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Tech Productivity

Issue #195  (The Autofocus Productivity System) 11/07/22


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What's your general view of sharing information that you're not 100% in favour of? For example, I sometimes come across Tweet threads titled something like "20 Tips to a Better Life" or "30 Tips to a Better Work Environment", and so on.

Most of the time, the advice is good. But then I'll come across one suggestion that I'll strongly disagree with and decide not to share it. Do you think that's a little overly strict? Should one item out of a potential 20 or 30 break the whole list?

Not an easy question to answer. But consider that even the points of agreement are likely not 'perfect advice'. It's merely our own perspective that's warping the situation.
 
Meeting Conversation

You can think of it like being in an in-person meeting. Even if someone said one thing you disagree with, you likely wouldn't just get up and walk out. Of course, we also don't have to follow every listicle producer on Twitter, right?

My basic advice in cases like this: We should do our best not to focus on each others' flaws and differences, and see instead how we can assist one another. But if you feel something is against your personal convictions, you're entitled to that too. So you might very well disregard the whole thing based on your own ideals, training, and upbringing.


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

 

Tools & Apps

Daybridge — A calendar for individuals with features like event pages, colorful, categorized events, mute work with a press of a button, and connect all your calendars in one place.

Matter — Reader app for iOS and the browser that pulls everything you want to read into one beautiful place, with powerful tools, curation, seamless audio, and more.

SaneBox — AI that makes sure only important email stays in your inbox. It identifies important messages, hides distractions, has Do Not Disturb, banishes annoying senders, reminds you to follow up, and more.

Federal Income Tax Calculator — Online tool to calculate federal income tax in the United States. The same website includes calculators for tax refunds, property tax, and others.

Spinach.io — App for daily standups that runs itself. Get faster, more-focused standups with instant notes, and includes integration with Zoom, Slack, Jira, and GMeet.

Leon — An open-source personal assistant and virtual brain that can live on your server and works offline for privacy.

Easy Monetisation for Creators. Start Your Side Hustle Today — Topmate enables creators to seamlessly manage incoming requests for advice or guidance, and let others reach out for a personalized interaction. Topmate empowers creators to monetise their time while keeping full control of every aspect of an interaction.   sponsor  

Articles & Resources

Autofocus: The Productivity System That Treats Your To-Do List Like a River — This method does away with categories, due dates, and priorities. Instead you create one giant list of tasks (your river) and then work on whatever your focus is naturally drawn to when you review your list.

‘It Feels Like Fresh Air To My Ears’: Can Brown Noise Really Help You Concentrate? — If you haven't looked into the 'brown noise' craze, described here, maybe it's something you'll want to consider for your productivity and focus.

The Non-Linear Workdays Changing The Shape Of Productivity — Some employees are breaking up their working days into a few hours at a time, doing tasks flexibly and asynchronously in the new world of work.

Why is Everything So Slow? Measuring and Optimising How Engineering Teams Deliver — Some good thoughts for engineering teams who feel that growth and speed are heading in different directions, with some practical solutions.

Why Some Feedback Hurts (and What To Do About It) — Ed Batista wants you to view feedback, not as a gift, but as data that includes both signal and noise.

How To Rebuild Trust After Making A Mistake At Work — (Soft paywall) The advice here seems obvious at a glance but I can imagine how difficult it would be too actually put it into practice in a real-life situation.

Bytes: Your Favourite JavaScript Newsletter — I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, but this is definitely one I look forward to. Entertaining with lots of cool and useful coding tidbits and tools.    sponsor  

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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