everyday scenarios.” This way, you don’t waste your time learning words you’re unlikely to use.

Lingvist also uses spaced repetition to help you learn more efficiently. The app quizzes you on words right before you’re about to forget them, which is the most optimal way to memorize information.

Plus, Lingvist will focus on the words you struggle with, not wasting your time reviewing vocabulary you already know. If you’ve used a flashcard app such as Anki, this approach will be familiar.

The only disadvantage of Lingvist is its limited selection of languages. Currently, the app supports:

• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish (Castilian & Latin American)

If you’re learning one of these languages, Lingvist is a great option. But prospective learners of other languages will need to look elsewhere.

Fluent Forever

Overview: The best app for learning to pronounce, spell, and think in another language.

Price: $9.99 / month after a 14-day free trial. Live coaching is available for an additional fee (select languages only).

Platforms: Android, iOS

Full disclosure: I backed the original Fluent Forever app project on Kickstarter, and I currently use the app. However, I don’t receive any compensation for mentioning it.

Do you want to be mistaken for a native speaker? If so, mastering pronunciation in your target language is essential.

Proper pronunciation will also improve your listening comprehension, making it far easier to communicate with native speakers and enjoy media in the language you’re learning.

Recognizing this, Fluent Forever focuses on teaching you to pronounce (and spell) your target language first. Only once you’ve mastered these basics do you move on to learning vocabulary and grammar. This approach is based on a method that founder and polyglot Gabriel Wyner developed in his book Fluent Forever.

In addition to teaching you pronunciation and spelling, Fluent Forever uses a frequency-based approach to learning vocabulary. That is, you learn the most common words first.

The app also steers you away from translation and teaches you to think in the language you’re learning. It does this with picture-based flashcards that you create yourself. Making the language more personal in this way improves your learning and retention.

Fluent Forever currently supports the following languages:

• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin Chinese
• Portuguese (Brazilian)
• Russian
• Spanish (Latin American & Castilian)

In addition to the app-based learning, Fluent Forever also offers live coaching with professional teachers (for an additional monthly fee).

Coaching is only available in select languages as of this writing, but the developers are working to expand coaching options based on user interest.

iTalki

Overview: An app that lets you find language teachers for one-on-one, online lessons.

Price: Varies (each teacher sets their own rate).

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Traditionally, live language lessons were prohibitively expensive. But thanks to the power of the internet and video chat platforms, one-on-one lessons are now cheaper and more accessible than ever before.

iTalki has played a big part in this language education revolution.

Unlike the other apps on this list, iTalki doesn’t offer language lessons itself. Instead, it’s a place to find and book lessons with live teachers. Teachers on iTalki range from “community tutors” without formal training to professional instructors with decades of experience.

To find a teacher on iTalki, all you have to do is sign up for an account. Then, you can filter prospective teachers based on language, price, and even level of experience. From there, you can typically book a trial lesson for a small fee. This helps you and the teacher decide if you’ll work well together.

The cost of lessons on iTalki varies. Each teacher sets their own rate, and some offer discounts for purchasing multiple lessons in advance. Currency exchange rates and differences in cost of living also mean that some teachers will be cheaper than others.

iTalki claims to offer lessons in over 150 languages. More popular/widely spoken languages will tend to have more teachers available. Still, it’s possible to find teachers of obscure or even endangered languages such as Irish Gaelic or Aramaic.

HiNative

Overview: A community-driven Q&A platform for language learners.

Price: Free (limited features). For $4.49 / month, you can remove ads, search for questions, and play an unlimited number of audio/video answers.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Apps like Duolingo, Fluent Forever, and Lingvist are great for learning the basics of a language. Eventually, however, you’ll have questions about your target language that these platforms just can’t answer.

In this case, your best option is to ask a teacher. But hiring a teacher can be expensive (and excessive for one-off questions). As an alternative, consider HiNative. This platform lets you post questions about a language and get answers from native speakers.

For instance, let’s say you’re unsure about the meaning of a particular slang term. HiNative is the perfect place to post your question and get answers you’d never find in a textbook.

Even better, you can ask most questions for free (though you can pay to boost the visibility of your questions and get a response faster).

In addition to posting questions about vocabulary and grammar, you can also get feedback on your writing or even your pronunciation.

Just be sure to take some time to answer questions about your native language. HiNative is a community-driven platform, after all, and it only works if all users contribute.

HiNative currently supports over 110 languages. Though, as with iTalki, more widely spoken or popular languages will tend to have more contributors.

WaniKani

Overview: The best app for learning to read Japanese.

Price: $9 / month. A lifetime subscription is also available for a one-time payment of $299.

Platforms: Web

This last app comes courtesy of a suggestion from Martin (our operations lead, web developer, and an avid Japanese learner).

WankiKani addresses one of the biggest challenges for students of Japanese: reading. Japanese uses a writing system unlike any other, and it’s notoriously difficult and confusing. That is, until you start using WaniKani.

The app combines mnemonics and spaced repetition to teach you 2,000 kanji and 6,000 vocabulary words in just over a year. Even better, the first three levels of learning in the app are free (no ads, time limits, or other restrictions).

Great as all of this is, be aware that WaniKani is not a resource for learning to speak Japanese. For that, Martin recommends iTalki or Duolingo (particularly Duolingo Stories, which focus on listening skills).

Finally, WaniKani typically does a New Year’s sale on their lifetime membership. This can save you a fair bit of money if you plan to stick with the app long-term.

Language Learning Apps Are Only the Beginning

If you’re learning a new language, the apps on this list are a great place to start.

However, an app can only get you so far. To truly learn a language, you need to spend lots of time practicing and ultimately using it. Fortunately, this process is a lot of fun once you’re past the beginner stage.

Happy language learning!

Image Credits: multinational flag

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: The 6 Best Language Learning Apps in 2023: Duolingo, iTalki, and More

It’s no surprise, then, that we often find ourselves wasting money without realizing it.

Recognizing this, I decided to create this article addressing common ways you might be wasting money. I know I’m guilty of several of them, and I’m sure you are too.

Instead of only focusing on what we’re doing wrong, however, I’m also going to look at how to correct these money-wasting behaviors.

Often, a few tweaks to your habits and routines are all it takes to be less of a spendthrift.

What Does It Mean to “Waste” Money?

As in my article on wasting time, I want to clarify that wasting money is somewhat subjective. Personal finances are, after all, quite personal. It’s up to you how you spend your money, and I’m not here to tell you that your spending is “wrong”.

But if you feel like you’re wasting money, it’s useful to be clear about what that means. I define wasting money as any spending that’s mindless or doesn’t add value to your life.

Again, this is personal and situation-specific. For instance, it’s a waste for a beginner guitarist to spend $2,000 on an instrument when a $500 model is more than adequate. But for a professional guitarist who uses their instrument to earn a living, the $2,000 guitar purchase makes sense.

With that in mind, here are some ways you might be wasting money (and what you can do instead).

Unused Subscriptions

It feels like everything these days requires a monthly or annual subscription. The phenomenon is so pervasive that there’s even a word for it: subscription creep.

If you aren’t careful, it’s easy to spend hundreds per year on subscription services you aren’t even using.

Fortunately, this is one of the easiest wastes of money to fix. All you have to do is:

1. Review your bank and/or credit card statements from the past year
2. Identify subscriptions you aren’t using
3. Cancel unused subscriptions

If manually reviewing your bank and credit card statements sounds like too much work, there are even services that will automatically find and cancel unused subscriptions for you. Check out Truebill if you’re interested.

