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Flipping Heck! Learning To Be Productive One Day At A Time

Weekly Round-Up #302: Flexible Working, Coffee For Your Garden And Sleep

Hororscope wheel against a starry background with someone sleeping in the middle

Weekly Round-Up #302: Flexible Working, Coffee For Your Garden And Sleep

Hello! I hope you’ve had a fun and productive week. In this week’s round-up we look at how you can implement a flexible work policy (and why you should have one), how coffee can make your garden grow and how much sleep you need based on your star sign

How To Improve Personal Development With Free Online Learning Courses – RingCentral UK Blog

It’s easier than ever to work on your personal development. Whilst previously you might have had to look for local classes, individual tuition, or night school, you can now turn to the internet. With hundreds of free online learning courses available, there’s never been a better time to pick up something new. Many of these are ‘MOOCs’, or massively open online courses, which run at various points throughout the year and are hosted by a variety of providers.

How To Optimize Your Gmail For Productivity – Facile Things

For many employees, email can be a useful tool or a total disaster. Though email has improved ease of communication, a difficult inbox may actually sap productivity and frustrate users. This is especially concerning when you consider how essential email is for many jobs.

If you open up your Gmail inbox first thing every workday, you need to know it allows for a productive workflow. When you optimize your inbox, you simplify your life, which is good for your career and your stress levels. Here are 10 tips you can use to get your inbox under control.

How To Successfully Implement A Flexible Work Policy – Spica

Flexible work has become a new standard all over the world, especially for creative jobs and those that add high-value, be it through formal flexible work policies, or otherwise.

Illustration of a PDF on the screen of a laptop
An accessible PDF allows people who use assistive technologies like Braille readers or text-to-speech to access the document easily. According to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, every electrical communication like emails, digital documents, and websites must be accessible to people with disabilities. Hence, it is vital to...

Many employees, for example, have an arrangement with their managers to work from home once a week, or even to leave early for personal reasons and make up that time in the evening hours. These exceptions make the case for companies to formalize their flexible work arrangements.

If, as a manager, you keep these arrangements “under the table” and not as formal policies that all employees can benefit from, then this can lead to feelings of inequality and cause tension among employees who aren’t granted the same privileges.

This blog will guide you through the basics of implementing a flexible work policy and what you should consider at the very beginning of this process.

Coffee Grounds: The Waste That Grows A Wonderful Garden – Gardening Mentor

The smell of freshly brewed coffee.

It’s a wonderful fragrance to start your day and take care of your lovely garden.

But before you throw those spent coffee grounds and head over to the garden, there’s something you need to know.

Those coffee grounds contain organic matter that is rich in nutrients for your plants. And that makes it a great choice for adding to your compost.

This Is Exactly How Much Sleep You Need According To Your Star Sign – Bed Threads

First things first, we know that astrology is an, ahem, unscientific science. And we recognise that the (medically recommended!) optimum level of sleep is between 7-9 hours a night. But it is fun to think about behaviour categorisations and what they might tell us about ourselves. (Not into it? You’re probably a Capricorn.)

This is the thing we enjoy when it comes to the zodiac. And when enjoyed in that manner, we think it’s pretty harmless. So, without further ado, let’s have some fun thinking about how much sleep you need to get, according to your star sign. Sweet dreams.

Hat-Tip: The Sun

22 Hilarious Tweets That You’ll Deeply Understand If You Work In An Office – BuzzFeed

We all need a bit of humour in our lives and, despite what you might think, the office environment can be a mine of comedy gold.

In this article, Buzzfeed have pulled together some tweets that encapsulate the office experience perfectly while providing some light relief.

Designer Presents A Word Phrasing Hack That Will Make You Sound More Respectable On E-Mails – Bored Panda

Miscommunication is part of life, and when it happens between friends or family, a hug or a joke can repair the situation – but when miscommunication happens in the workplace, the result can be disastrous. E-mail is a vital feature of workplace connections and thus is a ripe area for wires to get crossed, all because of the wrong phrasing or wrong punctuation.

Fortunately, the designer and illustrator of ADHD webcomics, Dani Donovan, has the solution with her brilliant chart with writing tips that explains how to e-mail like a boss.

