Just came across this interesting article at Terry Starbucker’s blog, on productivity and how to make best use of our time. He has also noted down a few points that should help us with prioritizing our actions.

In any day there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of actions you can take.   Which ones you choose are critical to living a productive life, or being the most productive person at the office.

It’s the art of constant prioritization – a mental “to do” list that goes through a special kind of algorithm, a kind that only a properly focused  human brain can pull off. Read More.

This is something that all of us face on a personal as well as business front in life. At DeskAway we have a slew of to-do’s. Be it new feature requests, fixing bugs, revamping sections and a whole lot more.

Some things we keep in mind are,

1. KISS: Keep it Simple, and thats what we always attempt.
2. Customer Insight: What does the customer really want and what would add most value to him/her?

What do you do to manage your time well doing the RIGHT activity?

Work-life is usually filled with ups and downs and some days are inevitably more stressful than the others. Maybe it’s the project deadline or some issue you are tackling. We believe health comes first no matter how busy or bumbed-out you feel. It is important to de-stress and calm down. Here are a few tips that I find useful to rejuvenate myself.

Watercooler Break
This proverbial small break from the routine of office, can be very effective to relax you. The water would also help cool the body.

Loiter
A small walk around office, maybe to the balcony or window, can be quite refreshing! The movement is good to loosen up the body. Additionally, looking away from the computer screen for a bit relieves eye-strain.

Socialize
Have a chat with a nearby colleague. As you think about other things apart from work like a movie, music, travel, book or family can really help set a relaxed perspective over stuff. This can also go a long way in team bonding.

Energy Boosters
A small snack in your seat maybe a cookie or fruit etc.. gives you a mental break as well as it boosts the body energy. Try to keep it healthy though, junk food could spoil your health and increase uneasiness.

Web-Fun
Visiting a social network or checking out some favorite website or group discussion can really help with your web enthusiasm. In fact there are many researches that suggest social networking in offices boosts productivity.

Play Time
Feels like revisiting childhood but, adding some actual play time to the work routine would not only help various motor and co-ordination skills in your body but also bring cheer to your life! Juggling, Rubik’s cube, yo-yo are some simple games that can be really interesting and viable even in cramped offices.

Some more cool de-stressing tips can be found here:
http://zenhabits.net/2010/01/8-unconventional-ways-to-de-stress-and-release-tension/

How do you guys de-stress?

People from all walks of life have work projects. They adopt ways to simplify, manage and get the project done. A simple to-do list written on a scrap of paper is probably a part of every household. Yet the use of the words ‘project management’ makes this most daily and routine task sound all technical, heavy and boring.

Often here at DeskAway we try out various terms when describing our product ranging from social collaboration tool, simplify teamwork, team collaboration, reach deadlines faster, task listing etc.. something that appeals to the potential user. Only those that are aware of the technical jargon would respond to ‘project management’.

This article by Megan Strand describes well the woes of a person who is faced with too many technicalities, even though they might know the subject matter well.

Leads us to the classic Shakespeare conundrum,

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;

What are your thoughts and experiences on technical jargons? Does it get too much, is it necessary at times ?