Note: I’m mostly referring to software and other digital subscriptions. But this category also includes in-person subscriptions such as unused gym memberships.

Eating Out for Every Meal

If you currently eat out (or order takeout) for most of your meals, then you have a serious opportunity to save money.

After all, a lot of additional costs come with both of these ways of eating.

Let’s start with eating out. Restaurants have to mark up the cost of their food to have any hope of covering their expenses (and even then, margins tend to be razor thin).

Not to mention, you’ll tip your server well if you’re a halfway decent person (if you can’t afford to tip generously, you can’t afford to eat at restaurants). All of this adds up to quite a bit more than you’d pay for food you make yourself.

Food delivery is even worse for your wallet. Many restaurants inflate the cost of their items on delivery apps to account for the extra logistical headache and the service fees that delivery apps charge. And on your end, there’s the delivery fee and tip for your delivery person.

Of course, sometimes it’s great to eat out at a restaurant or order in on a lazy Sunday. The key to financial health is to make these things you do every once in a while, not for every meal. I know this all too well since I used to spend way too much on takeout.

What changed? I resolved to make eating at home my default. I’ll still eat out for social occasions, and I let myself order delivery around once a week. But otherwise, I make all of my food at home.

If you’re spending more than you’d like on eating out, I suggest you try doing the same. Just be sure you have some tasty recipes, or the temptation to order out will be hard to resist.

Want to see just how much you’re spending on eating out? We recommend You Need a Budget (YNAB). Learn more below:

You Need a Budget

Making a detailed budget can be transformative. If you want to budget for every expense before it comes up, then You Need a Budget (YNAB) is the best app out there. Along with sophisticated tools for budgeting, it also teaches you how to better manage your money. Click the button below to try YNAB free for 34 days.

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Impulsive Shopping

These days, you can buy just about anything with a few taps or swipes on your phone. While this is a marvel of modern technology, it can sometimes be too convenient. Before you know it, those small impulsive purchases here and there can add up to hundreds per month.

So what’s the solution?

First, I recommend limiting the number of shopping apps you have on your phone. For instance, I’ve found that the added friction of opening the Amazon website is enough to keep me from buying junk I don’t need.

In addition, I recommend making a list of things you want to buy online. Every time you think of something to purchase, add it to the list. Then, review the list after 30 days. Often, you’ll find you’ve completely forgotten about whatever seemed like an “essential” purchase in the past.

If these tricks aren’t enough, consider cutting off your access to shopping websites and apps entirely. You can use an app like Freedom to block Amazon, Target, Wayfair, or any other ecommerce site/app that tempts you.

Buying Too Much Food

If you often find yourself throwing out uneaten food, then you have a key opportunity to save money. I know I could be better about it: just before I sat down to write this article, I threw away a moldy peach that had been sitting in my fridge for weeks.

Throwing away uneaten food is obviously an environmental issue, but it’s also a serious waste of money. You’re literally throwing cash in the trash. Fortunately, it’s a fairly simple problem to fix.

I’ve found these solutions to work well:

1. Cook (or freeze) perishable food as soon as you buy it. I find this helps me avoid forgetting about items and letting them go bad.
2. Be honest about what you’ll eat. You may think buying a giant bag of salad will get you to eat more greens, but that spinach will probably end up wilted and sad.
3. Remix your leftovers. For instance, the chicken you grilled for dinner last night could be the basis of a salad for lunch today.

Credit Card Interest

This is easily the biggest waste of money on this list. You should never, ever pay credit card interest. If you find yourself in such a position, you’re spending more than you can afford.

Credit card interest adds zero value to your life. Indeed, it subtracts value. It’s a perpetual drain on your financial resources, limiting how you can spend your money each month.

Getting out from under credit card debt is challenging. But it is possible. Check out our guide to paying off credit cards to learn more.

Attending Every Social Event

Going out for dinner or drinks with friends is fun, but it can get expensive. I know, because I used to say yes to every single social event I could find. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to be more deliberate about which events I do and don’t attend. In the process, I’ve saved a fair bit of money.

I think the root of this waste of money is FOMO. It’s easy to think you’ll regret not going out, imagining all the cool conversations and fun times you’re missing. But if you aren’t feeling it, it’s okay to say no. You should respect your time; don’t let other people rule how you spend it.

Additionally, I want to mention a (very expensive) type of social event that becomes more common in your late 20s and early 30s: weddings.

Saying no to attending someone’s wedding is tough…at least at first. But after you’ve been to more than a handful, you start to realize how expensive it can get. Particularly if the wedding is in some far-off location.

Just remember that, unless the person is a very close friend or family member, they aren’t going to be offended if you miss their wedding. And even then, a true friend or loving family member will understand.

“Just in Case” Purchases

This next idea comes from Martin, our web developer and operations lead. You may be wasting money buying things that you think you’ll use eventually (but never end up using). We call these “just in case” purchases.

In Martin’s case, it was preordering video games. As he put it:

“Having long considered myself a person who plays video games, I just automatically preordered everything. It took a while to realize I wasn’t actually the kind of person who played that many games anymore, which allowed me to change that habit.”

For you, it might not be video games.

Perhaps it’s a cool outfit that you hope to wear one day.

Or an instrument you’d like to eventually learn.

Or even some kind of trinket you plan to give to your (still hypothetical) children.

All of these “just in case” purchases are a waste of money because they’re in response to an imagined future need or want.

Instead, try to make “just in time” purchases. Buy things when you need them, when you plan to use them immediately. Put everything else on a list to review in the future. As with impulsive purchases, you’ll probably forget about them with time.

Note: Some “just in case” purchases are worth it. For instance, you’ll probably never need to use the fire extinguisher in your cabinet, but you’ll be glad to have it if you do.

Showing Off

Buying something to impress others or to keep up a certain appearance is a waste of money.

No one is immune to vanity, of course. But if you’re consistently buying things to keep up with the Joneses, you should make some changes.

For instance, do you really need that new iPhone? Or are you buying it because it will impress your techy friends? Do you actually like eating oysters? Or are you buying them to look fancy in front of your date?

Conspicuous consumption is a big part of our culture; the temptation is ever-present. But next time you’re about to buy something luxurious or expensive, ask yourself if you’re just doing it to impress people. If the answer is yes, put your wallet away.

Lifestyle Inflation

Lifestyle inflation refers to the tendency to spend more as your income increases. It’s an insidious waste of money, as you often don’t notice it until you look for it.

Sometimes, it is worth spending more on certain items if you can afford them. Well-made clothes, for instance, will last longer than cheap ones and cost less over the long run.

But in many cases, the things you bought and the way you lived when you made less money are sufficient. Increasing your spending won’t make you happier or improve your life.

Instead of spending your increased income on fancier goods or experiences, put that money to good use.

Use it to build your savings, increase your retirement contributions, or pay off debt. If all of that’s in order, donate the extra money to a worthy charity.

Don’t Waste Your Limited Money

I hope this article has revealed some ways you’re wasting money without realizing it.

Don’t take the ideas too far and become a miser; hoarding your money isn’t healthy either.

But if you do realize you’re wasting money, you now have the knowledge to live a more frugal life.

Looking for ways to save money? Read this next.

Image Credits: burning money

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: 9 Ways You’re Wasting Money (and What to Do Instead)

While it’s neither possible nor desirable to “optimize” every minute of our days, we could all use our time more efficiently. One overlooked way to do this is to identify ways you’re wasting time without realizing it.

