10 things you can learn in 10 minutes that will change your life

You're probably short on time reading this, and I don't blame you. Life moves fast. It seems impossible to keep up with hundreds of tasks being thrown your way every day, especially at the office.

In fact, more than two-thirds of employees reported being overloaded at work according to Cornerstone's 2014 State Of Workplace Productivity Report. And 84% think the overload won't be letting up anytime soon — it's increasing.

In light of this reality, you're probably searching for the best productivity hacks the internet has to offer, but you don't have a lot of time to apply them.

So, here's a solution: Learn one of these 10 things in the next 10 minutes, and you'll be more productive for the rest of your life.

1. The Pomodoro Technique

Time management is huge for productivity. I've found the Pomodoro technique to be one of the most effective ones. It requires you to design your daily tasks in 25-minute intervals, forcing you to be extremely focused. — Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

2. How to Improve Your Average

Take five minutes to look up Dr. Stan Beecham's philosophy on elite minds, then take the remaining five minutes to commit to improving your average. We tend to focus all our time on improving our peak performance while improving our average performance can have a much more dramatic impact on overall progress. — Douglas Hutchings, Picasolar

3. How to Plan Ahead

I learned this recently from the Stagen Leadership Academy. Weekly planning and setting appointments with myself for the following week (and then keeping those appointments) ensures I give my priorities the appropriate amount of attention. It's so easy to get distracted by what everybody else needs. This methodology ensures I stay on target with my own projects. — Corey Blake, Round Table Companies

4. How to Meditate

In 10 short minutes you could easily learn a meditation practice that you can take with you the rest of your life. Meditation helps calm your mind, ease stress and bring clarity to your everyday life. My productivity increases whenever I meditate consistently and noticeably declines when I fall out of my routine. Watch a YouTube video or read a quick blog post on how to meditate. It's easy. — Andrew Thomas, SkyBell Video Doorbell

Adrees Latif/Reuters

Quiet your mind.

5. Memorization Techniques

If you think of your brain as a set of computer folders, then you can see that forgetting is not really possible. If you forget something, it's either it wasn't saved to begin with or you put it somewhere hard to retrieve. Concentration and recall are what makes memories. Focus in order to concentrate, and test yourself in order to recall. "Backspace" new info by using a pencil and eraser. — Cody McLain, SupportNinja

6. How to Triple Your Reading Speed

I read at least one book per week while driving, and I have a really short commute. How? Audiobook apps (like Audible's) often have a feature where you can listen to a book at three times the normal speed. It only takes about 10 minutes for your brain to adjust, and then you're good. — Jesse Lear, V.I.P. Waste Services, LLC

7. How to Take Responsibility

Too often people try to come up with reasons why they can't get something done, why a project is over budget, how an accident happened, etc. Learning to take responsibility for your actions will make doing business much smoother. It's easier to solve a problem when you aren't spending a ton of time getting to the root of it. Take responsibility and move forward. — Drew Gurley, Redbird Advisors

8. How to Organize Critical vs. Important Tasks

Piling things on your to-do lists feels productive. Eventually though, the list gets too massive and all the tasks suffer, since you don't have enough time and energy to allocate to each. While you can delegate, it's easier to divide the mix of critical tasks (tasks that you need to do now to improve the business) and important tasks (tasks that you can do whenever to improve the business.) — Kenny Nguyen, Big Fish Presentations

Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Loosen up.

9. Shoulder, Wrist, and Arm Stretches

Putting in long hours typing at your desk is bound to lead to health problems if you don't learn easy, quick stretches to counteract the strain. Simple exercises to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain take less than 10 minutes to learn, but save you hundreds of hours you might have lost otherwise. Just five to 10 minutes a day is a good start to protecting your health and productivity. — Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com

10. How to Delegate Time Blocks

It is so easy to fall into the daily distractions, forcing you to play catch-up the next day. Time blocking is such a huge part of my day that keeps me on track. I schedule a time frame where I am responding to emails, and then I block the next hour for meetings. I would recommend everyone break time into segments. — Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-can-learn-in-10-minutes-2015-8

8 Productivity Hacks From A Procrastinator

I first got into making lists (and the topic of productivity more generally) because I’m a huge procrastinator. Ironic, right? For me, the hardest part of being productive is getting started.

