Tech Productivity Issue #79 (How To Recover After Burnout)

Issue #79 (How To Recover After Burnout) 08/17/20

It's always interesting to consider different keyboards and keyboard layouts, especially if you're having problems with things like RSI or carpal tunnel. In a previous intro I discussed the Colemak keyboard. Well, here's another option.

The Workman Keyboard Layout is designed by a programmer who makes an interesting historical observation:

"QWERTY was supposedly designed for typewriters to solve a very specific problem–to keep the types from jamming against each other. The most frequently used keys were placed apart from each other to prevent them from jamming. This results in a non-ergonomic layout."

The author links to a ZIP file that contains installer information, should you want to try it out.

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

Tools & Apps

Easy PDF - An online PDF converter that does just about everything you'll need including split, merge, convert to images, PowerPoint, and lots more.

klobie - A simple, easy-to-use, mobile-friendly bookmarking tool for web research.

Simple Time Tracker - Manage your time effortlessly without complicated fields or dozens of buttons to click.

Redesk - An async-first messaging app for teams to organize conversations with built-in goals, deadlines, and upvotes.

footnote - Web app plus Chrome extension that automatically tracks your reading (like an improved browser history) and allows you to organize, categorize, and share links.

Articles & Resources

Our Remote Work Future is Going to Suck - "In reality, remote work makes you vulnerable to outsourcing, reduces your job to a metric, creates frustrating change-averse bureaucracies, and stifles your career growth."

Emergency Remote - A downloadable or online book for managers and employees thrown into a remote work situation that want to make the best of it.

How to Recover After Burnout - What to do in this somewhat crippling mental and physical circumstance you can find yourself in due to overwork.

How to Use Boredom to Procrastinate Less - Argues that the constant need to "check things" for more stimulation can have disastrous effects on our levels of focus, as our work tends to live below desired levels of stimulation.

Independence, Autonomy, and Too Many Small Teams - This is a case on improving the so-called "two pizza" teams so they accomplish what they're designed to do.

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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