Removing just one or two of these time-wasting activities from your day can free up time for more meaningful pursuits. Read on to discover the ways you didn’t realize you were wasting time (and what to do instead).

What Does It Mean to “Waste Time”?

Before I get into the specific suggestions, I want to clarify that “wasting time” is subjective. One person’s time waster might be another’s favorite leisure activity.

I’m certainly not here to tell you how you should spend your time. Rather, I want to help you spend as much time as possible on meaningful and enjoyable pursuits. So think of this article as a guide to spending less time on activities that don’t enrich your life.

With that said, here are seven hidden ways you might be wasting time:

Shopping for Groceries

Grocery stores are not designed with efficiency in mind. Indeed, the layout of a grocery store is deliberately designed to confuse you and make you buy items you don’t need.

Add to this the throngs of other confused patrons, plus the time you need to drive to and from the store, and you can start to see what a waste of time grocery shopping is.

Instead, we suggest either grocery delivery or grocery pickup.

Grocery delivery saves the most time, but it does come at an extra cost. On this front, we recommend Instacart or Amazon Fresh.

Instacart charges a yearly subscription in exchange for free delivery, though you can often get this subscription fee waived or reduced through an introductory deal.

Amazon Fresh delivery is free if you have a Prime membership, though you should still tip your delivery driver.

If you don’t want to pay the extra fees for delivery (or you don’t live in an area where grocery delivery is available), you can likely still do grocery pickup.

With this method, you order your groceries online in advance and then pick them up in the store parking lot. While you still have to drive to the store, it saves time compared to in-store shopping.

Note: If you enjoy in-person grocery shopping, don’t let me stop you! But if you dread wandering the store aisles in search of mustard, delivery and pickup are great alternatives.

Cooking Every Meal from Scratch

I love cooking. But just because I love it, that doesn’t mean I want to spend hours doing it each day. If you feel the same, then I’m pleased to tell you there are a few things you can do to spend less time cooking.

First, don’t try a new recipe for every single meal. That can be fun when you have time, but cooking a new dish will take longer than a familiar one.

Instead, I recommend having a few staple dishes that you rotate throughout the week. This way, you can focus on execution instead of learning.

Next, you can cook dishes in bulk. How far you take this concept depends on how much variety you like in your meals. Some people go full meal prep, cooking everything for the week on Sunday and portioning the meals into individual containers.

I like a little more variety myself, so I’ll typically cook enough to have leftovers for two or three additional meals. This means I don’t have to cook every day, but I also get variety throughout the week.

For some great tips on meal prep and bulk cooking, check out this playlist from Pro Home Cooks:

Finally, don’t be ashamed to use pre-chopped ingredients. Sure, the flavor might not be as delicious as if you cut everything from scratch. But in many cases, it’s hard to tell a difference.

Particularly if your kitchen knives aren’t the sharpest, pre-chopped ingredients can save you a lot of grunt work.

Finishing Books

This might seem heretical coming from a website so focused on learning, but it’s true: finishing books is often a waste of time. Particularly if you’re reading non-fiction, you rarely need to absorb every word of a book to learn something.

Business, self-help, and productivity books are especially full of fluff. Publishers will tell an author that a book “needs” to be at least 250 pages, so the author will write enough material to fill that space. Typically, however, you can get the most important ideas from such a book with some skimming and skipping.

More generally, if you don’t like a book, don’t feel obligated to finish it. The time you spend reading a book you dislike is time you could spend reading a book you enjoy.

“Stop reading what you think you should be reading and just read what you genuinely want to read”

– Austin Kleon, How to read more

Of course, sometimes you have to read a book you don’t enjoy for class or work. But even in that case, you can often spend less time reading the book if you don’t feel obligated to take in every word.

Looking for some books that we think are worth finishing? Check out our essential books for students.

Repetitive Digital Tasks

In theory, computers are supposed to save time. But while it might be more efficient to type a message than to scrawl it with a fountain pen, there are still lots of ways you can waste time using a computer.

Any repetitive task you do on your computer is probably a waste of time. This is especially the case because computers are designed to automate repetitive tasks.

Here are a few examples of areas you can improve:

• Typing the same emails over and over. To save time, use a text expander app such as Espanso or Alfred to quickly type canned responses.
• Doing the same set of actions in Photoshop. Learning how to create Photoshop actions lets you execute a multi-step workflow with the click of a button.
• Using the mouse. Learning common keyboard shortcuts saves time compared to doing things with your mouse. To take things further, create custom keyboard shortcuts for common tasks.

For more ways to speed up repetitive tasks, check out our guide to the top Windows productivity apps.

Mindless Exercise

Exercise is a fantastic use of your time. But the way many people go about exercise is far less efficient. Unaware of how to get a good workout, many people resort to mindlessly jogging on the treadmill or spinning on the elliptical for 30-60 minutes.

If you enjoy exercising in this way, more power to you! But I’m willing to bet that if you exercise on the treadmill or stationary bike, you probably dread it. Listening to a podcast or audiobook can make the time pass faster, but it’s still a boring and time-consuming way to work out.

Instead, I recommend looking into interval training. Explaining this fitness approach in full is beyond the scope of this article.

But the basic premise behind interval training is to spend a short time exercising intensely instead of a long time exercising moderately. By doing this, you can get a vigorous aerobic workout in 10-20 minutes.

We recommend the 7-minute workout to start. If you’re looking for something longer (but still efficient), the 20-minute beginner bodyweight workout from Nerd Fitness is also great.

For more ways to stay fit while having fun, check out our guide to the best fitness apps.

Ineffective Goal-Setting

If you’re a motivated, ambitious person, you may have experienced this situation:

1. You decide you want to accomplish something.
2. You commit to working toward that accomplishment each day.
3. You don’t set aside enough time to put in the work.
4. You give up on the goal (or you put in a half-hearted effort, never making progress).
5. You set a new goal and repeat your past mistakes.

Doing this over and over is a waste of time and mental energy. Unless you can be realistic about how much time it will take you to work towards a goal (and carve out that time in your schedule), you’ll never escape the cycle of planning and quitting.

Take learning a language. If you’re just going to spend 5 minutes a day on Duolingo, you’re never going to achieve fluency. You might learn enough basic vocabulary for a quick trip, but you’re unlikely to progress beyond that.

It’s like thinking that you can do one push-up per day to increase your fitness. Technically, you are “exercising”, but you’re not going to make any progress with such half-hearted effort.

In sum, don’t set goals unless you’re willing to sacrifice time and energy to accomplish them. To do otherwise is a waste of time.

Looking for a way to make measurable, daily progress on your goals? Check out our Second-Brain template:

The Ultimate Second-Brain Notion Template – Tasks, Notes, and Projects

Organize every aspect of your work and life with this powerful Notion template. From managing homework assignments to organizing job application materials, Ultimate Brain has you covered. Use the code INFOGEEK40 to get $40 off.

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Refusing to Let Go of Past Commitments

Often, we fail in our goals because we persist in pursuing our past commitments. But as Greg McKeown reminds us in Essentialism, “saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others” (52).

If you want to work on a new goal, it may require you to set aside a current goal. Your time is finite, and it’s often unrealistic to think you can continue progress on a goal while adding a new one to your schedule.

For instance, I recently started learning bass guitar. To ensure I have enough time each day to practice bass, I’ve paused my goal of learning German.

