You know that feeling when your to-do list is a mile long, but nothing seems to be getting done? The problem, often, isn't the workload-it's how the work is structured. Large tasks can be overwhelming, making it hard to know where to start or how to move forward. Breaking them down into smaller, actionable steps helps you stay on track and make real progress.
If you receive feedback at work, it's only a matter of time until you receive some critical (negative) feedback. How you handle it can make the difference between an ultimately positive experience and one in which you feel angry, hurt, or demoralized. Here are five questions to ask yourself in the face of critical feedback. 1) Is the feedback credible? That is, does the feedback come from someone in a good position to provide it?
Windows has a long list of keyboard shortcuts that perform helpful actions in Windows 11. For example, hitting the CTRL and C keys together allows users to copy text or files. Mastering these shortcuts can help boost your overall productivity, but most people only know a few. At first glance, they don't seem all that useful since you can also do these actions with your mouse, but I challenge you to try them over the course of a workday;
You've just finished an hour-long meeting, and your notes look like a verbal train wreck: a mix of shorthand, half-finished sentences, and random keywords. There are action items in there somewhere, but finding them feels like a chore. Paste your notes into ChatGPT with a prompt such as: "Here are my meeting notes. Please create a prioritized task list with deadlines and the person responsible for each item." ChatGPT can turn that mess into a clean, actionable list in seconds, giving you back precious time you'd have spent deciphering your own writing.
As a diehard Windows user, I love hotkeys and keyboard shortcuts. Pressing Ctrl+S to save a file, Ctrl+V to paste content from the clipboard, and Ctrl+X to cut content are all tremendous time savers. And since I also use Microsoft's PowerToys, I have a whole bunch of other hotkeys I can use. But therein lies the problem.
In mid-August, social media started buzzing with posts about "The Great Lock In." As the name suggests, it's built around the Gen Z slang for fully committing or hyperfocusing on a task, goal, or activity. From now until the end of the year, the idea is to "lock in" and to get your life in order and your goals checked off before 2026.
Also: How to quickly search Google Calendar for past or future events It's not that I have anything against Google's Calendar app; it's just that Google has such a crush on AI that I'm afraid any piece of data I enter into any Google app will be used to help train their LLMs (or create profiles of me). Because of that alone, alternatives are slowly becoming a necessity.
If you need to convert a stack of PDFs into Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, or turn files and images into polished PDFs, consider it done. The software handles batch conversions and keeps layouts, formatting, and links intact. Plus, with built-in OCR, even scanned or image-based documents become fully editable - perfect for modernizing old files or pulling data from printed pages.
It's tackling your hardest, highest-impact task first thing each day-before your brain gets hijacked by email notifications and "quick questions" that somehow devour entire afternoons like a productivity black hole. You identify your "frog" (the task you'll procrastinate on but absolutely need to do), then eat the frog first while your willpower remains intact. Everything else feels like a victory lap by comparison.
In my work as a productivity coach, I've come to see why. We're hardwired to link failure with finality, which fuels self-doubt and causes motivation to fizzle out. Yet, failure is just another stepping stone on the path to success. So if you hit a bump, don't take it as a sign to give up; take it as an opportunity to learn, adjust, and go again.
When we talk about leadership, we often draw out the distinctions between a transactional approach and a transformational one. One is seen as efficient, mechanical, or even emotionless. The other is seen as empathetic, perceptive, or relational. That's why many leaders flinch at the idea that AI can be a productivity partner or a collaborator. It feels cold. Robotic. The opposite of what leadership is supposed to be.
This is where free slack comes to your rescue. It shows how long you can delay a task before it affects the next one. In dependency-heavy projects, where one blocked task can delay five more, free slack is a critical layer of structural risk control. It helps project managers move with confidence, not just by planning for ideal scenarios, but by designing schedules that can withstand the imperfect ones.
Or when you're just staring blankly, muttering to yourself, "What even happened to that task I swore I had sorted out?" Seriously, I've been there. A token of appreciation is needed for anyone who has survived that level of chaos. Maybe a medal? Or just some comfort snacks. Anyway, I'm here to tell you there's hope *automatic planning and scheduling* is that beacon of light we didn't know we needed!
Have you ever watched someone work and thought, "That's not the way I would do it"? It's natural to feel defensive about your own work habits. If you didn't think they were effective, you probably wouldn't engage in them. But, in our research, we find that it's exactly this kind of thinking that gets leaders in trouble. There are many different ways to go about completing the same task or solving the same problem.
Reactive mode is where strategic thinking goes to die. In my time as the founder of ButterflyMX, I've learned that the longer you operate like this, the more you become a bottleneck, not a builder. Your team stays dependent, your vision stalls, and worst of all, your time stops being your own. This post is about taking it back and becoming the kind of leader your company actually needs.
monday.com task management templates act as your project's jumpstart button. These layouts give you a pre-built structure to assign tasks, track progress, manage timelines, and visualize your project roadmap. With these monday.com templates, you can: Organize tasks by team, priority, or time slots Track performance and progress with a clear view Manage projects across different industries Access tools like Gantt chart templates, content calendar templates, and more
AchieveIt was founded in 2012 and has been one of the most reliable and robust platforms for high achievers. It allows businesses to manage numerous initiatives with a clean, accessible interface that prevents users from becoming overwhelmed. Its dashboards collect information transparently, giving teams the best chance of being on the same page. It is cross-functional, allowing teams from across departments to understand the big picture of the organization's goals.
I want to see the world, experience different cultures and give myself space to reflect on what I really want in life. Lately, though, whenever I bring up this idea to friends or family, they tell me it's irresponsible. They worry I'll fall behind in my career or lose my momentum in such a competitive industry. Some even say I'm being selfish for stepping away from a stable job when others are struggling to find one.
Evidence maps are logical tools for consolidating data and insights, offering clarity in decision-making amidst a sea of qualitative and quantitative data gathered from multiple tests.
