4 Habits to Increase Productivity and Save Time

Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to cross off everything on your to-do list? Maybe it isn’t the problem of how many hours there are, but instead how you use those hours.

Many people, especially those who work from home and take care of their families, feel that there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything they want. This is why it’s so important to form certain habits that will increase your productivity, which in the end will save you time.

Below are four habits you should adopt to start increasing your productivity and get more done throughout the day.

Keep Decisions to a Minimum

The human brain can only make so many decisions in one day. Don’t underestimate just how much your brain works to make decisions all day long, even if they are as simple as what you’re going to eat for breakfast.

Try to keep your decisions to a minimum throughout the day so you have more brainpower to focus on more important things. One way to do this is to create a weekly menu of what you’ll eat and choose your outfits the night before.

Meal Prep Your Food

If you’re adamant about cooking your own meals because it’s healthier and cost-effective, then you probably know just how time-consuming it is. From preparing the ingredients to actually cooking to eating the meal to cleaning the kitchen afterward, it can take more than an hour out of every day.

Instead, try meal prepping your food a few days in advance. Then all you have to do is throw it in the microwave, and it’s done!

You can save even more time when you use meal prep services like Lean Kitchen that deliver prepared nutritious meals right to your door.

Use Productivity Tools

There are a ton of productivity tools you can use to get more done during the day, especially when it comes to working. Tools such as Grammarly can help you edit emails quickly without spending too much time proofreading, or Freedom can block your notifications for an allotted amount of time so you can focus on your work.

There are plenty of productivity tools out there; you just have to find the ones that work best for your situation and your lifestyle. Don’t be afraid to try a bunch until you find the right one for you.

Complete Your Hardest Task First

One of the best productivity habits you can form is to conquer your biggest or most challenging task of the day first. How many times have you put off a big assignment or task because you were dreading it, and it felt like the day just dragged on?

Well, when you complete the hardest task before anything else you have to do, then the tasks you have for the rest of your day will be much more manageable, and you’ll feel much more accomplished and like you have more time on your hands.

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How to Prepare Your Home for the Newest Member of Your Family

Welcoming a baby into the world is both exciting and scary, especially if it’s your first one. You’ll no doubt obsess over every little detail once they’re born, whether that’s if they’re crying because they’ve hurt themselves or if they simply need a diaper change. While you can’t do much to prevent the diaper change, there are a few things you can do to your home that will prevent unnecessary injuries for your newborn and ensure everything is ready for them. Here are a few ways you can prepare your home for your new baby.

Make any Necessary Repairs

You’re going to be very busy when the baby arrives, so it’s smart to take advantage of the time you have now by making any necessary repairs while you still can. This can be as simple as fixing some drywall, or as complicated as roof repair, in which case you’ll want to contact a professional like Alpha Elite Roofing. The last thing you want to worry about while juggling a new member of the household is whether or not your roof is going to leak or the stairs will buckle under your weight. It’s best to get these out of the way now.

Finish the Nursery

It’s generally a good idea to finish the baby’s room before going into labor. There’s a lot of work that goes into redesigning a room for a baby, so you’ll want to get started as soon as possible. Make sure you’ve got their crib properly built, the walls are painted, decorations are strung about, shelves and dressers are put together, and that you’ve bought everything they might need, like diapers, clothes, and anything else you can think of! You’ll want to optimize the space available so that there is plenty of room for everything your baby will need.

Baby-Proof the House

While your home might seem safe to you upon initial inspection, there are bound to be a few unseen hazards from the point of view of your newest family member. Are there any sharp corners waiting to attack? Electrical outlets that your baby might mess with? Is there anything that could be easily tipped over? How about easily accessible chemicals for cleaning? Try to address these hazards before the big day to ensure the safety of your baby—and you might want to invest in a few baby gates, too.

Get Ready to Meet Your Baby!

Once you’ve taken the time to prepare your home for the arrival of your new baby, you can rest easy knowing that a major project has been completed. Soon your little bundle of joy can admire the work you’ve put into their nursery, and while there will surely be plenty of work to be done afterward—especially once they begin to grow up—you’re at least off to a great start.

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The Art of the Cold Email


Whether you’re just starting your business or are looking to scale, you’re probably focusing a lot of your time on getting new customers and prospects. You’re trying all of the new marketing tips and tricks and creating awesome sales funnels, but they aren’t necessarily working as well as you thought.

What more can you do?

Introducing the cold email. Well, you’ve definitely heard of (and dreaded) cold emails before, but it’s only because you were crafting the perfect one.

Reaching out to strangers and cold prospects can be intimidating, especially because a large percentage of them reject your offer or simply don’t answer. Don’t let this deter you from using this method, though. You never know what can come from sending a cold email to the right person.

Below are tips on how to create the perfect cold email to send your business propositions to.

Get Specific

Now, you can’t simply find a list of emails and send your cold email without thoroughly vetting the contacts. It’s important to be specific and show the recipient that you’ve looked into their business or problems.

Firstly, you should always address the prospect by name. Personalizing the email will get you so much further than if you send a generic one.

Use other specific information like their website or their business’s name. For example, if you’re selling insurance, you can use insurance xdate to remind your prospect when their current homeowners’ insurance policy expires. Little details like this can go a long way in a cold email.

Keep It Short

Nobody wants to open a cold email and have to read a novel. Chances are, the person will spend about five seconds skimming the email. If nothing catches their eye in those five seconds, they delete it.

So, keep the email short and to the point. Make it easy to read with short sentences and paragraphs.

Touch on Their Pain

In just a sentence or two, show your recipient that you understand the struggle or pain they’re feeling with their business or lifestyle. This is how you truly connect with them and gain their trust. When done well, they will continue reading to see which solution you are offering them.

Give Them a Transformation

While you may be selling a service or product with great features, it’s the benefits that you really want to sell in your cold email. Show your recipient the transformation they will make when they become your customer.

For example, if selling an insurance policy, don’t go into detail about the coverage and features of the policy. Instead, describe how much money they’ll save and the comfort they’ll feel knowing they’re protected.

Close with a Strong CTA

The point of a cold email is to get the recipient to take action. However, if you don’t put a strong CTA at the end, they won’t know what action to take if they’re interested. Encourage them to schedule a meeting or a demo with you. Make your CTA clear concise, and have it stand out from the rest of the email.

When you follow these five steps, you’ll see a much higher conversion rate when you send cold emails.

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How to Get the Most Out of Online Courses

Whether you’re going back to school or want to brush up on new skills, online courses are a great and convenient way to do it. You can sit at home in your pajamas while learning essential new skills to run your business. From learning new email marketing techniques to copywriting to coding, there are thousands of online courses, both free and for sale, that you can take.

However, sometimes participants in an online course don’t feel like they’re getting as much out of it as if they were sitting in a classroom with other people. So, whether you’re taking training classes for your new job on hsi.com or taking online courses of your own free will, here are some tips to get the most out of them.

Take Notes

To get the most out of an online course, you must be an active listener and learner. The best way to do this is by taking notes either on your computer (which is convenient if you have a double-screen monitor) or by hand.

What’s great about a recorded online course is that you can pause and rewind certain parts if you need more time to understand or want to make sure you wrote it down correctly in your notes.

Limit Distractions

When you’re sitting at home in front of the computer watching a video for your online course, there is plenty of opportunity for distraction. From your family members walking in and asking you a question to your phone lighting up with a notification from social media or a new text message, these distractions can hinder your learning.

Put your phone on silent mode and tell your housemates that you’re taking an online course. Close your door and put on headphones to get the full experience of learning online.

Schedule Your Learning Time

Since many online courses are a go-at-you-own-pace style, you must have good self-discipline to ensure you actually watch the course and learn from it. A good way to do this is to schedule in your daily routine a time to sit and watch a lesson or chapter.

It’s important that you see this time as non-negotiable. Just like a doctor’s appointment or a work meeting, it’s something you must do at that time. Having this mindset will help you be more disciplined and actually get through your online course.

Set an Objective

It can be easy to forget why you’re taking this online course, especially if there are other things you would rather be doing. Simply remember that this is for your own career advancement and individual learning. At the end of this course, you can transform your current business or lifestyle with the things you’ve learned and make more money or better brand yourself and more.

Write your goal or objective on a piece of paper and keep it next to your computer. If you’re getting bored or feeling unmotivated while watching your course, read your goal and remind yourself why you’re taking it.

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Flexible and Engaging Side Hustles to Work While Starting a Business

The Great Resignation has millions of Americans quitting their regular jobs to find better employment. In many cases, former employees have become their own bosses. In 2021 alone, Americans applied for a record-breaking 5.4 million business ID numbers.

Starting a new business is both exciting and challenging. The easiest way to mitigate the stress of entrepreneurship is to ensure you’re still earning an income. However, working 40 hours a week while giving your new business the attention it needs is virtually impossible.

Luckily, side gigs that are flexible, fun, and able to provide a steady income do exist. We’ve compiled a list of the best opportunities to keep your bills paid while you’re chasing your dreams.

Delivery or Rideshare Driver

If you have a car and a driver’s license, then delivering groceries, takeout, or even packages for Amazon or UPS can serve as the perfect chance to earn some extra cash while building your business.

If delivering people is more your speed, any city that allows ridesharing offers opportunities to sign up with Lyft or Uber.

Many rideshare and delivery options give you the flexibility to work when it fits your schedule for as many hours as you’d like.

Pet Care

Animal lovers won’t even feel like they’re working as they rake in money pet sitting and dog walking. Whether you prefer to work part-time at a pet boarding facility or doggy daycare or to go out on your own as a dog walker and pet sitter, there are ample opportunities to earn money caring for animals.

Tutoring

Most tutors don’t need an advanced degree — just patience and understanding of the subject area. Many high school and college students earn money tutoring. Check with the guidance office for your school district to find work, or sign up with a site to tutor students online.

Caregiver

The babysitting and eldercare fields are continually looking for reliable, trustworthy caregivers. Parents always need flexible childcare from a dependable adult. Additionally, the eldercare field is rapidly growing, with many positions only requesting assistance with driving or companionship.

You can sign up with a service online or just spread the word that you’re available and interested in these roles. With caregivers in such high demand, chances are you’ll find someone hiring in no time.

Virtual Scribe

Online scribes help physicians by taking notes during the doctor’s rounds, charting patient visits, and entering exam information. If you’re interested in the medical field, a virtual scribe role can be a fascinating side hustle.

While it can prove challenging to find a virtual scribe position without prior training, companies like Provider’s Choice Scribe Services offer training as well as a steady stream of work.

Side jobs can keep money flowing as you ramp up your new business while offering the flexibility to manage both endeavors at once. These low-stress options can make work feel like play, all while earning extra cash.

Image by pasja1000 from Pixabay

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