I know that I won’t have enough time to do both activities well. So I’ve made the hard (but essential) choice to focus on bass guitar for the moment.

Your specific goals will differ. But the harsh reality of time management is the same: your goals may be infinite, but your time to accomplish them is finite.

Your Time Is Limited: Use It Carefully

As you can now see, you may be wasting time without realizing it. I hope you can use some of the ideas in this article to spend less time on these undesirable activities and more time on the things that matter to you.

Image Credits: hourglass

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: 7 Hidden Ways You’re Wasting Time (and How to Eliminate Them)

As a Windows user, it can sometimes feel like you get the short end of the stick with productivity apps.

From iMovie to Preview to GarageBand, macOS users have access to a host of built-in apps that tend to work great. The default Windows apps, in contrast, leave a lot to be desired.

All is not lost, however. In fact, there are some superb Windows productivity apps out there. You just have to know where to look. Fortunately for you, we’ve done all the hard work of researching and testing.

In this article, we present the ten best Windows productivity apps in 2023.

Whether you’re looking to take better screenshots, be more organized, or browse the web faster, there’s an app on this list for you. And did we mention that all the apps on this list are also free?

Prefer watching to reading? Check out the companion video for this article:

ShareX

If you’ve ever taken screenshots with the default Windows utility (Snip and Sketch), you know it’s a bit of a pain.

Sure, it’s fine if you’re just taking a screenshot here and there.

But if you need to take a lot of screenshots for work or school, Snip and Sketch is rather clunky. In particular, it lacks a robust screenshot editor for cropping and annotating images.

As an alternative, we recommend ShareX. ShareX is a free, open-source screenshot tool for Windows. With the press of a couple of keys, you can capture any portion of your screen.

Once you’ve taken a screenshot, ShareX makes it easy to crop, annotate, and even blur portions of your image. The annotation features in Snip and Sketch don’t even come close to the level of power that ShareX gives you.

Most notably, ShareX features optical character recognition (OCR). This lets you pull out text from your screenshots almost instantly. From there, you can copy and paste the captured text into the app of your choice.

To make your ShareX workflow faster and more fluid, we recommend adding the following hotkey configurations:

• Ctrl + Shift + F to add a screenshot to the clipboard
• Ctrl + Shift + C to open the screenshot editor
• Ctrl + Shift + Alt + C to pull out text using OCR

QuickLook

If you’ve ever used macOS, you may know that Finder makes it easy to quickly preview files without opening them. This feature is called Quick Look, and it’s especially useful for viewing large files that would take a long time to fully open (I’m looking at you, Photoshop).

While such a feature sort of exists in Windows, it’s nowhere near as useful as its macOS counterpart. Fortunately, there’s a free app called QuickLook that adds this rapid preview feature to Windows.

Once you’ve installed QuickLook, all you have to do is click on a file and hit the spacebar. You’ll then be able to see a large image previewing the file’s contents.

If you work with lots of Photoshop files, gifs, or videos, QuickLook will save you a lot of time you’d otherwise spend waiting for apps to load.

Notion

We couldn’t put together a list of the best Windows productivity apps without including Notion. At its core, Notion combines a note-taking app, task manager, and database application all into one.

While it can do a lot of advanced things, we especially recommend Notion if you’re looking for a free, powerful note-taking app for Windows.

Here are just a few of the reasons it’s so great:

• You’ll find all the text editing features you’d expect, plus a variety of options for formatting your notes.
• You can create as many levels of hierarchy as you like, making Notion great if you’re trying to implement a system such as Tiago Forte’s PARA.
• Notion makes it super easy to embed images, videos, and other media in your notes.

If you want to take things even further, you can also use Notion as the ultimate personal productivity tool. From checklists to calendars to complex databases, Notion has the features you need to manage every aspect of your life.

To see what this looks like in action, check out our Ultimate Second Brain template for Notion:

The Ultimate Second-Brain Notion Template – Tasks, Notes, and Projects

Organize every aspect of your work and life with this powerful Notion template. From managing homework assignments to organizing job application materials, Ultimate Brain has you covered. Use the code INFOGEEK40 to get $40 off.

Get Organized

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Microsoft Edge

Historically, Windows browsers haven’t had the best reputation. Therefore, you may be surprised to see us recommend Microsoft Edge. Upon closer inspection, however, you’ll realize that Edge is a vast improvement over its Internet Explorer forebears.

Particularly if you use Google Chrome on Windows, we recommend switching to Edge. To start, Edge has a slight speed advantage over Chrome. The exact amount is debatable, but anyone who uses Chrome regularly knows how resource-hungry it can be.

“But what about all my Chrome extensions?” you may wonder. Fortunately for you, Edge is built on Chromium, the same open-source code that runs Chrome. This means that you can install extensions from the Chrome Web Store, maintaining the same workflow you already have in Chrome.

Furthermore, Edge includes some cool features that Chrome lacks. First, Edge will automatically put tabs to sleep if you haven’t used them for two hours. If you tend to keep a lot of tabs open while you work, this feature will help save computing power.

Additionally, Edge lets you display your tabs vertically on the side of your screen. This makes it easy to see the names of all your tabs at a glance. You can’t do this in Chrome without a third-party extension.

Clipboard Manager

If you do any kind of writing work, you know how indispensable the clipboard is. Whether it’s URLs, email addresses, or entire passages of text, copying and pasting text massively speeds up your workflow.

One major limitation of the clipboard, however, was that it could only hold one item in its history. This made it all too easy to accidentally overwrite text that you previously copied.

Fortunately, it’s now possible to extend your clipboard history in Windows. All you have to do is hit Win + V. Once you do this, Windows will ask you if you want to enable clipboard history. Now, you don’t have to worry about accidentally overwriting something you copied.

Note: Windows makes it possible to sync your clipboard history across devices. For security reasons, we don’t recommend this, particularly if you’re frequently copying passwords or other sensitive information.

Flow Launcher

Do you work with a lot of different apps? Then you should check out Flow Launcher. With just a couple of key presses (Alt + Spacebar by default), this app brings up a small text window that lets you perform searches and launch other apps.

Here are just a few of the cool things you can do with Flow Launcher:

• Perform Google searches without opening your browser
• Launch websites
• Launch and control apps. For instance, you can type “sp + artist name” to start playing a particular artist on Spotify
• Perform calculations without opening the Calculator app
• Create customized commands to suit your workflow

Flow Launcher is awesome on its own. But it becomes even more powerful when you combine it with the next app on our list…

Espanso

Do you often find yourself typing the same long strings of text over and over? Whether it’s your email address, a URL, or even a common reply to emails, all this typing is begging for automation.

For that, we recommend Espanso. Espanso is a text expander app that lets you automatically create long strings of text with short commands. For instance, you could set the phrase “em” to automatically expand into your email address.

And as your library of snippets grows, Espanso makes it easy to manage them. Just pull up the Espanso search bar to quickly browse through all of your text snippets. (This search function is the major reason we prefer Espanso over AutoHotkey, another popular Windows text expander app).

Finally, note that you can use Espanso to turbocharge Flow Launcher.

For instance, let’s say you commonly need to pull up a specific directory on your computer.

You can create a snippet in Espanso that will let you quickly type the directory name into Flow Launcher. This will make navigating your computer’s file system much more efficient compared to manually searching through folders.

Everything

Everything demonstrates that the most useful apps are often the simplest. All it does is improve on Windows Explorer, which is often painfully slow.

