Author Archives: kate

Mar1

3 Hurdles That Can Ruin Your Productivity At Work

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3 Hurdles That Can Ruin Your Productivity At Work

With all the distractions available to us via the internet, it could be a monumental challenge for anyone to stay focused on work. One minute you can be slaying the emails in your inbox, the next minute you’re falling into a YouTube rabbit hole. You know you have to cross out a lot of things from your to-do list, but you just can’t seem to get back your focus. 

Hurdle #1: News

There’s no shortage of news these days. Whether you’re following the latest vaccine news or just keeping up with the latest celebrity gossip or newest artist album drop, there’s always something itching for your attention. 

How can you overcome this hurdle? 

We do, indeed, live in interesting times. So even if you ignore the news, you might not be successful for too long. So acknowledge your interest, park the item somewhere (make a mental note or an actual note – on Twitter, I “like” an article so that I can access it from my liked posts to read later), and focus on something more “in the now”, like your breathing.

Hurdle #2: Multi-tasking

By now you should know that multitasking hurts your productivity and reduces your efficiency. Yet, some people still believe they could get more done. I’ve written about the “Perils of Multitasking here and here. Need more proof that multitasking ruins your productivity? There’s this ‘study titled, “The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress,” where researchers found that while people worked faster in conditions where they were constantly interrupted (the way you are when you’re multitasking), they actually were less productive.’

How can you overcome this hurdle? 

Close the email tab in your browser. Close all the other tabs that are not related to what you’re working on. Invest in a nice pair of BT noise cancelling earphones and put on some ambient beats to drown out the background noise. You can also use the Pomodoro Technique (for example, you can do 25mins deep flow work and 5min break)

Hurdle #3: Lack of Sleep

Lack of sleep has a major detrimental effect on your ability to concentrate. Heck, sleep deprivation causes a lot of shenanigans to your body. It can destroy brain cells, weaken your immunity, affect your memory, cause you to gain weight, and increase your risk of a heart disease. Lack of sleep can destroy the neurons responsible for the brain’s alertness resulting in trouble thinking and concentration.

How can you overcome this hurdle? 

Don’t compound the problem by drowning yourself in caffeine. The secret is no secret at all. Prioritize getting enough sleep. However, if you’re already sleep deprived but in need of a quick pick-me-up in order to finish that very important project , here’s what you can do: get up from your desk and head-out for a quick walk. You need to get your blood pumping and be exposed to natural light. You’ll come back more alert and focused.

What are your productivity pitfalls and how do you overcome them? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb22

How To Prioritize Tasks When Everything Looks Important

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How To Prioritize Tasks When Everything Looks Important

Have you ever had days when you look down on your to-do list and think “every single one of these seems important”? There seems to be a ton of work to plow through and all of them look either urgent or “drop everything and work on this” kind of important. Where do you even begin?

Do you close your eyes and point at something? Should you “eeny, meeny, miny, moe”? Should you throw a dart?

We’ve all been here. The overwhelm paralyzes us before we even get to work on any of our important task items. In the end, nothing gets done. Here are a few strategies to effectively prioritize tasks that all look important.

Map out your objective

This may seem like an extra item to your already insurmountable to-do list, but this is the first step to knowing where to get started. Once you have done this a few times, it should come naturally. After you have mapped out your objective, ask yourself if the task is aligned with your objective. If not, park it and revisit on a later date.

Use the Eisenhower Matrix

Here’s a trick that might work: President Dwight Eisenhower (a productivity powerhouse) once said “ what is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” He has designed a matrix that’s great for weeding out what task can be addressed urgently and what needs to be focused on. Draw a square and then split it into four even quadrants. On the left side, label the boxes with “important” and “not important.” On the top, label the boxes with “urgent” and “not urgent.” Take a look at your to-do list and decide whether they are urgent, not urgent, important, not very important. Your urgent and important tasks will fall under the “do it now” quadrant. Your important but not urgent tasks will fall under the “decide when” quadrant. Other tasks will fall under the “delegate” quadrant (who else can do it?) and the “delete” quadrant (these tasks are the ones you can ditch altogether). Curious about the Eisenhower Matrix? We talk more about it in this article.

