Forem: zoebourque

Best Developer Tools for 2021

zoebourque — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 02:59:06 +0000

Here are some #musthave tools for me - a front-end developer that I can swear by.

1. Github

Okay, no brainer here. Of course we cannot live without Github. Over 56 million developers worldwide use GitHub to build and ship software. Version control is more crucial than ever for remote teams to diligently maintain the history of their code and collaborate on new versions.

2. Quire

My team uses Quire as a project management software for 3 years already and every single day I log in Quire to use Kanban Board to track my team's progress. Many developers overlooked the importance of a good project management software. Don't! You need a reliable platform to track bugs and issues.

And Quire is integrated with Github! Life can't get any better!

3. Visual Studio

Visual Studio is an integrated environment that offers software developer tools for design and deployment, not to be confused with our #2 tool, Visual Studio Code.

4. Docker

Docker uses containers to package software into standardized units for development, shipment, and deployment.

But sometimes it lagged. Docker developers, please fix bugs!

5. Notepad++

Written in C++, this free and open source editor is a Notepad replacement that supports several coding languages.

How about your team?

The Complete Guide of 2-Minute Rule by James Clear

zoebourque — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 09:32:58 +0000

“A habit can make or break us”. It’s a quite popular saying and it is scary when you think about it. A habit or a mere hobby of yours might change your life for the good or bad!

While we are aware of all this, are we really taking the right step to refine our daily routine for the best? Well, if you find it hard to start a new habit or break one that you think is not right for you, the book Atomic Habits by James Clear would be of great help.

The book puts forwards a very simple, yet executable rule, the 2-minute rule that would help you stop the procrastinating habit and be on track. While you may not find some new, unheard concepts, the book breaks down the existing concepts into simple techniques, which can then be adopted into our daily life.

4 of the Powerful Concepts Detailed in the Book

While the book is an abundant source of motivation, here are 4 of the most powerful concepts that James Clear has detailed in the book. The 2-minute rule is the most famous one, but there are some aiding concepts in the book that will help you adopt the rule into your daily routine.

1. The 2-minute Rule to Stop Procrastinating

The 2-minute idea is simple and brilliant. It takes just 2 minutes to start a habit, and then it can be refined and modified to achieve the best results. When you think of a hobby or a habit, you always aim for perfection, and that concept itself puts you off. A habit is something you do on a daily basis; thus, perfection is achieved only if you make it a practice.

But what if you are repelled at the very thought of it. That’s where you can implement the 2-minute rule.

If you wish to incorporate reading into your daily routine, start by opening the book and reading a page. At first, you might not gain the momentum to turn the pages, but after two to three days, you would read more than a page. That itself signifies progress.

This theory applies to all your habits. If you wish to do something, start by doing the most primitive thing. Tie your shoes to start exercising daily. Cut out a spoon of sugar to omit sugar as a whole from your diet. The two-minute you use to start a habit can totally give the boost to keep you going.

The 2-minute rule actually works, and this is because when you start practicing something, it becomes a ritual or a part of your life. Slowly, but steadily you would see the progress and your day feels incomplete if you omit it.

2. Invest in a Habit for the Journey and not for the Destination

Another powerful concept put forward by the book is valuing the journey you undertake to make a change in your life rather than the whole change itself. Often people start a habit, considering the destination or the final outcome. This is one of the main reasons why we procrastinate or give up the habit midway as and when we fail to notice any change or progress.

Instead of getting compelled by the results, start a habit to enjoy the process. Fall in love with the journey, and you will get to live every moment you spend. Even though the concept is pretty old, the book would help you achieve the same instead of just brushing up on the topic.

3. The Concept of Lagging Measure

Very often we envision a result in our mind and then work forward it. The book compels us to measure what we have now and then work to improve it. Thus, instead of a fixed goal, you get to be a better version of yourself each day.

For example, if you are planning to study a certain topic, first measure your knowledge. The lagging measure of your studying habit is the knowledge you presently have. Thus, when you self-analyze your progress, you get the motivation to achieve something more than yesterday.

This alone would help you stop procrastinating, and you would surely love the journey involved.

4. Habits Maketh a Man’s Identity

One of the simple yet powerful messages of the book is this. A person’s habits make him and that slowly becomes your identity. The way you look after yourself and how you utilize the precious time molds you as a person and in the process, you unlock new and better versions of yourself.

The book also reminds you that an identity isn’t something that is carved on a stone. If you build habits that don’t contribute to your growing process, your identity or vibe won’t be positive. When you change your habits, you change your identity and this is certainly the most powerful message the book has to convey.

The latter three concepts when you think off actually is a continuation of the 2-minute rule envisioned by James Clear. Unless you start something, you can’t really progress in it. Once you see start seeing the progress, know that your body, mind, and soul have started accepting it as a part of you and you might even feel incomplete when you don’t do it a day.

How should I start practicing 2-minute rule?

Slowly, slowly, you get to reap the fruits of the trees you sowed, but starting the process, trusting and enjoying it is of utmost necessity. If you start an exercise routine merely for the sake of it, you are never going to accomplish what you have in mind. Enjoy the workout, trust yourself, and focus on the process. It becomes a habit and results are bound to pour in.

If you are contemplating whether to eat that tempting piece of cake in front of you as a cheat meal, remember the 2-minute rule. First, turn your head around and then walk away. It’s the small steps that matter. Small drops definitely make an ocean.

You're Bad at Time Management, But We Can Help You Fix It!

zoebourque — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 04:21:51 +0000

Time management is a crucial factor in the success of a business and, in general, your career. It is the method of planning and balancing time between different activities and using it efficiently.

Amidst challenges and tight deadlines, time management can help you finish tasks in record periods without burning out those involved. These reasons make it imperative to master time management skills.

This blog is going to explore the meaning of time management skills, in detail, with examples to help you understand the concept. Additionally, it will tell you how to use an underrated weapon- work management software, to boost your productivity without much effort.

What are Time Management Skills?

Time management skills can be considered an umbrella term for a variety of skills that help you manage your time effectively and thus, increase your productivity. Listed below are some of the most crucial time management skills:

Organization

Careful organization of tasks helps you create and maintain a clear picture in your head of everything you need to complete within a timeline. Staying organized helps you navigate through tasks and situations effectively.

A well-organized plan generally involves breaking down large, intimidating goals into smaller, easy-to-achieve tasks, enabling as well as encouraging you to achieve your goals on time, if not faster. Some of the ways you can stay organized are by maintaining diligent notes and keeping your calendar up-to-date.

It's often said that your environment is a reflection of your mind, which is mostly true. So, keeping a tidy, organized environment can do wonders for your time management skills.

Prioritization

Objective assessment of your responsibilities and tasks with subsequent prioritization is key for successful time management.

There are many ways to prioritize your tasks. You can categorize them by deciding which ones are simple, and completing those first, followed by the longer, more involved, extensive tasks. On the other hand, you may decide to prioritize your goals per their urgency after selecting the most time-sensitive tasks. In addition to that, you can also choose what you need to accomplish as per a particular task's importance.

A combination of the three methods works perfectly well, if not better.