Everything indexes all the files on your hard drive and lets you search them almost instantly. If you’ve ever sat around frustrated waiting for Explorer to do the same task, you should give Everything a try.

Google Drive

In today’s world, it’s essential to have an app that backs up your files to the cloud and makes them accessible across devices. There are myriad apps for this purpose, but Google Drive remains our top choice.

Drive wins out because it offers you the most storage space for free: 15 GB. OneDrive’s 5 GB and Dropbox’s 2 GB pale in comparison (though you may be able to get increased free storage if you have access to OneDrive or Dropbox through school or work).

For maximum usefulness, we recommend basing your computer’s file system around Google Drive. Ignore the default Windows folders and use Drive as the “root” of your file system. This way, every file will always be backed up to the cloud and across devices.

f.lux

Are you concerned about blue light from your computer screen disrupting your sleep? Then you should check out f.lux (pronounced “flux”).

As the sun sets, this app automatically dims your computer screen and warms its color temperature. All you have to do is tell the app where you are and what time you usually wake up. From there, you just set it and forget it.

It can take a bit of getting used to at first. But after a week or so of using f.lux, I stopped noticing it. Give it a try for yourself and see if you notice any improvements in the quality of your sleep.

Boost Your Windows Productivity Today

I hope this article has shown you some apps that will help you be more productive on Windows.

As you can see, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on expensive apps to improve your workflow. By installing just a few free apps to speed up common processes, you can save a lot of time (and frustration) in the long run.

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RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: 10 Free Apps to Boost Your Windows Productivity in 2023

At first glance, kitchen and office work don’t seem to have much in common. Kitchen work is immensely physical; office work is mostly mental. Office work happens from nine to five; kitchen work happens at all hours of the day and night.

But as author Dan Charnas argues in Work Clean, knowledge workers have a lot to learn from the way chefs work. Central to this idea is the principle of mise-en-place.

French for “put in place,” mise-en-place is the credo of every chef and professional kitchen. It describes both the mindset and the physical setup that chefs use to stay organized. Only when everything is in its proper place can chefs begin their demanding, often hectic work.

Work Clean explains how knowledge workers can apply the principles of mise-en-place to their daily workflows.

I highly recommend reading the full book for all its delightful anecdotes and lessons from professional kitchens around the world. But if you’re just looking for a taste, check out these seven productivity lessons we took away from Work Clean:

Take Time to Plan Your Work

“Chefs become planning machines so they can become cooking machines”

– Dan Charnas, Work Clean (45)

How much time and thought do you put into planning your work? According to Charnas, probably not enough. Chefs, he observes, spend more time planning than they do cooking (46). This can seem counterintuitive, but it’s key to culinary success.

When a chef is “working the line” preparing dishes for customers, they don’t have time to do anything but execute. To ensure successful execution, extensive planning is essential.

Among other things, the chef will plan the layout of ingredients, the way they organize their tools, and the time it takes to cook each dish. That way, they have less to think about when they’re in the midst of a hectic dinner rush.

While the time pressure of your work may not be as intense, you can still benefit from some careful planning. For instance, how many times have you sat down to write a paper, only to realize you don’t have the books you need?

This can completely derail your work, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If you take a few minutes to plan the steps you’ll need to write the paper, you’ll ensure you have all the necessary materials.

You don’t have to go as far as many chefs and spend more time planning than executing. But give yourself a few minutes to plan; it’s never a waste of time.

Gather Your Resources

Chefs don’t just plan to make their work more efficient. They also know that a bit of proper planning can reduce stress levels and allow for proper relaxation.

Long before they’re in the kitchen, a chef has already planned the day’s work. That way, they know they have all the materials and tools they need before work begins.

Similarly, you can set yourself up for success tomorrow when you gather your resources today. Each evening before you go to bed, prepare yourself for the day to come. This includes tasks such as:

• Packing your bag
• Checking the next day’s weather
• Laying out your clothes for the next day

The goal, as Charnas puts it, is to “give yourself as little as possible to plan or do the next morning” (258). Not only will this make your mornings calmer; it will also allow you to enjoy your evenings and free time without worrying that you forgot something for tomorrow.

Cleaning Matters

For professional cooks, keeping a clean workstation is non-negotiable.

To start, a messy station makes mistakes more likely. The messiness of a cook’s work area typically indicates a similarly messy mind. And with a messy mind, proper execution is impossible.

Furthermore, a dirty kitchen is a health hazard; it can literally kill diners in extreme cases. Good hygiene and health codes both dictate that cooks work as cleanly as possible to keep restaurant guests safe.

While it’s unlikely anyone’s life depends on you keeping your desk clean, it can still have important psychological benefits. Physically wiping down your desk with a towel or damp cloth “has a profound effect for many people” (252).

And taking a few moments to straighten all the items on your desk before you work can help your mind get into “work mode.” This is especially helpful if you’re about to do mentally intense work that requires lots of focus.

Clean As You Go

Keeping your physical workspace clean has obvious benefits. Less obvious (but still profound) are the benefits of keeping your digital workspace clutter-free.

If you’ve ever had too many browser tabs open, you’ve witnessed why a clean digital workspace is key. When your screen is cluttered, it’s much harder to focus. It often indicates that your mind is disorganized, with all the apps and tabs you have open pulling your attention in a dozen different directions.

The antidote is, once again, something you can learn from chefs: clean as you go. Charnas recommends this rule of thumb: For every hour you work at your desk, spend one minute resetting your physical and digital workspaces (94).

For instance, let’s say you’ve just spent the past hour responding to emails. Now, it’s time to move on to editing a video for a client. Instead of opening Premiere and jumping straight into editing, pause for a moment. Close the email app, your browser, and anything else you don’t need for your editing work.

This sort of cleaning as you go takes just a minute or so. But it ensures incoming emails won’t distract you during the tough mental work of editing.

Give Yourself One Less Thing to Do Each Day

Whether you’re in college or the corporate world, the temptation to overschedule yourself always exists. And overscheduling can lead to a cycle of disappointment, with each day never having enough time for all the work you planned to do.

As an alternative, Charnas suggests that you “underschedule” yourself (257). He quotes fashion entrepreneur Coco Chanel, who advised people to “look in the mirror and take one thing off” before leaving the house (258).

You can do the same with your schedule. After you’ve planned tomorrow, look at your schedule and remove one thing from it. This won’t always be easy, but that’s the point. Viewing your schedule this way forces you to prioritize.

Eliminate Points of Friction in Your Work

Chefs strive to minimize wasteful, unnecessary movements. Every movement a chef can eliminate or simplify means an extra second to perfect the dish they’re preparing. And over the course of a busy kitchen shift, these extra seconds really add up.

You can apply this principle to knowledge work as well. Any process you do regularly probably has room to be more efficient.

Charnas recommends finding the points of friction in your work; that is, any part of a process where you get stuck or make mistakes (75). Once you’ve pinpointed these sticking points, you can eliminate or minimize them.

Take a task that most of us have to do at some point: creating a presentation. If you write down all the steps that go into this process, you’ll probably notice some room for improvement.

For instance, maybe you realize that you spend too much time designing the layout of your slideshows. Recognizing this, you decide to download some attractive presentation templates to save time on design.

It’s a simple example, but imagine what would happen if you applied this same mindset to all the projects you regularly do.