Procrastinating requires a whole lot of rationalizing. Instead of spending time and energy on the task at hand, you exert yourself mentally, working to convince yourself that there are other, urgent things you need to do and think about. You know what I mean: those moments where you tell yourself, “I need to tidy my desk, because I can’t get anything done if it’s a mess.” Or there's the classic, “I’ll just check these emails for five minutes …”

Well, regardless of whether you are a chronic procrastinator or just often struggle with forcing yourself to do something (don't we all?), it can be hard to muster the energy and focus. That's why I developed a great work around for this — trick yourself!

I use "hacks" to make myself more productive whenever I start to slack. Experiment with these little mind-tricks, and see what works for you!

1. Set a fake deadline. 

The logic underlying this one is quite simple: the more time you have to do something, the longer you’ll take to do it. If I have a particularly busy week ahead, I pretend as if I won’t be working on the Friday. That way, I force myself to get everything sorted by Thursday. And even if I don’t make my "fake" deadline it saves me from some last minute panic at the end of the week.

2. Never answer your phone. 

Sure, they make apps for productivity, and your timer is on your phone. But it's easy to try and rationalize why you need to be attentive to your phone at all times when you're trying to get things done. But the truth is, you really don't need to be clinging to it for dear life, and especially not when doing work.

My rule? Never, ever answer your phone. Not unless the person on the other line has an appointment to talk to you right at that moment. This will cut down on distractions and derailing your day! Take back control and set up appointments to chat — that way you will both be focused and more efficient to tackle the task at hand.

3. Split your time up into clear chunks.

One way that I do this is to work in very short time increments. So I will look at the clock as if it says 4:47 pm and think to myself, OK I’m going to respond to as many emails as I can until 5 pm. I then I work on that one task right up until 5 pm; it keeps me focused and driven — for 13 minutes at least.

4. Have a mantra you can fall back on.

I resist the urge to start doing something else by repeating to myself the given task at hand. I'll silently say Work on email or Make outline for that article, or whatever the task is that I’m doing. Having a mantra to get you in a zone for productivity is a great trick for avoiding something shiny that might distract you.

5. Rewrite your list.

I often rewrite my to do list if it’s messy because having a shorter list will psychologically make you feel more accomplished. You’ll be able to get rid of all the other to-dos that are cluttering your list and just zone in on the ones that matter. This is a simple way to clear clutter, which in turn will reduce your stress hormones.

6. Dangle a carrot. 

Having a light at the end of the tunnel will help to make you more productive. Even something as simple as getting up to get a cup of coffee can motivate you to get more done. I often give myself a reward (some tea, checking Twitter, texting my husband) when I'm in the middle of a task. I do the task and then I know I'll get a reward. But making that deal with yourself ahead of time is very effective.

7. Take a walk. 

Being indoors can make you feel stagnant, so get outside and go for a walk. Getting some fresh air can help reset your mind and keep you motivated. Going for a stroll is also a great opportunity for people watching. I often make up stories about people I see on the street — it’s a fun little habit I picked up as a kid. Other people can be a great source of inspiration for new experiences and new ideas.

8. Sleep on it.

If it’s 11:59 pm and you haven’t written a single word in the last hour, it might be time to go to bed. Don’t worry, you’re not giving up. Your subconscious mind is always problem solving, even when you’re sleeping. Plus: a new day brings a new perspective on your task.

So let your mind get creative. Remember that the same way you rationalize your way into procrastinating, you can trick your mind out of it. Got any tricks of your own? Share them in the comments below!

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18798/8-productivity-hacks-from-a-procrastinator.html