Go for the quick win

While it is not always a good idea to start with the easy tasks (that gives you a false sense of productivity and throws you focus off of important tasks), you can make an exception in cases of major overwhelm bordering on burnout. Your productivity suffers whenever you are fatigued. Going for the low hanging fruit gives you a quick win that could provide enough motivation to start a snowball effect. A quick win can cut through the overwhelm and clear the air out so that you can make better prioritization decisions. Then you can proceed to tackling the more important items on your task list.

Do you have tips on how to prioritize items on your to-do lists? We’d love to know your strategy. Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

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Feb15

The Psychology Behind Doing Good Deeds

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The Psychology Behind Doing Good Deeds

We have all heard about previous studies that suggest that those who do good deeds have better physical and mental health compared to those who don’t spend as much time helping others. Finally, we have scientific proof. A recent study reveals that there are science-backed benefits to helping others. 

During the pandemic, we experienced a surge of charity and generosity from people around the world who have gathered donations, volunteered their time, and pooled together resources to help those who were more challenged through the global pandemic. There were a lot of donations, volunteer work, contributions, and over-all acts of kindness, especially during the early months of the year when we were at peak pandemic struggles. A lot of people lost their livelihoods and jobs and had to rely on the kindness of strangers in order to put food on the table. Now, things are slowly going back to normal and we are steadily getting back on our feet. 

Kindness is important for a society to function. Lead author Bryant P.H. Hui, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong has this to say about doing acts of kindness. “Prosocial behavior — altruism, cooperation, trust, and compassion — are all necessary ingredients of a harmonious and well-functioning society. It is part of the shared culture of humankind, and our analysis shows that it also contributes to mental and physical health.”

Why is kindness good for us?

The good feeling we get from doing acts of kindness actually has a name, it’s called “helper’s high.” It is the decrease in stress and the increase in happiness that we experience after doing a good deed. After a “helper’s high” our body experiences lowered stress response and a significant increase in protective antibodies associated with improved immunity. You can reap the benefits even for an hour after because antibody levels remained high for an hour afterward.

You don’t need to be a member of a charity organization or a part of government social work services in order to do good work. There are everyday good deeds that you can do to reap the benefits of the “helper’s high”. Here are some of them:

  • Share your old books with a public school or if you have children’s books, share them with a daycare center. 
  • Donate old toys to a local orphanage or the children’s ward of a hospital.
  • Plant a tree. Plants more than one if you’re feeling extra generous. This good deed ultimately helps future generations
  • Run errands for your parents or senior aunts and uncles. They pay in great stories.
  • Send a casserole (or any food) to your neighbor so they won’t have to think about dinner for one night.
  • Send food packs to a school’s services and utility team.
  • Leave a generous tip for your delivery person.
  • Send pet food to a pet sanctuary. They always need it.
  • Send bread to a hospital, or better yet send sandwiches. These places are very busy and people rarely have time to sit down and eat

What are your good deeds for the year? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb8

4 Tips on How To Improve The Flow Of Your Home Office

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4 Tips on How To Improve The Flow Of Your Home Office

Many people have been working from home since last year due to the government imposed lockdowns. In fact, 41.8% of the American workforce continues to work remotely. A lot of those don’t have formal workspaces set up at home and have to quickly adjust their homes to accommodate the new work arrangement.

Are you one of those people whose workspace consists of a laptop in one corner of the dining table? Or are you a work from home veteran trying to spruce up their home office? Everyone needs a comfortable and functional workspace. Working from home might be our reality until the global pandemic crisis gets solved. This is why you have to make an effort to make sure that your workspace can inspire you to do your job well. After all, your environment influences how you do your work.