Strive for Perfection, Never Perfectionism

“Excellence is quality delivered”

– Work Clean (130)

Have you ever spent so much time trying to perfect a project that you missed a deadline? If so, you might be a perfectionist. The mindset is understandable: you want to do your best possible work. But it doesn’t matter how great your work is if you never turn it in.

Chefs understand that there’s a difference between striving for perfection and perfectionism (130). Chefs always strive for perfection, but they also know their work has a deadline. They cannot take forever to prepare a dish; customers will get hangry and upset.

Furthermore, delivering a product by the deadline is essential to professional growth. Unless you deliver, you’ll never get feedback. And without feedback, you’ll have no idea how to improve your work.

So next time you wish you could have “just one more hour” to perfect a project, remember that deadlines are good. A deadline keeps you from laboring over minutiae forever, and it gives you the feedback you need to do even better work in the future.

Work Cleaner to Work Better

I hope this article has given you some unconventional productivity lessons you can apply to your work or studies. Even if you never work in a professional kitchen, you can still learn a lot from the principles of mise-en-place.

Looking for a tool that will help you work clean every day? Check out our Ultimate Brain template:

The Ultimate Second-Brain Notion Template – Tasks, Notes, and Projects

Organize every aspect of your work and life with this powerful Notion template. From managing homework assignments to organizing job application materials, Ultimate Brain has you covered. Use the code INFOGEEK40 to get $40 off.

Get Organized

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Image Credits: cook pulling an order ticket

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: Work Clean: 7 Productivity Lessons You Can Learn from Pro Chefs

With everything going on in your life, staying fit can be a challenge. You have classes, work, family, extracurriculars, and maybe even a few hobbies. How are you supposed to make the time to exercise?

And even if you can find the time, how do you stay motivated? How do you make sure that your new fitness routine is more than a short-lived New Year’s resolution?

There are many answers to these questions. But one of our favorite ways to keep our fitness goals on track is to use an app.

Thousands of fitness apps exist, which can make it difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve put together this guide to the best fitness apps. Whether you enjoy hiking, running, biking, or even battling rival gyms, there’s an app for you on this list.

Note: Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise routine of any kind, particularly if you have pre-existing health conditions. And don’t push beyond your abilities or take on too much at once — that’s how you get injured.

8 Best Fitness Apps in 2023

In putting together this list, I’ve tried to focus on breadth. Fitness is highly personal, so there isn’t one app that will suit everyone’s needs.

I’ve also tried to stick to apps that are beginner-friendly but can grow with you as your fitness goals shift.

Unless otherwise noted, all apps on this list are available on both Android and iOS devices.

With that said, here are the eight best fitness apps in 2023:

Apple Health

Overview: Fitness tracking is just one of the many health insights you can gain with this iOS-only app.

Price: Free (with the purchase of an iPhone). But it works best with an Apple Watch (which starts at $199 as of this writing)

If you have an iPhone, then you already have the Apple Health app. And for a built-in app, it’s pretty amazing what Apple Health can do.

Even without an Apple Watch, the app can track your steps, distance traveled, and flights of stairs climbed. It can even track some more advanced metrics, such as step length and walking asymmetry (both of which can be important indicators of health if you’re recovering from an injury).

Where Apple Health shines, though, is when you pair it with an Apple Watch. The addition of this device unlocks some truly astounding features. Here are just a few of the cool things Apple Health + Apple Watch can track:

• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Blood oxygen level
• Sleep

And of course, using an Apple Watch also lets you track far more activities than just running and walking. Swimming, cycling, and even downhill skiing are just a few of the many fitness pursuits your Apple Watch can help you record.

And once you’ve completed the workouts, you can view detailed data on them in the Apple Health app. You can also share your Apple Health data with friends and family, which is a great way to keep each other motivated to stay fit.

Fitbit

Overview: Designed to be used with a Fitbit device, the Fitbit app lets you track everything from hours of sleep to calories burned.

Price: Free (for basic features). A premium subscription is available for $9.99 / month. Fitbit trackers start at around $100, though you can often find them cheaper during sales.

The first Fitbit came out in 2009, and it remains a major player in the fitness tracking market. The device is especially compelling for Android users (or iPhone users who don’t want to shell out for an Apple Watch).

Even without a Fitbit device, the Fitbit app can perform some basic fitness tracking. It will show you calories burned, steps taken, and distance traveled. To get the most out of the app, however, you should combine it with a Fitbit wearable.

When combined with a Fitbit, the app can track:

• Resting heart rate
• Sleep
• Activities ranging from swimming to yoga to Pilates

The Fitbit app also incorporates a strong social and community element. You can participate in fitness challenges, find local fitness groups, and share your fitness data with friends and family.

If you choose to subscribe to Fitbit Premium ($9.99 / month), you’ll get access to some additional features. These include more advanced sleep and stress tracking, plus premium content such as workout videos and mindfulness training.

Strava

Overview: Strava excels at tracking distance-based fitness activities such as running, hiking, cycling, snow sports, and more.

Price: Free (for most features). Advanced features are available for $7.99 / month.

Apple Health and Fitbit are both “passive” activity trackers. That is, they record your movements and fitness activities without any manual input from you.

Strava takes a more active approach. When you open up Strava, it will ask you what kind of activity you want to track. You can choose from over 30 sports in the following categories:

• Foot sports (such as hiking and running)
• Cycle sports (such as mountain and road biking)
• Water sports (such as kayaking and windsurfing)
• Winter sports (such as alpine skiing and snowshoeing)
• Other sports (miscellaneous activities such as Crossfit, yoga, and inline skating)

If you love geeking out over stats, Strava is perfect for you. You’ll get basic information such as time, distance traveled, and a map of the route you took. But you’ll also get more advanced insights such as elevation gain, speed over time, and average power (the details vary based on the activity you’re tracking).

What’s more, Strava has a robust social component. When you become friends with someone on Strava, you can view each other’s stats and activities. This lets you discover new places to train and helps keep you motivated.

Most features in Strava are free. But if you want to get nerdy, you can upgrade to a Strava subscription. Among other things, the paid plan lets you pull in data from a heart rate monitor, view your training progress over time, and set custom training goals.

Headspace

Overview: Headspace helps you improve your mental health through mindfulness and meditation exercises.

Price: $12.99 / month after a free 14-day trial. Students can get a hefty discount, bringing the price down to just $9.99 / year.

Headspace isn’t a fitness app in the classic sense. You won’t find workout tracking or fitness plans. What you will find, however, is an app that helps you improve your mental fitness.

I don’t mean that Headspace will boost your IQ or anything ludicrous like that. Rather, Headspace aims to help you achieve greater calm, focus, and general well-being. The app does this through a combination of articles, audio tracks, and videos.

Headspace’s main features include:

• Mindfulness exercises
• “Sleepcasts” (audio tracks to help you unwind and fall asleep)
• Stress-relieving workouts and yoga sequences
• Music and meditations to boost your focus
• Mini-meditations to help you start your day on the right foot

One of my favorite things about Headspace is how personalized the experience is. When you start using the app, you tell it what areas you want to work on. From there, Headspace will guide you through a series of activities to help you reach your goals.

Furthermore, Headspace is very accessible to beginners. You don’t need any experience with meditation or mindfulness to get started. The app will coach you every step of the way, even explaining the science behind what you’re doing.

The only downside of Headspace is the price. There isn’t a free version, though the app does offer a 14-day free trial. Headspace also offers a substantial student discount, which drops the price to less than $1 per month.

Note: If you’re looking for a free alternative to Headspace, we recommend InsightTimer. While not as organized or personalized as Headspace, it offers similar content for free.

Fitbod

Overview: Fitbod helps you create a workout to fit your abilities, goals, and fitness equipment.

Price: $12.99 / month (after 3 free trial workouts)

In an ideal world, we’d all have personal trainers. For most of us, however, that’s not financially practical. Fitbod aims to bridge this gap, offering customized workout plans at an affordable price.

When you first download Fitbod, the app will ask you questions about your fitness goals. You can choose from a range of options such as building muscle mass, increasing strength, or losing weight.

From there, Fitbod will ask what kind of gym you have access to. Whether you want to work out at home with no equipment or in a huge gym with all the machines, Fitbod has you covered. You can even specify the exact exercise equipment at your disposal.

Finally, Fitbod will ask you which muscle groups you exercised during your last workout. Using this and the preceding info, the app will construct a workout plan just for you.

As you complete workouts, Fitbod will log them. With time, your workouts will increase in difficulty to match your growing strength.

All this customized guidance comes at a price, of course. Your first 3 workout plans are free, but you’ll need to start paying after that. Compared to the cost of a personal trainer, however, the subscription cost is quite reasonable.

7 Minute Workout

Overview: If you’re looking for a fast, effective, no-equipment workout, 7 Minute Workout is the app to use.

Price: Free (with ads)

If lack of time is preventing you from exercising, say hello to 7 Minute Workout.

As the app’s name implies, it will guide you through a full workout routine in just 7 minutes. You can choose to focus on a specific area of your body (abs, legs, arms, etc.) or go for a full-body workout. And you can also customize the workout’s difficulty to match your fitness level.

Once you begin the workout, the app will talk you through it. It will count down the number of reps remaining, tell you when to rest, and demonstrate the exercises using animations. Each workout also includes music and audio guidance to keep you motivated.

7 Minute Workout’s exercises are based on the principles of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). You can read the full details here, but the basic idea behind HIIT is to maximize your workout intensity.

Instead of spending 30 minutes doing light to moderate cardio, you spend fewer minutes at a high intensity (with short breaks between sets). Using this approach, you can get an excellent workout in less time.

AllTrails

Overview: AllTrails helps you find and navigate the best trails in your area.

Price: Free (with ads). Upgrade to Pro for $29.99 / year to remove ads and access maps offline.

Do you love hiking, trail running, biking, or otherwise spending time outdoors? Then you should know about AllTrails. This app helps you discover new trails in your area, navigate while you’re out and about, and save a record of all the trails you’ve explored.

When you select a trail in the AllTrails app, you’ll be able to see a variety of information about it. This includes a difficulty rating, user reviews, trail length, and elevation gain. You’ll also see a brief description of the trail and the types of activities it’s suitable for.

Choosing a trail is just the beginning, of course. Once you’re out on the trail, AllTrails will help you navigate. And once you’re done recording your trail experience, you can leave a rating and review. This helps other users decide if the trail is worth their time.

The only caveat of AllTrails is that the free version requires a cellular data connection to function. This can be hard to come by out in the wilderness.

If you want to make sure that you can always see your directions, upgrade to AllTrails Pro. Among other features, this subscription lets you access AllTrails maps offline.

Pokémon GO

Overview: While Pokémon GO isn’t marketed as a fitness app, all those steps you take trying to catch ‘em all are a fun way to stay active.

Price: Free

To round out this list of fitness apps, here’s something a little different.

You’ve probably heard of Pokémon GO by now (or at least seen people playing it). But if you aren’t familiar, it’s basically a real-world, augmented reality version of a Pokémon video game. You walk to different locations around your city to catch Pokémon, battle rival gyms, and generally have fun.

In the process, it’s possible to take lots of steps. Sure, you’re unlikely to get an intense cardio workout this way. But if you’re just trying to boost your daily step count and be more active, Pokémon GO is a fun approach.

Focus on Fitness With the Right Apps

Staying fit is a lifelong endeavor. But with the right fitness apps to help you out, it can be easier and more fun. I hope this article has shown you that no matter what your goals are, there’s a fitness app out there for you.

Have a safe and happy workout!

Image Credits: doing crunches

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: Run, Lift, Bike, and Beyond – The 8 Best Fitness Apps in 2023

Staying productive and organized is a perpetual challenge. It doesn’t help that formal education rarely teaches us how to plan and organize our work. Most of us have to figure it out for ourselves.

Bearing this in mind, it’s instructive to learn about productivity systems other people have developed. One classic system that remains relevant today is Getting Things Done^® (GTD^®), described in David Allen’s book of the same name.

While there are lots of productivity systems out there, GTD^® is one of the most flexible and enduring. So much of what you read about productivity online is derivative of Allen’s core ideas. Recognizing that, we decided to create this article.

Below, we examine just a few of the many productivity lessons contained in Getting Things Done. Whether you’re looking to implement GTD^® in your work or just want some productivity tips, there’s something for you in this article.

What Is Getting Things Done (GTD)?

“A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking on more than they have resources to handle”

– David Allen, Getting Things Done (5)

Before I get into specific lessons from the book, I want to give a brief overview of the philosophy behind GTD^®.

As David Allen puts it, GTD^® is a “lifestyle practice” that helps you be “fully present” and “appropriately engaged” in whatever you’re doing (3).

In the past, our work was something we could see. Cows needed to be milked, fields needed to be plowed, or widgets needed to be assembled. With these kinds of work, it’s easy to know when you’re done. If you want to do such work faster, you just need to work harder or more efficiently.

Not so with the “knowledge work” that most of us do as both students and professionals. Modern work is far more nebulous. There’s always “more” you could do, and perfection is an endlessly moving target.

How do you know if you’re doing enough? How do you decide what to work on at this moment? These are the questions a system such as GTD^® helps you answer. Keep reading to learn more.

8 Productivity Lessons from Getting Things Done

Unlike a lot of business and productivity books, Getting Things Done is information-dense. There’s very little filler, with Allen conveying more in single sentences than some books do in entire chapters.

Considering this, it’s impossible to summarize every useful idea from the book. Instead, we’ve chosen to focus on concepts that are either unconventional or fundamental to the GTD^® methodology.

Close the “Open Loops”

As you’ve been reading this article, has anything popped into your mind and pulled your attention away? Almost certainly, and probably more than once. One cause for this shifting attention is what Allen calls “open loops” (14).

An open loop is any task or commitment that pulls your attention away from what you’re currently trying to accomplish. For instance, maybe you just remembered you need to call your parents. Or that you have a group presentation next week.

However big or small the task is, your brain doesn’t care. It will keep bugging you about these open loops until you find a way to close them.

The most obvious way to close the loop is to complete the task. Frequently, however, the context in which you remember a task doesn’t match the context in which you can complete it.

In this case, you need to write the task down in a system that will remind you to do it in the appropriate future context. (More details on this below).

Lack of Time (Probably) Isn’t Your Issue

It’s easy to blame your stress and busyness on a lack of time. But we all have the same 24 hours in a day, and there will always be someone with more to do than you.

Instead, Allen argues, most people’s issue is a lack of clarity about the outcome they desire and the actions they need to take to reach it (15). We’ll talk about actions more in the next section. For now, let’s focus on clarifying your desired outcome.

It may sound obvious, but it’s difficult to complete a task if you don’t know what “complete” looks like. Therefore, it’s critical that you write a concrete description of your desired outcome before you move further on a project or task.