Goal-setting

The first step for effective time management is defining your goals and objectives with a plan for them, i.e., setting your goals. Goal-setting allows you to understand your aims clearly, and the things you need to prioritize in order to achieve it.

You can view your end goal as the light at the end of a tunnel. Setting both short and long-term targets can help change your business' efficiency positively.

Communication

Communication is key in every aspect of your life, including your business. Developing strong communication skills makes planning and flow of work smoother.

It helps you delegate with ease, allowing you to focus on the most important and relevant tasks. Needless to say, strong communication is an uber essential soft skill.

Planning

Planning is a fundamental time management skill. An elaborate record of meetings, tasks, and how you will go about the same helps you stick to your schedule. Efficient planning can easily skyrocket productivity.

Delegation

Managing multiple tasks simultaneously with more-than-satisfactory results is important. Delegate the tasks strategically and diligently to ensure all the goals are met well within deadlines.

Even if you are convinced that no one but you can perform a task as well as you, establish boundaries and practice delegating. This not only reduces your workload but also keeps you from burning out, which may cause problems further down the road.

Read more about how to use GTD Method to achieve highest productivity level.

Stress Management

Excellent time management is always important but staying attentive to your mental health is equally essential. It isn't always easy to navigate stress without somehow adding to it, leading to anxiety. Before it increases and causes serious problems, you have to find ways to minimize stress.

Find ways to include small breaks throughout the day, or treat yourself somehow for a task done well. On the surface, taking time to practice this may not seem as important as getting things done as fast as possible. However, managing stress is crucial for consistent productivity.

Flexibility

While it is vital to stick to a schedule as much as possible, you can't dismiss the possibility of unexpected hindrances. A task may take longer than you expect, or some unprecedented changes may occur.

Thus, keep a clear space in your schedule to adjust and incorporate last-minute changes whenever required.

Examples of Time Management

Swiftly adapting plans to changing circumstances.
Allotting time for certain tasks specifically.
Careful analysis of feasible processes and selecting the simplest method to accomplish a task.
Setting boundaries for duties and demands.
Tackling complex tasks when you have high energy and sharpest concentration.
Auditing the way time is spent.
Strictly avoiding procrastination.
Breaking down bigger goals into smaller tasks, one at a time.
Clearly defining break times.
Maintaining daily, weekly, and monthly "to-do" lists.
Creating schedules keeping all possible factors in mind.
Delegating tasks in a way that produces the best results for each job.
Religiously participating in stress-relieving activities during downtime for maximum energy while working.
Efficient meetings with strict time frames.
Strategic multitasking.
An organized, clean work area.
Grouping together similar tasks for reduced transition time.
Prioritizing duties, projects, etc., with respect to urgency and importance.
Reviewing performances in timely intervals and making changes accordingly.
Organizing digital as well as physical files for easier retrieval.
Sincere punctuality.

Using Work Management Software for Effective Time Management

The secret weapon mentioned earlier for effective time management is work management software. While people usually think of project management software for managing time and increasing productivity, it’s restricted to only projects.

Work management software, as defined by Gartner (World's top information technology research and advisory company), is a set of software products and services that apply workflow structure to the movement of information and the interaction of business and human worker processes that generate the information.

In simple words, it allows you to streamline work for maximum productivity of individuals and teams. A work management software allows the culmination of almost every point mentioned above for effective time management in a single platform.

Ways in which you can use work management software to promote efficient time management are as follows:

Noting down clearly defined goals.
Organizing and scheduling timings for meetings and more, well in advance.
Getting an overview of all the tasks with deadlines.
Prioritizing each task.
Recording and analyzing the time spent, the results, as well as the performances.
Simplifying delegation.
Easily communicating and coordinating with team members and colleagues.

Conclusion

Taking the time out to perfect each time management skill helps your productivity as well as promotes the success of your company. Work management software may not eliminate every problem, but it can drastically reduce them, saving precious time and making management easy.

15 Productivity Tips from Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Others

zoebourque — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 04:17:11 +0000

Getting motivated to start a new endeavor can be easy, the thrill of the chase and the possibility of success can keep you going. But what happens when you get there? How do you stay motivated to keep going?

Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos all offer advice on how to be more productive. And stay productive.

The productivity tips and hacks to help you become more productive

Here are 15 tips and tricks to help you be productive every day. Now, some of these may go against conventional wisdom, but look at who’s doing them and their continued successes.

1. Google Doc meetings

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, says Google Doc meetings are one the best ways to speed up the critical thinking process. That way is a Google Doc meeting.

It involves ten minutes of reading and commenting directly in the document. This allows everyone to be on the same page, and means the attendees can be in any location and still contribute meaningfully.

This process makes it easier for everyone to contribute, and doesn’t encourage bullies or time wasters. Essentially, reducing unnecessary talk and creating a space where meaning conversation and brainstorming can occur.

2. Sharpen focus by meditating

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, isn’t the only one who thinks meditation is an important productivity habit. Everyone from Jack Dorsey to the Ray Dalio (hedge fund billionaire) consistently meditate.

It’s a simple exercise to help improve focus and get mentally prepared for the day ahead. Some meditate daily, while Gates mediates about two or three times a week for about 10 minutes.

Gates has said that meditation helps him to pay attention to what thoughts are in his head, and it helps him gain a little distance and perspective. Which helps to improve his concentration.

3. Know when to say no

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, said a key component of productivity was knowing when to say ‘no’. He believed that saying no is a great way to stay focused on what you’re currently working on.

Warren Buffett agrees with Jobs, saying that really successful people are different to successful people because they say ‘no’ to pretty much everything.

4. Make quick decisions

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has said that decisions should be made with about 70% of the information you wish you had. Because if you wait around for more, you’re probably going too slowly.

Bezos’ philosophy on the matter goes further: he believes making the right decision is less important than making a quick decision. And this is because many decisions can be reversed. So, if you’re wrong, there’s not a whole lot to lose.

So, as long as you’re good at correcting your bad decisions, being wrong can work out to be less costly than making the right decision slowly.

5. Get enough sleep

Bezos, Gates, Musk, Gary Vaynerchuck (co-founder of VaynerMedia) and other entrepreneurs all say they get as much sleep as they need. Bezos sleeps about eight hours a night; Gates says he needs about seven hours a night, and Musk gets about 6-7 hours of sleep.

Sleep deprivation is not conducive to productivity. It’s important that you figure out how much sleep you need and make that part of your routine to increase productivity.

6. Streamline your focus

Steve Jobs was a big proponent of this. And it is part of how he made Apple what it is today. Focus on one thing at a time.

Focus primarily on the foundation of what you are building, and ignore the peripheral tasks until you’ve finished. Once you’ve completed the main task, find the next main task and keep going. Everything else will follow.

7. Create a routine and stick to it

Muhammad Ali, not an entrepreneur but one of the greatest boxers who ever lived, hated his training routine. Hated every minute of it. But he wanted to be the best. So, he stuck to it.

You need to create a schedule/routine that works for you and stuck to it. This will involve a fair bit of trial and error, but once you nail down a rhythm to your routine, it’ll become second nature and you’ll start to perform your routine with ease.

8. The art of multitasking

Conventional productivity wisdom says don’t multitask. After all, we just mentioned Jobs’ views of streamlining your focus.

However, Elon Musk disagrees. He works 15-hour days, runs three companies, has 5 children, and never stops working. He’ll be scanning invoices while taking meetings and sending emails—all the while texting his kids.

So, multitasking does work for some—it’s all a question of finding out what works for you, and sticking to that.

9. Know when to take a break

John D. Rockefeller, considered the wealthiest individual of all time, believed in naps, working at a leisurely pace, and not trying to cram something into every minute of every day.

He routinely took post-lunch, and post-dinner naps and paced himself. Rockefeller believed one could achieve more by working at an even pace and not trying to attempt too much.

Winston Churchill was another who believed in afternoon naps as a way of helping stay sharp and productive.

10. Hold on to your passion

Walt Disney struggled financially in the beginning, after all, it’s not easy to help pioneer an entirely new industry. But his passion for storytelling and animation kept him going. It helped him stay productive through the emotional and financial setbacks.

If you keep your desire and passion for what you’re doing at the forefront of your thoughts you will better be able to keep going, stay motivated and remain productive.

Accept the inevitability of adversity and keep pushing through.

11. Make lists

All entrepreneurs already mentioned talk about making lists. Whether it’s goal setting or just a to-do list that you then share with others. This helps you stay accountable, which can help you stay motivated.

Making lists also helps you to prioritize and gain perspective. Steve Jobs said that he used to make a list of everything he wanted to do, looked at the most important, and ignored everything else until the most important task was completed.

12. Keep it simple

Warren Buffett has said that more often than not the simplest behavior is far more effective than complex, difficult behavior. This echoes the idea of streamlining your focus — don’t focus on 55 things at once, focus on a few things that will help you generate revenue, and hone in on them.

And it doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Often the simplest solution is the most effective, and the most profitable.

13. Always carry a notebook

Richard Branson, co-founder of Virgin Group, said that a notebook was one of the top five most important tools he carried with him on the road.

He uses it for everything from jotting down ideas, suggestions for problem solving, contacts, and more. Note taking is an incredibly useful productivity tool, as well as being useful creativity, memory, and new ideas.

Branson has said that if more leaders took notes, they would have more ideas, and probably more success.

Of course, if you don’t want to carry around a notebook, taking notes on your phone can also suffice. What’s important is building a habit of taking notes.

14. Write everything out

Amy Landino, American entrepreneur and best-selling author, takes Branson’s note taking one step further.

She said she writes everything down. Documenting everything from talking points that need to be discussed to any other bases that need to be covered. Once you have everything down, including deadlines, it’s just a case of reverse-engineering deadlines and other goals.

15. Give Yourself 15 minutes each morning

Similar to Rockefeller’s know when to take a break, this productivity tip from Landino is about starting your day on your terms. For some people it’s just about finding a few minutes to gather themselves.

Other people use it to meditate and get themselves into the appropriate mindset for the day.

Whatever you do, it’s an important part of productivity to get yourself in the right mindset for the day.

Not racing into the day like a whirlwind can actually make you more prepared. If you only go slow at one part of the day, make it the morning. It can help you be better switched on for the rest of the day.

Find what works for you

The caveat that goes with each of these tips is that they are what worked for the individual entrepreneur. Elon Musk is a successful multitasker, Steve Jobs believed in working on one thing at a time.

Rockefeller believed in working at a steady pace and napping a few times a day: others believe in working 15 hours a day.

Some meditate, others enjoy their morning coffee, tea, or gym session. Ali hated his training regime, but he knew it would help him to become a champion. All of them knew what they were/are passionate about and stuck to it.

What is Agile Project Management and How Remote Teams Implement Agile With a Team Management Software

zoebourque — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 10:26:59 +0000

Agile project management started life as a methodology for software development. It put forth the idea that interacting with staff and clients is more important than processes and tools. Agile project management also prioritizes collaboration over contract negotiation; and being adaptive is better than blindly following a plan.

Which just makes sense. And you can see why this approach has been taken from the world of software development and implemented across a variety of fields.

In a world where being able to adapt to change has become the norm, companies who are able to adopt agile project management are far more likely to be consistently successful.

Especially when it comes to working in environments where new data and insights can be obtained easily. Ignoring new information because of a plan made 2 or 3 weeks ago is not good for long-term success.

Previously, change was ignored because it was deemed expensive, these days with the right team members and software, it’s easy to incorporate it into any project.

The ability to adapt to what’s in front of you right now, can ensure a project is completed on time, to budget, and to maximum effect.

Implementing Agile Project Management

As a philosophy, agile is all about empowering people, how they interact with others, and the constant delivery of value.

It empowers employees, encourages diverse ideas, and creates accountability. Agile also encourages continuous improvement and the benefits being released early. It makes feedback loops possible, so that decisions can be tested and assessed early.

The feedback loop and other benefits may not be possible in traditional project management scenarios, where the project is managed in a strict linear fashion.

The Core Values of Agile Project Management

There are 4 core values present in agile project management. These core values can be implemented by following 12 guiding principles.

Agile project management’s 4 core values:

1. People and communication over tools and processes

No matter how sophisticated technology becomes, humans will also be a vital part of project management. A company which relies too much on tools and processes may find themselves unable to adapt when situations and circumstances change.

2. Adaptable software instead of comprehensive documentation

Documentation is necessary, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. Having team management software that allows everyone to do their job, and makes it easy to change and keep everyone in the loop, is far more beneficial to the overall outcome.

3. Collaborating with customers rather than negotiating a contract

Too many businesses forget how important customers are. Indeed, they can be quite an important asset. By involving them during the project where necessary can help to make sure the end product is exactly what they are looking for.

4. Adapt to change instead of sticking with a plan

This core value is the biggest difference. Traditional project management is all about sticking to the plan. In the traditional model, the need for change was seen as bad planning, and expensive. So, it was avoided as much as possible.

By adapting to an agile approach, it makes change as necessary as possible. With a project being broken into small sections for review and change in course if required.

Agile Project Management’s 12 Principles

The whole basis of agile project management is that it can be altered and modified to suit each team and project. What that said, there are 12 general principles that should act as the cornerstone of all agile project management decisions.

The 12 guiding principles are:

1. Customer satisfaction

This needs to be the biggest priority. Customer satisfaction throughout the process of your project should be a main focus to ensure you meet their expectations and deliver on-time and to specifications.

2. Shifting requirements

A customer’s needs may change, even late into the project. By adapting the agile philosophy and processes, you can help improve the competitive advantage of the customer.

3. Frequent delivery of projects

Delivering projects consistently—either weekly or monthly—is ideal. The shorter the timescale the better.

4. Daily team coordination

Team members need to be able to collaborate and coordinate together each day when working on a project.

5. Find the right people for the project

When putting client projects together, you want the most motivated team members. You need to provide them with the support, and the work environment, they require to get the job done. Part of this means finding team members you trust enough to get the job done properly.

6. Face-to-face meetings

The most effective and efficient way of communication is face-to-face meetings. Especially, between different teams. If it’s not possible to do this in-person, then video conference calling is the obvious alternative.

7. Progress is in the final product

Sounds kind of obvious, right? But the final product truly is the final measure of progress.

8. Sustainable development

You’ll know if you’re following the agile philosophy because there will be sustainable development. Using this process, everyone should be capable of sustaining a consistent pace, for as long as this process is being followed.

9. Attention to detail

Consistent attention to detail—to good design and technical excellence—increases agility.

10. Simplicity

The simplest solution is often the best. Reducing the amount of unnecessary work, and fine-tuning processes is essential.

11. Self-organizing teams

You will find that teams that can organize themselves, and collaborate, will often produce the best quality of work.

12. Assess and evaluate

Teams need to regularly reflect on what they are doing and if there is a more efficient way to do the work. Then they need to refine what they are doing accordingly.

Why Team Management Software Helps a Remote Team Successfully Implement Agile Project Management

Agile project management requires constant communication, easy-to-track milestones, and the ability to constantly assess, refine and adapt to new information.

All of which can be difficult when some—or all—of your team is working remotely. With team management software, communication is made easy.

Constant communication has never been easier with team management software

As most of these software programs have their own internal messaging service. Keeping an open line of communication between everyone working on a project allows even those working remotely to stay in the loop and keep up to date with the project.

Not to mention the ability to comment on tasks in real time for those working on that task to see. This allows for team members working remotely to stay on track, and to make changes as necessary. Team managers can also set tasks so only certain team members can see them.

The advantage of this is it keeps others from being distracted, and allows each team member to focus on what they need to do.

Easy-to-track milestones to ensure a project is on time

Milestones ensure that certain parts of a project are completed before the team moves on. The advantage of this being important steps in a project’s completion aren’t missed.

With team management software you can set up projects so that tasks must be completed in a certain order. Of course, if it becomes necessary, this can be changed to suit new information.

Easily assess, refine, and adapt to new information

With constant communication and easy-to-track milestones it makes assessing, refining and adapting simple.

Short face-to-face daily meetings allow everyone to stay up-to-date with what’s going on. Depending on the size of the team, you may want to give each member a minute or two to apprise the rest of the team what they’re working on and where they are.

Which helps to ensure everyone is on the right track and that the project is being completed correctly.

These brief meetings will also allow team managers to assess what’s going on. If necessary, they may refine what people are doing, or what tasks need to be worked on next to make sure everything is going according to plan.

Not that the team manager needs to do this during the meeting. The idea of the meeting is to be short, get an update, and then allow everyone to go back to work. Once the meeting is over, a team manager can use team management software to refine certain people’s tasks to keep the project on track.

Additionally, if a team manager receives new information from the client, it is easy for them to open up the team management software and comment on tasks, change tasks, and update people all at the same time.

Team Management Software Enables Effortless Execution of Agile Project Management

In today’s business climate, being able to smoothly and effortlessly adapt to change is vital to success. And with team management software change doesn’t have to be expensive.

Working closely with clients and team members allows for a project to be completed on time, and to the client’s exact specifications.

To successfully implement agile project management in your business, finding the right team management software can make all the difference.

What is Team Management Software and Why Your Team Needs One Right Now

zoebourque — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 08:25:37 +0000

Team management software (TMS) helps increase productivity and improve a team’s overall quality of work. A good TMS solution is able to do this as it helps managers, and leaders, to better communicate, collaborate and manage team members.

The difference between team management software and personal task management software

Personal task management software tends to work best for an individual, or a small team. And the team wouldn’t want to be any bigger than 5 people before the software becomes unwieldy. That is, before you would need to upgrade to something more robust.

This is because personal task management software solutions aren’t designed to be used for anything bigger than start-ups and freelancers.

Which is why team management software is more effective for most businesses. This particular type of software allows for greater levels of organization, communication and collaboration for small-to-medium sized businesses.

The better team management software programs — like Quire — allow managers to more efficiently break down projects into tasks and subtasks for transparency and productivity.

Productivity because it allows each team member to see what they are working on and how it relates to the project as a whole. Which is also how it helps with productivity.

The 8 ways team management software can contribute to your business’ success

If you’re looking to reduce risk, better manage your tasks and projects, improve communication and collaboration, and reduce overall cost-per-project, team management software can help.

No matter how complex the project is. And no matter what level of communication is necessary: whether with an in-house team, an external team or collaborating with both, a team management software solution can help you and your team stay connected.

1. Complex project management

Team management software (TMS) delves deeper into complex project planning and tracking than personal task management software is capable of.

Of course, a project doesn’t need to be complex for your business to benefit from a TMS solution. This software can be used to create task lists and sublists for small projects, to ensure a project is completed correctly the first time.

And this software makes it easier to track and measure the overall progress of each team member and the project as a whole.

Some of what can be tracked and measured includes the more complex nuances of a project. These nuances include team communication, deadlines, and budget.

2. Agile task management

One of the biggest benefits of team management software is improving efficiencies. To do this, it’s necessary to find what is slowing you down, and resolve that.

The simplest way of achieving this is through effective to-do lists and efficiently delegating tasks.

To-do lists

TMS solutions feature interactive tasks lists that allow you to add all upcoming tasks. They also come with the option of setting reminders for deadlines. This helps prioritize task and to-do lists. It also enables you to maintain a bird’s eye view of tasks being completed. who’s completing them. And how long it’s taking.

Delegating tasks

Making sure the right team members complete the appropriate tasks doesn’t need to be time consuming. A TMS solution lets you assign tasks quickly.

And it will notify the team member that a task has been assigned to them in real time. With in-built messaging, you can easily communicate with your team to let them know what’s going on.

Shared tasks

Creating shared tasks, or adding a team member to a task, improves collaboration. When a task is assigned to multiple people, it will show up in all their tasks lists. Comments can be seen in real time, making it easier to track what each person is doing.

As well as seeing what each person is responsible for. This helps with accountability and progress reports. And making sure no one’s doubling up on work.

3. Team communication and collaboration

Building on from complex project management and agile task management, team communication and collaboration help further improve a team’s productivity and efficiency.

A TMS solution with built-in instant messaging is necessary for streamlined communication. It enables you and your team to discuss a task without having to open, or rely on, another messaging platform.

File sharing

Being able to share files in your TMS solution enhances collaboration by making all data is quickly and easily accessible from one place.

This is far more effective and practical than sending emails back and forth, or relying on spreadsheets for storing data. It can all be done using team management software.

4. Shared calendars and projects

Most TMS solutions allow you to integrate or sync your tasks with a calendar. The advantage of this is it's easier to track your projects and plan ahead.

You can also send calendar invites to both team members and clients, making it easier to keep on top of—and not miss any—meetings.

You can also share a view of the project with a client so they too can see the breakdown of the project. The key advantage of this is transparency. Your clients know what’s being worked on, and the deadlines to assure them everything will be completed to the deadline.

5. Task reporting

If you just need something to create and check off tasks, you can do that with any basic app. But what most successful businesses want is to be able to report on what has been done, and how it has been done.

The best team management software solutions give you access to detailed reports and effective tools to achieve the surest control over your team’s work.

Teamwork summary

The advantage of a team management software is that it, in addition to an outline of your current tasks, also provides an outline of work completed.

The advantage of this is that you can create detailed reports about sales, accounting and marketing.

Task reports

Tasks reports are good for accounting. Figuring how much time is being spent by who and on which assignments allows you to see which clients your team is spending the most time on.

So, if you’re billing your clients hourly, this report will be a transparent way of showing the work completed and how long it took.

Gain more insight with detailed reporting

All reports should be data-driven. The data you’re able to acquire, the more useful insight you will possess. This is why it’s so important to have a TMS solution that allows you to collect a large amount of data. This includes:

Time spent
Completed tasks
Related project data
Past events
Customer data

To get all this data, your team has to fill out all the information about their work as they go, accurately. The benefit of this is more data-driven decision making that can help to improve productivity and efficiencies.

6. Better understanding of your true resource capability

When you use team management software it provides you with clearer insight into your company’s overall resource capabilities.

As resource capability planning is a key factor in the success of a service or project. Using the TMS solution will help you to:

Optimize team workflows through capacity reporting and resource forecasts.
Look more closely at, and better analyze, why you go over budget. This will then help inform what you need to do differently next time.
Maximize just how far your budget can go.

Overall, using the right TMS solution can help you to improve overall business productivity, better manage customer expectations, reduce costs, and exceed your customer service agreements.

Another advantage is it can also contribute an essential tool for planning further growth for your business.

7. Improve cost and budgeting control

As has been alluded to earlier, a TMS solution can help to improve how you spend on your projects. Indeed, by being able to monitor tasks, and in what time they’re completed, it will provide a better understanding of where the budget needs to be spent.

Also, team management software will ensure you can monitor how much you actually spent against how much you planned to spend.

The advantage here is you’re able to get a more accurate look at the overview of your current budget. And gain financial projections for the future in real time.

8. Reduce project failures and minimize project risk

The days of trying to keep tabs on everything with spreadsheets and email folders are gone. Now, there’s less chance of tasks going missing or being completely forgotten.

There’s also less risk that key parts of a project will be left undone. Or that no one will know who's responsible for which tasks. And deadlines. Deadlines are easier to track.

What this all amounts to is a significant reduction in both project risk and failure.

How to Increase Team Productivity Based on Myers-Briggs Personality Types

zoebourque — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 07:08:27 +0000

Understanding your team’s different personalities and how this affects their approach to work and their output can help dramatically increase overall productivity. You can learn a lot about someone’s true character in the way they act, and react, to situations with others.

Indeed, how your staff interact with each other can either improve or hamper productivity. To prevent misunderstandings, conflicts, and the workflow from damming up, a manager needs to understand the different ways team members’ personalities affect their daily work interactions.

The completion of projects relies heavily on teamwork. If teams are unable to work together, projects fall apart, and clients don’t get the work they are paying for.

By understanding the personality type of individual team members, it can be easier to effectively manage productivity, general task workflow, and project completion.

The role of the personality types in teamwork

One of the easiest, and most successful ways of understanding individual team member’s personalities is using the Myers Briggs test (MBTI test). This can measure the kind of person your team are. The advantage of this is in better understanding your staff, you will be able to get the most productivity out of them.

The test is not about aptitude, but rather about personal preference. That is, about a person’s tendencies, what scenarios they work better in, and in which situations they’re more likely to thrive in.

The preferences are between a series of two opposing traits:

1. Introverted vs Extroverted

Introversion and extraversion are often referred to as attitudes that depict how a person’s cognitive functions operate. One exists, and thrives, in a world of places, things, and people. And the other is more focused on internal reflections, ideas, and thoughts.

Introverts are more thought-orientated. A lot of thought has to go into something before they take action. Whereas extroverts are much more active. Their momentum is maintained sole by their energy.

Introverts tend to create deeper knowledge, while extroverts are after more knowledge. And finally, introverts tend to recharge in the comfort of their solitude. Extroverts gain their energy by being around others.

2. Sensing vs Intuition

Intuition and sensation are two functions, and they reflect the way a person gathers information. Those who are more on the sensing side of this dichotomy, want to see tangible evidence. They want to be able to smell, taste, feel, see, or hear something for it to be valid.

The intuitive ones prefer their instincts, feelings, or hunches. They use their intuition to connect information, using concepts and ideas to explain others without being too hung up on physical evidence.

3. Thinking vs Feeling

These are the judging functions: feeling against thinking, and they represent how a person makes their decisions. A feeling person goes with their gut instinct. A thinking person will consider their options more rationally before making a decision.

The feeling person will prefer to make decisions based on their emotions. Typically, empathy is the biggest factor in their decision making, along with considering others’ needs.

The thinker employs logic and reason, detaching from their emotions, before coming to a decision.

4. Perception vs Judging

This is not an attitude nor is it a function like the last two. This last pair is about a person’s lifestyle preferences. This last pair only really works when combined with the above three pairs.

For example: A Feeling/Judging person will be empathetic; a Thinking/Judging person looks at life through a logical perspective.

Someone who’s perception is their dominant preference will mostly likely either be an Intuition/Perception person or a Sensing/Perception person.

By understanding the differing personality types, you can better organize and manage a team. Check this link for a comprehensive list of the 16 personality types. The Myers Brigg test doesn’t just determine who is outgoing and who is shy. It also assesses how individuals get their energy (do they need people or solitude to energize).

So, how do you use personality types to help increase productivity?

3 ways to use personality types to help increase productivity

Categorizing team members as simple extroverted or introverted is unhelpfully reductive. It is much more productive to use information on how different personality types work to ensure managers can get the most out of their teams.

The changes don’t have to be big either. Small changes to aspects like the workweek and office environment can help to improve focus for varying personality types.

Three ways to help your team members be more productive:

1. Reduce noise pollution

If your staff are in an office, it’s ideal to have work spaces where people who prefer quitter work spaces can thrive. This can be achieved with noise cancelling headphones, and areas where people looking for a little quiet can excuse themselves.

By creating these quieter spaces, or providing noise cancelling headphones it also helps the people who need noise. Relocating people who need quite allows those who thrive off noise and a little audible chaos to be comfortable in their ideal environment.

2. Offer remote and flexible working options

This has become easier as more and more companies have been forced to allow their staff to work from home. However, remote and flexible working options still have their challenges and obstacles.

In a pre-COVID survey, it was determined that 67% of workers would be more productive if they could work from home. Of course, for this to work, managers must be able to manage and monitor tasks and project workflow.

In the same survey, 61% said they’d be able to get more work done if they had more flexible work hours. Again, this requires managers and HR departments to have the right processes in place. This ensures that the projects are completed on time with minimal disruptions even if different departments work at different times.

3. Restructure breaks

Some productivity experts actually encourage people to take as many as 7 breaks each day for maximum productivity. However, anyone who’s ever worked in an office knows that is simply not practical. Finding time to take a lunch break is difficult enough.

The one thing all experts do agree on is that no matter what your personality type, a break away from work is important. Whether you are more introverted/quiet and just need to get away from the office and recharge somewhere, or you need to go and socialise with friends for your break.

Either way, it’s necessary to literally and figuratively walk away from work to recharge. Doing this can have a significant positive impact on your daily productivity.

How task management software can help improve productivity

Task management software can help managers work with different personality types to help ensure they are working at their most productive. For some personality types who need a little direction, like the advocate and the mediator, task management software helps provide that direction.

Feel in control and have a sense of direction

It does this by providing a visual collaborative platform that shows team members the project. Specifically, which tasks need to be done, and in what order.

This makes task workflow a visual process so that everything can be arranged and prioritized for those who like a sense of order in their work day. As well for those who like knowing the reason they’re doing task X is because task Y can’t be done until X is complete.

Easier communication

Task software management also makes it easy to communicate with your team members. And for those who get anxiety at the thought of phone calls, you can leave comments in the tasks and other people will get notified in real time.

There is also the option to message people through the task management software.

Work remotely or flexibly without fuss

Want or need to work remotely? Need to work flexible hours due to other commitments or health issues? Working remotely has become a reality for many businesses lately. With the right task management software, all you need is an internet connection, laptop, and your logins and you can work from anywhere, anytime.

Task management software allows creatives to focus their effort and energy doing what they’re best at. And the management of tasks, ensuring work is completed on time and in the right order is taken care of for them.

You can do teamwork in real time, no matter where you are. Sharing and delegating tasks to colleagues, and you can see their modifications on your screen straight away.

Productivity tips for different personality types

From ensuring staff take at least one meaningful break during the day, to providing an ideal work environment, there are quite a few things you can do to improve productivity for your team.

Improving your team’s ability to collaborate, whether they are in office or at home, goes a long way to increasing productivity.

Quire’s task management software has helped hundreds of organizations dramatically increase teamwork productivity, workflow, and project management completion. Whether your business is entirely remote, in-office or a combination of the two, our software can provide the solution for seamless task management.

This will help to ensure teamwork is carried out smoothly and efficiently. And, has the added advantage of being recorded into the software for future reference.

Importance of transparency in team communication and how a task management software can help

zoebourque — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 06:33:34 +0000

Transparency has a couple of different meanings. One is the literal sense of being transparent, another is, “the quality of being done in an open way without secrets.”

In terms of task management, it means having a system that allows all team members relevant access to necessary information. And done in a way that is efficient and easy.

There are those project managers who believe that transparency can actually be harmful and even risky to a project’s success. However, transparency in a project has benefits that will always outweigh any potential risks.

Different kinds of teams also have their own issues to tackle when it comes to transparency. For example, the way a remote team communicates differs from how an in-the-office team will communicate. And this is often reflected in how productive a team is.

In this article we’re going to look at how to improve team communication transparency whether you’re working remotely or in the office. And how this benefits team productivity in a remote work culture.

Team communication transparency

As mentioned, there are those project managers who feel that transparency poses risks to the success of a project. The problem with this is that leaving employees in the dark about important information often leads to tasks being done incorrectly.

Which isn’t intentional on the employees’ part. After all they can only work with what they’ve got. This is why transparency in team communication is vital. The advantages of transparency are many, but we’ve selected three to illustrate the point.

3 reasons why transparency in team communication is vital

1. Create Trust and teamwork

Being transparent in a team is about building openness, trust, and honesty. Transparency can make a team work better as a cohesive unit. Teams working together on a project tend to trust each other more when they are encouraged to know, and understand, what the whole team is doing.
This also engenders a more collaborative nature which goes a long way to helping a team succeed at their individual tasks as well as completing the project on time.

2. Ensure work stays on track

When each team member knows what is expected of them, and of each other, it helps to prevent delays. Missed milestones and delays can either disrupt or kill a project. That is why transparency in team communication is necessary to ensure there are bottlenecks. And to ensure situations can be resolved before they become problems.

3. Improve a team’s productivity

Access to all the necessary information about a project has been shown to improve productivity. Having access to key information allows team members to keep working, rather than waiting for a project manager to feed them tasks piecemeal. Which is a slow, tedious, and often unnecessary way of managing tasks.
Additionally, having access to all the necessary information makes working collaboratively with other members on a project much easier.

The difference between transparency in remote teamwork communication and face-to-face teamwork communication

But transparency does look different depending on how your teams operate. Remote teamwork communication is, by necessity, different to face-to-face teamwork communication.

Many have argued that working in an office is the most productive way. While others—especially employees—argue that home has fewer distractions than the office, making it more productive.

In truth, it’s not a question of which environment has few distractions, or more. It’s a question of communication and transparency. Conventional wisdom states that being in an office is more productive, because it’s quicker and easy to have a conversation, make a decision, and get back to work.

But this conventional wisdom pre-dates task management software, and an ever-evolving work environment. Which isn’t to say that working from home is more productive. What it is saying is how you manage your projects, their associated tasks, and your team member’s time is what determines the quality of productivity.

Remote teamwork communication vs in-office teamwork communication

The difference between remote teamwork and in-office teamwork communication can be boiled down to four key areas. These include how meetings are held, where decisions are made, how productivity is measured, and project management.

Meetings: In an office environment, meetings occur exclusively in-office and are seldom recorded. Whereas in a remote teamwork situation, meetings are kept brief, productive, and are recorded for future reference.
Decision making: In a remote teamwork situation, decisions are made online during operating hours. These too are kept on record for future reference. Too frequently key decisions are made around a water cooler or at drinks after work. When this does happen, there’s no record of the conversation, and only hearsay can be passed to team members later on.
Measuring productivity: For in-office employees, being in the office, sitting at their desk was associated with being meaningful or busy work. Remote staff’s productivity is measured rather simply by how much work they achieve rather than the others they spend achieving it.
Project management: In-office project managers are expected to be in the office all the time. For a remote team’s project manager, they are able to work from anywhere with an internet connection. With the right project management software, it’s not where the project manager works, but how well they communicate.
Whether your team is predominantly in-office or remote, transparency can be improved with task management software. And in improving transparency, you are improving the productivity of your team.

5 ways task management software can boost productivity

Transparency is known to improve productivity. The right task management software can boost productivity by improving trust, increasing communication, ensuring greater accountability, customizing permissions, and improving client interactions.

1. Improved trust

Be wary of anyone who tells you trust isn’t an important part of teamwork. High levels of trust are important because it creates:

· the confidence to admit if mistakes are made, and correct them.
· a culture of authenticity and joy.
· a willingness to help others succeed in their tasks.
· the tenacity to keep working, even if there are setbacks.
· the ability to accept tough feedback, as well the confidence to provide it.

But, of course, trust is not an easy thing to build. To do so requires repeated personal, helpful, and productive interactions. And these interactions can really only take place in an environment that is transparent. And it doesn’t matter if the environment is in-office or digital.

2. Increased communication

Strong communication is the most effective way to promote transparency. Concise, clear, and considerate communication enables collaboration by making the process easier for team members to discuss issues and ideas.

Using a top-grade project management software (like Quire), it provides team members with several communication channels. Project management software allows team members to tag specific people, send instant messages, and leave comments for all to see.

With a cloud-based storage, the software is able to retain all notes so that people can look at them if necessary.

3. Greater accountability

It’s expected of team members in transparent environments that will hold each other accountable. The right project management software will include features that make accountability possible.

In a project platform, it can be helpful to see each person’s task list, to see which specific tasks they’ve been assigned. So, no one’s unsure who’s responsible for which tasks, and their due dates.

4. Customized permissions

Transparency doesn’t have to be total for it to be effective. After all, there are some confidential aspects and information of a contract or project that may need to remain confidential. Quire’s task management software makes it possible to provide team members with different permission levels.

This way teams can still do the work they need to do collaboratively, but not all team members need access to billing information. Permissions can be applied to everything from tasks and messages to entire projects. And these permissions are not set in stone—it’s not difficult for permissions to be changed as needed.

5. Better client interactions

Project management software is able to create reports to track metrics. The sort of metrics that clients want to know about like billable hours.

Customizable dashboards allow project managers to create several dashboards. For example: you can have a dashboard for internal task management, and another that has a breakdown of numbers and other data necessary for client calls.

By being transparent with clients, they are often happier for being informed.

A Guide to Deep Work: How to Achieve the Ultimate Productivity

zoebourque — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 06:33:40 +0000

If you are looking for a way to become more effective, more productive and just better at everything you do, deep work is the productivity mindset you need.

Deep work is not some marketing gimmick designed to sell books and speaking gigs. Rather, deep work is a way to approach your professional life in such a way that generates the best results consistently.

This is not a case of: work smarter, not harder. This is a case of: work smarter and harder to produce a superior result in a consistent and sustainable way. Cal Newport, who coined the phrase deep work described it as a method that “will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship.”

The difference between shallow work and deep work

Deep work is “the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task,” this is different to shallow work which are “tasks that almost anyone, with a minimum of training, could accomplish.”

For example, shallow work is answering emails, responding to messages, or attending meetings. This stuff is easy to do, and it makes us feel as though we’re being productive. Shallow work also typically involves a lot of interaction with other people, which also makes it attractive.

The sense of accomplishment derived from shallow work makes it appealing. However, deep work is what provides most value. And not only value in terms of output, but also an increase in the quality of valuable output.

When you start to engage in deep work, you will feel a greater sense of achievement in the work you’re doing.

6 steps to achieve the ultimate productivity with deep work

So, how do you engage in deep work? To make the most of deep work you need to turn it into a habit. It must be a part of every work day in order for it to be of any use to you. Here are six steps to help you effectively start using deep work:

1. Prepare your week and clarify your goals

Preparing your week in advance, or if your weeks chop and change too much, prepare the next day. This allows you to start each day with a bit of clarity.

Preparing your day or week can start with goal setting. What is the end-goal of the next day’s work? What should it achieve? From there you can work backwards to determine what you need to do to achieve that goal. Break that down into chunks that you can do throughout the day that will achieve your daily goals.

The clarity this preparation provides will help you to concentrate more specifically on the task at hand.

2. Automate what can be automated

Mapping out your daily to-do list, setting goals and delegating shallow work should not be a time-consuming task. You should, ideally, be able to do it in an efficient and easy-to-manage way.

With the right project management and centralized collaboration tool, it’s quite easy to create your own to-do list as well as ensure other tasks that can be done by another staff member are delegated.

Some of the project management tools that can help you automate your workflow: Quire, Asana, Trello, etc.

This frees up your time to focus on what’s important. With the help of a project management tool like Quire, you can keep on top of your own tasks in order of priority while also checking (at the end of the day) that others have completed their work.

3. Focus on one task at a time

Deep work is about concentrating on one task at a time. By giving all your attention and all your focus to only one thing for an extended period of time, it allows your brain to better process what’s in front of it.

Focus on this task for 40 minutes or an hour or two, and you’ll find you are able to accomplish a lot. And quickly.

The next step is then to rest. At the end of a deep work session, don’t immediately try to jump into the next task.

Resting will allow your brain to wind down and leave the last task. After a rest you can approach a new task with a fresh perspective: allowing you to devote all of your attention to that singular goal.

4. Create a ritual

To get the most out of a deep work session, you need to build a ritual; a routine. You need to turn deep work into a daily habit. When you prepare your day, part of that preparation will involve chunks of time devoted to deep work.

This may be in hour or two-hour chunks during a day, but it is important that you stick to these times. Remove all distractions, disconnect from the world, and work on your allotted deep work tasks.

Your ritual must include (along with an allotted time):

A specific place for you to work: somewhere free of distractions.
A plan of attack. How do you plan to eliminate all distractions for this allotted time to sustain the deep work mentality?
Sustenance. From something as simple as starting with a cup of coffee, to having the right kind of energy-providing snacks on hand to help keep you focused.

Creating a ritual takes time and practice. Creating a space where you can work uninterrupted and at maximum efficiency may take some time to work out. But once you have, start slowly. Your first deep work session may be only 20 minutes. And you might do that 3 times a day.

Then you’ll move up to 30 minutes, then 40, then eventually to an hour. Professionals who have been doing deep work for a while can maintain the deep work focus for as long as four hours.

But it takes time, and practice and patience.

5. Shut down social media

For deep work to be effective you must remove all distractions. Deep work is about putting all your focus, energy and attention into one place. Social media will drag part of your brain one way while another part of your brain tries to focus on the task at hand.

You don’t need cat videos on your mind while you’re trying to create high-quality value.

As part of your schedule, allocate small blocks of time where you can briefly check social media, emails and messages. But stick to these brief blocks of time. While you’re at work, you need to focus on what matters most: doing your job well.

6. Switch off for the day

When you’re done for the day. Be done. Don’t try to eke out an extra hour or two after dinner in the hopes of getting more done.
After the strain of your day (and if you haven’t strained your brain during a deep work session, you haven’t done a deep work session), you need to let your brain relax and recharge.
However, that doesn’t necessarily always mean watching terrible TV or TikTok videos. Disconnect from work and do something that’s relaxing but not (necessarily) mind numbing.

How to achieve the ultimate productivity

Deep work is a method of approaching cognitively demanding tasks free from distractions. It’s about ignoring the shallow work long enough to ensure you’re creating high-quality value that no one else could.

To help you focus, you want to be able to easily create to-do lists, streamline task delegation and have all this in one easy-to-manage, easy-to access place.

Not only will this help you prepare your day and set your goals, it will also allow you to stay away from shallow work until its allotted time in your scheduled day.

The overall effect of a combination of deep work plus a project management and centralized collaboration tool, is increased productivity for yourself and the whole team.

The Art of Being Productive While Staying In

zoebourque — Wed, 06 May 2020 08:50:28 +0000

In the last couple months, you must have been fed up with all of the terms “working at home” or “lockdown” or “social distancing”. There are thousands of posts on social media from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter that show how “staying inside” ruins the international economy, kills productivity and overall bores people to death.

The current situation is dire, no matter where you are right now. Nations announce their plans to lockdown for another month, businesses let employees go on sabbatical leave, economy curve shoots straight downward, etc. Everything you read in the media makes you worry. Invisibly, without notice, we are losing our minds. Staying in appears to be the worst thing that can ever happen to human beings. But, is it the end of the world if you’re forced to stay at home for another week?

What can we do now? What should we do to make staying in less worse? How can we train our minds to cope with the new level of boredom? What should we prepare for our mental health? Today, in this post, as a team that works remotely almost from the first day, we would like to reveal the art of staying in while still keeping sane and getting things done.

1. Start a book club with a checklist

We usually make endless excuses to avoid reading: too busy, too tired, not in the mood. But now, you are staying inside and reading should be prioritized. Make a to-do list and write down the books that you are currently reading or you want to read in the future. For each book, write one or two key takeaways. You should commit to read for at least 20-30 pages a day and keep a reading journal to track your reading progress. You will be amazed by how many books you have read when the quarantine period is over.

Here are some of the books that we recommend you to read during this challenging time:

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund: When we are all facing a pandemic crisis, it is really difficult to just “stay hopeful to see the curve will flatten one day”. This book is devoted to presenting readers with ten instincts (that are all proven with data collection and practical analysis) that keep us from seeing the world factfully. Hans argues that these instincts make it difficult to put events in perspective. Don’t trust the biased media, don’t divide the world into “us” and “them”, look for the facts and mindfully examine the data. The world is getting better, and so are we.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek: Everybody knows what they do, some know how they do it, very few people know why they do what they do. The WHY theory gives us the purposes and beliefs behind every action, the ability to make better decisions as entrepreneurs as well as individuals. If you want to sell a product, start with the reason why your potential customers would want to buy your product. The book provides great insights from business, military and social movements where leaders identify their Why and how they breathe the WHY into their organizations.
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim: “The world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to” - quoted from this heart-warming book. In the pandemic period, the best thing we can do is to calm ourselves down and take this opportunity to rest our minds and embrace the surroundings. Don’t dwell on the negativity, instead focus on treating yourself with more compassion and always choose happiness.

2. Declutter the digital to-do lists and documents

This is the best time to practice mindfulness and minimal living. Start with your to do lists and hundreds of folders in your computer. If you are working with a digital to-do list app, export your documents to create backup files. If you are having troubles finding your file in your local drive, start auditing your computer.

Stop making excuses to start practicing digital minimalist lifestyle. A digital declutter starts with removing all optional apps and overdue tasks from your phone and your to-do list. You can go through every existing file to make sure you need them for future reference or you are just projecting your FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). You can also go through the mailbox and start unsubscribing from any mailing lists that you are looped in. Organizing your mailbox can easily help you pass a couple of hours by without feeling too overwhelmed.

3. Enrich yourself by learning a new language

You don’t have to be fluent in French by the time the lockdown is lifted but at least now you have time to learn something else besides Je t’aime or Bonjour! There’s no better way to pass the time, be productive and keep your mind sharp than learning a new language.

You can use a Kanban board to track your learning progress. Add new vocabulary in the to-do column and move them forward to the complete column as you remember them. You can even invite your friends to start a learning challenge with you by comparing notes and see how many words you can remember within one week.

4. Knock out some to-dos on your list

Island hopping on Animal Crossing sounds fun, but how about taking a small break from the virtual world? You want to feel active and alive even when you’re locked at home? Get on the to-do list you’ve been putting off forever. If you are a project manager, take this time as a precious opportunity to evaluate new ideas and maybe you can come up with a breakthrough when the lockdown finishes. Maybe you have some complicated projects that you have been procrastinating on since forever, now may be the good time to start tackling the first tasks in the to-do list.

People may feel stressed from doing nothing and making no value (it’s a real cause of depression, Google it!). Now you have time to do something, don’t waste it on HBO or Netflix. Even though you may not be doing anything productive to cure the coronavirus in particular, completing your to-do list can still give you the satisfaction feeling.

5. Just breathe and take a break from life

You might be fed up with all of the cliches telling you to meditate and relax. However, you still need to learn to stop your mind from freaking out from all of the negative thoughts. Stop checking the data and numbers about coronavirus every hour. This is a highly contagious virus, the number will keep going up, the curve has not been flatten yet, and when the lockdown is over, you will get notified. There is nothing you can do about this situation.

Indulging yourself with meditation, journaling, or even starting your own podcast channel. The post COVID-19 world will change forever. Take this time period to prepare yourself with the change. We are all in this together, but not everyone can come out of this pandemic with a better version of themselves.

Best productivity apps for GTD Method

zoebourque — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 08:28:34 +0000

If you never heard of GTD Method, you are missing out big time...

Check out productivity consultant David Allen’s 2001 book, Getting Things Done. Allen introduces a five-step method of applying order for a stress-free work life.

Capture: Write down everything in your mind, every task you have to do. Don’t think twice, just list everything out.
Clarify: Process the list and decide which task should be done first or required immediate attention.
Organize: Add due dates, delegate for others, build a reference file, etc. Basically, you put everything to where they belong to.
Review: Review your task list frequently to see if it needs to be updated or revised.
Engage: Start doing!

This amazing feeling of confidence in getting goals accomplished has proven to be quite popular—which is why so many people swear by the GTD method.

Great GTD tools for freelancers

For Capturing: Omnifocus is a free mind-mapping application that helps structure and prioritize ideas or tasks. Its click-and-drag interface supports easy branching from a central topic and speedy editing.

For Clarifying: The Quire task management app helps organize tasks into goals and supports collaboration and communication in achieving those goals. Key features include the Kanban board which helps focus and execute immediate tasks and the Peekaboo folder which tucks away postponed tasks until you’re ready to handle them.

For Creating Reminders: Google Calendar allows users to create personal and public calendars for free. Accessible from any device connected to the web, the application is great place to schedule and share appointments, events, and task reminders. You can also program your calendar to forward event and task reminders via text message.

How about yours? Have you heard of GTD Method? What is your favorite app to align GTD Method with?

Best project management software for Developers

zoebourque — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 07:34:21 +0000

Here are some of the best project management software for developers IMO.

Why did I choose these below project management software?

Reason 1: Support Keyboard Shortcuts up to 90% of the time.

Reason 2: Logical workflow, not heavy in features

Reason 3: Flexible features

Reason 4: Have Open API

Wrike

Wrike supplies you with customizable dashboards that you can adjust to your different projects and be flexible with your software development. They use Dynamic Request Forms and Gantt charts to help you schedule, prioritize, and assign tasks.

Custom Workflows shows a clear progress picture. You can also use the Wrike Proof Tool to share visually and provide feedback. Collaboration is easy with Wrike. You can tag videos and you are able to provide instant feedback.

Quire

Relatively new to the market, but Quire is a quite dynamic software. A lot of developers talk about Quire and its high functioning keyboard shortcuts. I've tried them out myself and I must say Quire is probably the only project management software that has the full keyboard shortcut for each feature.

Some of their features (for example: Kanban board, infinite hierarchical task list) are more advanced than some of the paid solutions and they remain free (until 2020). Collaboration is made easy with Quire as well.

Trello

Needless to say, Trello is already one of the most popular solutions for project management software. If you're a diehard fan of Kanban board, Trello is definitely the perfect solution for you.

Though you have to pay for most of the power-ups features to get the best out of Trello, it's worth every penny I must say. Trello is really the most powerful software for Kanban board users. The only downside is their report - not really advanced compared to other solutions.

Jira

Scrum users must know about Jira (for other users, I think Jira might be a bit complicated) for team collaboration and communication.

Their Scrum boards can be used by multiple teams and the board is super easy to use. Jira pricing plan can be a bit complicated but if your developer team has more than 20 people, Jira should be one of the most valuable investment.