Skillshare - From Proficient To Pro

The 19 Best Trello Alternatives For Kanban Project Management – nTask

Trello is a star when it comes to project management software and collaboration tools. It embodies a neat interface with cards stacked up for different projects. Each card can be opened to view more detail such as checklists, labels, and due dates. While it is favored by companies with the likes of National Geographic, Google, and more, it comes without some basic features that might be critical for most teams. Trello works great as a simple to-do list app however it’s limited when it comes to handling bigger and complex projects.

So what alternatives are available for you to use? The guys over at nTask have compiled a list of 19 Trello alternatives to help you keep your projects and tasks on track.

Women Are More Productive In Warmer Offices Because It Makes Their Brains Perform Better – Insider

It’s long been known that men have a slightly higher body temperature than women. As a result, “”most office buildings set temperatures based on a decades-old formula that uses the metabolic rates of men,”” concluded one study from 2015.

But sticking to a temperature that only the men find preferable may be bad for business, according to new research. The study, conducted by researchers from the US and Germany and published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that women perform better on mathematical and verbal tasks when the temperature is higher. The opposite effect was seen for men, but the impact was less noticeable.

Women Should Go Out With Friends Twice A Week For Better Health – Creative Healthy Family

Female friendships among women are extremely important and the key ingredient to our happiness and health. Girlfriends are really the best emotional support system we could ever have. Just think about it. A good female friendship is someone you can count on for advice, or simply be heard and understood when you have a problem.

If you enjoy going out with your girlfriends, you should do it more often! Actually women should go out with girlfriends twice a week and this will definitely make you happier and healthier!”
“## 14 Free Storage Container Options For Organization – Family Handyman

You already use sour cream and yogurt tubs to store dinner leftovers. And you probably have empty coffee cans in your garage to store nails and screws. If you’re looking for more ideas, here are 10 free storage container options for organization.

App Hoarders, It’s Time To Marie Kondo Your Phone – Mashable

If Marie Kondo were to appear before you right now, grab your smartphone out of your hand and thumb through your pages of apps, what do you think she’d say?

The Japanese guru of clean is all the rage in ever since Netflix debuted her TV show (based off the back of her two well-received books). Kondo’s big-time fame has happened to the chagrin of both hoarders and hipsters who’d long since digested the lessons in her book. Books, at least, can just sit happily on or around a shelf, never requiring an update. Updating apps is one of the banes of my digital existence, plus they take up space and can slow your device. So, Mashable asks: is it time to Marie Kondo your phone?

How To Manage Someone Who Is Totally Disorganized – Harvard Business Review

If you’ve ever worked with a disorganized colleague or direct report, you know how frustrating it can be. A messy desk, seemingly chaotic calendar system, and overflowing email inbox can signal to co-workers that it’s only a matter of time before their disorganized peer drops the ball on something important. This creates stress and anxiety for everyone.

For managers, the first step is to determine whether an employee’s personal and professional style – no matter how disorganized – is actually a problem? If it is and it’s causing issue with missed deadlines or frustration among co-workers then Rebecca Knight has some tips on how to manage the disorganised person and get everything back on track.

Hat-tip to The Enterprisers Project

Why Android Users Need Windows 10’s “Your Phone” App – How-To Geek

Windows 10’s Your Phone app links your phone and PC. It works best for Android users, letting you text from your PC, sync your notifications, and wirelessly transfer photos back and forth. Screen mirroring is on its way, too.

The Your Phone app is a powerful and often overlooked part of Windows 10. If you’re an Android user, you can use it to text right from your PC, see all your phone’s notifications, and quickly transfer photos. If you have the right phone and PC, you can even use the Your Phone app to mirror your phone’s screen and see it on your PC.

Open air dining area with red tables and chairs
Whether you have a family and would like to treat them out to a meal on occasion, or even if you’re flying solo, eating out can sometimes be costly. Let’s look at some logical and handy tips for dining out and enjoying a meal when you’re on a budget.

Have A Great Week

I hope you have enjoyed this round-up, as always if you have any links you like to share with me and my readers please contact me through the website or send me a tweet.

Until next time, Stay Productive!

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About The Author
Katy is always trying to be more productive one day at a time! Whether it's analogue, digital, motivational or psychological who'll try any system that will help her get things done and get organised. As well as running FlippingHeck.com, she also loves making music and reviewing things.
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Horoscope circle my Macrovector, Person sleeping illustration by Freepik and Star Background by grebeshkovmaxim on F

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