For example, consider a research paper you have to write for your poli-sci class. A project description such as “research paper” is far too vague to be helpful. Indeed, such a description may be counterproductive, stressing you out even further because it seems so insurmountable.

In contrast, here’s what your project description could look like once you’ve clarified your desired outcome: “Write a 10-page research paper about the influence of John Locke’s philosophy on the United States Declaration of Independence.”

This far more concrete description will help you decide the specific actions you need to take to complete your research project.

Decide on the “Next Action”

After you have a clear description of your desired outcome for a project, you need to make a plan of action. Specifically, you need to identify the first action you must take to progress. Allen calls this the “next action”.

Defining your next action is key because “you can’t do a project at all! You can only do an action related to it” (21). Sticking with our example from the previous section, you can’t “do” a research paper. But you can do a concrete step such as making an outline, collecting five sources, or writing a thesis statement.

However, it’s not enough to break a project down into smaller actions. You must also decide “the next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality of this thing toward completion” (38).

Otherwise, you can get stalled deciding which project task you should do first (or get distracted switching between project tasks).

So for your research paper, let’s say you decide that the first step is to write a thesis statement. This is your next action.

Even though there are many other actions that you’ll need to bring the project to completion, those aren’t important right now. For the moment, you just have to focus on writing the thesis statement. From there, you can move on to the next action, and the next, until the project is complete.

Get Things Out of Your Head

“The big difference between what I do and what others do is that I capture and organize 100 percent of my stuff in and with objective tools at hand, not in my mind” (23).

Clarifying your desired outcome and defining your next action will help you work more effectively. But to truly experience the relaxed, confident focus that Allen promotes, you’ll need to go further.

Specifically, you need to get all your projects, next actions, and other commitments out of your head and into an external system. Otherwise, everything you have to do will crowd up space in your mind and distract you from living in the moment (17).

You’ve probably experienced the value of such a system if you’ve ever made a list. During exams, for instance, you might write a list of all the studying you need to do before the semester is over. Simply making this list can ease your mind, removing the nagging distraction of all the things you have on your plate.

Now, imagine that instead of making such a list only when you feel overwhelmed, you applied that approach to everything going on in your life. Allen calls this “externalization,” and it’s key to feeling more relaxed and in control of your life (24).

Of course, you can’t just use any system. You need an external system that you can review regularly and trust.

A calendar and a list of projects/next actions are technically all you need. GTD^® is flexible enough that it will work with any tools.

But if you want a system tailor-made for GTD^®, we recommend our Ultimate Brain template. We designed it to work out of the box with Allen’s GTD^® approach. Learn more below:

The Ultimate Second-Brain Notion Template – Tasks, Notes, and Projects

Organize every aspect of your work and life with this powerful Notion template. From managing homework assignments to organizing job application materials, Ultimate Brain has you covered. Use the code INFOGEEK40 to get $40 off.

Get Organized

I'll earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Practice the “Two-Minute Rule”

One idea from GTD^® that you can apply immediately is the “two-minute rule”. The rule is as follows:

“If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined” (38).

The beauty of this rule is that it keeps your organizational system free of clutter. It also helps you maintain momentum in your work, giving you a boost of motivation to take on larger tasks.

Here’s a recent (albeit mundane) example of how I apply the two-minute rule:

The other night, I was sitting on the couch watching some YouTube videos. I then remembered that I needed to grab some quarters for the parking meter the following day.

I could have written this task down and checked it off the following morning. But instead, I chose to take action immediately.

I went over to my bookshelf, grabbed the jar of change, and put some quarters next to my wallet. After that, I could go back to watching TV without giving the matter further thought.

Use Your Calendar Appropriately

If you aren’t vigilant, your calendar can turn into a useless mess. Typically, this happens when you’re confused about the purpose of your calendar.

As Allen explains, your calendar is for “things that have to happen on a specific day or time” (42). It is not a place to keep track of things that you need to do at some unspecified point.

In other words, don’t use your calendar as a task list. Keep a list of your tasks (or “next actions”) in a separate place that you can reference as needed. Treat your calendar as “sacred territory,” a place for things that “must get done that day” (44).

Here are some quick examples to demonstrate the difference:

• Dentist appointment – This goes on your calendar since it happens on a specific day at a specific time.
• Clean out the closet – This goes on your next actions or task list since it’s something you need to do “at some point” but not at a specific time.
• Register for next semester’s classes – This goes on your calendar since there’s a specific day when you can start registering for classes.
• Send a life update to a former teacher – This goes on your next actions list since you can do it whenever you have time to write an email.

Keep a “Someday/Maybe” List

So far, we’ve talked about how to make progress on projects right now, identifying actions you can complete as time permits.

But there’s another category of things that probably pop into your mind. These are things that interest you but that aren’t currently actionable. They’re things you don’t want to forget or want to return to in the future.

To keep track of such items, Allen recommends creating a “Someday/Maybe” list (46). Think of this as a catch-all place to store everything that could be cool to do in the future.

As with your lists of projects and next actions, the Someday/Maybe list helps keep your mind clear. Every time a project idea pops into your head, you can add it to the list. That way, it won’t distract you while you’re working on more pressing or relevant work.

Here are some examples of what you might put on your Someday/Maybe list:

• Learn Italian
• Visit all 50 states
• Learn to grill
• Buy a new car
• Move to Thailand
• Start an herb garden
• Read The Brothers Karamazov

In addition to keeping a running list, Allen also suggests using your calendar to keep track of events you might want to attend in the future.

For example, let’s say you see a poster for a concert that’s not for several months. You know you want to attend if you’re available, but you don’t know what your schedule will be.

So you “pencil in” the concert on your calendar to review later. Once the concert gets closer, you can decide if you’ll be able to go.

Perform a Weekly Review

The final lesson we want to share from Getting Things Done is the power of the weekly review.

No matter how organized you are, no matter how much you plan, your work will inevitably get messy during the week. Unexpected tasks will come up, projects will take longer than you anticipated, or new opportunities will arise.

To keep your organizational system on track, Allen recommends performing a weekly review: “Everything that might require action must be reviewed on a frequent enough basis to keep your mind from taking back the job of remembering and reminding” (50).

To perform a weekly review, look at your calendar and all your task and project lists. Check off any items that are complete, update anything that has changed, and look at what’s coming next week.

If you do this every week, you’ll be able to enter your weekend with an unparalleled sense of calm.

Think about the feeling of satisfaction you get at the end of the semester when you’ve finished all your projects and exams. Now, imagine you could feel that way at the end of every week. This is the power of the weekly review.

For more on performing a weekly review, check out this post.

Start Getting Things Done

Covering every great idea in Getting Things Done is beyond the scope of a single blog post. But I hope this article has given you a taste of Allen’s transformative methodology.

Even if you don’t use the full GTD^® system, the ideas here can still help you work more calmly and effectively.

Looking for a way to start implementing the GTD^® system today? Check out our Ultimate Brain template:

The Ultimate Second-Brain Notion Template – Tasks, Notes, and Projects

Organize every aspect of your work and life with this powerful Notion template. From managing homework assignments to organizing job application materials, Ultimate Brain has you covered. Use the code INFOGEEK40 to get $40 off.

Get Organized

I'll earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Image Credits: writing ideas on a whiteboard

RSS is cool and all, but you can also view the original post here: 8 Key Productivity Lessons from Getting Things Done