Let’s face it, the corner of the dining table doesn’t leave any room for personalization. The reality of this arrangement is that you’re likely to move your work to another spot while the dining table is being used for…dining. Then you have to haul your laptop, notes, and pens back after you clean up. The first thing to do to improve the flow of your home office is to actually have a home office. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just carve out a quiet space away from distractions and set your laptop up on a table and get a comfortable chair. If you already have that, here’ are the rest of the tips:

  1. Personalize it!
    A sense of personalization actually helps improve your productivity. Personalization increases happiness and job satisfaction, therefore increasing productivity. But don’t go putting your children’s art on the wall just yet. Choose objects that you love looking at but would add beauty and function – a nice pen holder perhaps, a beautiful lamp, a vase full of flowers, colorful office supplies, you get the idea.
  2. Keep work and play separate.
    This is the number one challenge of working from home – how to successfully keep work and personal life separate. This is why you should set your workspace up in a part of your home with the least distractions. Make it clear to everyone you share your home with that you are not to be disturbed when you are in that space. If space is tight, get creative. I have seen some Pinterest pins of closets that have been converted into tiny home offices. Check those out for inspiration.
  3. Design with productivity in mind.
    Take advantage of lighting and color to productivity. If you’re lucky enough to set up near a window, take advantage of natural light. When you personalize your space, consider color. Here’s an interesting read about how color can improve your productivity.
  4. Declutter.
    Clutter not only affects your surroundings, but it also affects your mindset. Your focus is always on the constant attack if your environment is messy. So get rid of clutter.

Do you have any tips on how to improve your home office? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb1

How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health In The New Normal

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How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health In The New Normal

People are social beings. We form partnerships, packs, tribes, and communities. We form societies and nations. We need other people to survive. There is no doubt that we need mutual dependence. However, we had to face a new reality. We had to change our behavior in response to the changes brought about by the pandemic. These changes have brought about negative feelings: feelings of dread, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Most of us are overwhelmed by the new normal and a lot of us already have pandemic fatigue.

Right now, there is a rise in these negative moods: anxiety, anger, and loneliness. It is best to consult a licensed therapist if you are experiencing any of these. But in the meantime, here are some ways to address these negative feelings.

Anxiety 

It is anticipated rumination or worrying about something that might happen in the future. As you can imagine, a lot of us have developed some form of anxiety as a result of the unprecedented turn of events from last year. Let’s face it. People can’t help but worry. What’s worse is that worry is contagious. Don’t we all feel like the world is coming to an end?

In order to manage this, we have to be as prepared as possible. Acknowledge the fact that there are a lot of things that we can’t control. Then act on the things that we can control. For example, you can’t control the virus, but you can prevent yourself and your loved ones from catching it by taking precautions like wearing a mask, social distancing, eating healthy, taking vitamins, etc.

Anger

The situation right now is frustrating. We may feel frustrated and angry that those who know better, can’t do better. Governments and health experts are trying their best, but somehow it is not enough. The virus has brought superpowers and nations down on their knees. While vaccines have already been developed, there is still more work to be done. 

To address this, be mindful of your triggers. If the news triggers you (who isn’t?), then watch less of it. Allow yourself a limited time to seethe and stew (10mins tops) and move forward with your day. Don’t dwindle on bad news. Avoid doom scrolling (the act of consuming a large quantity of negative online news at once). Keep your mind calm by practicing meditative activities (knitting, gardening, baking, cooking, reading, yoga, and meditation of course).

Loneliness

By the nature of the pandemic, isolation is one of the best ways to keep it at bay. We’ve all retreated to our homes and stayed away from public places. We’ve shunned all social activities and gatherings and have started working from home. Our government and self-imposed isolation has led to feelings of loneliness in a lot of people.

To curb loneliness, get in touch and connect with other people. No, don’t break quarantine protocols. You can get creative. Reach out to friends and family and create a daily routine. Play games via video conferencing apps. Games like Pictionary, Bingo, or Charades can be played virtually. Better yet, host a trivia night with prizes! Gift cards for online shopping is a fun prize. Make sure to take advantage of technology. Host a Netflix Party so you can watch a movie with friends. Make it a fun experience. 

Do you have tips on how to take care of your mental health? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp