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Issue #136  (How To Learn Stuff Quickly) 09/20/21

If you like acronyms, here are a few related to goal-setting that you might want to look into and hopefully use for inspiration on getting stuff done:

• SMART - Goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound (although there are variations on the meaning of the letters).
• FAST - Goals should be: embedded in Frequent discussions, Ambitious in scope; measured by Specific metrics, and Transparent for everyone to see.
• OKRs - Goals should have: Objectives and Key Results.

I like the third one (OKRs) because it's simple and easy to remember. It also seems to encompass the other two in a more succinct manner. But I'm sure you'll benefit from looking up all of those using the links I provided.

Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!
 

Tools & Apps

Focused Browsing - Chrome or Firefox extension that hides distracting feeds with a keyboard shortcut. Currently supports Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn feeds.

RecordJoy - An easy-to-use screen recording app. The free plan is small but might be good enough for simple sharing of recordings under 3 minutes.

Basmo - iOS app to track your reading time, organize book ideas, use reminders to set reading goals, and also includes a journaling feature.

Simpl - A bookmarking tool with collaboration features, available as a Chrome extension, iOS app, and Android app, to access your saved content from anywhere.

Newsletterss - iOS or Android app that lets you manage your newsletter subscriptions outside your inbox using RSS.

Free Guide: The Evolution of JavaScript Tooling - Frameworks and libraries have been created to ease the burden of writing complex UI code. Learn how to deliver applications faster, better, and on budget in our free guide.   sponsored  

Articles & Resources

How To Learn Stuff Quickly - Josh Comeau, known for his fantastic CSS content, gives his advice on learning. With his track record, this is likely great advice.

TODO Apps Are Meant For Robots - Bit of a negative title, but the overall message in this short read is a positive one that might encourage more innovation in this space.

Mental Health Impacts of a Big Tech Job - Jake Preston discusses a problem that may affect hundreds or even thousands of people working in big tech.

Flawed Data Led to Findings of a Connection Between Time Spent on Devices and Mental Health Problems - Is it flawed? Or is the author just seeing what they want to see? I'll let you decide, but it will take a lot more to convince me.

The Long Win, Resetting our Perspective on Success - The author believes what is often held up to be winning in life, personally, socially, organizationally, and globally doesn't always prove as meaningful over the long term.

Build Internal Tools in Minutes with Retool, Where Visual Programming Meets the Power of Real Code - Programming has gotten surprisingly hard. Building a simple form to POST data back to your API means wrangling with redux and thunks. Oh, and debouncing that submit button. Everything but solving the business problem.    sponsored  

Suggestions?

Have a suggestion for a productivity-related tool, article, or other resource? Send me a direct message via X (@LouisLazaris) and I’ll consider including it in a future issue.

Stay productive!

Louis
techproductivity.co
@LouisLazaris

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