Featured Windows Download: Manage Your Windows with Switcher 2

Featured Windows Download: Manage Your Windows with Switcher 2: "Windows only: Freeware application Switcher 2 is a Mac Exposé clone and then some, like switching windows via the numpad, live window filtering, and windows hiding all at your fingertips. If..."

Self Improvement: Discover your learning style

Self Improvement: Discover your learning style: "If you've ever wanted to find out exactly what your learning style is, then you'll want to check out Diablo Valley College's learning styles survey. Figuring out what your particular learning..."

How Setting Up a Home Office Works

How Setting Up a Home Office Works: "Do you dream of a 15-second commute to work rather than a 45-minute commute? Working from home can be a great time saver, and offers incredible flexibility in your schedule -- but not if you sacrifice the perks of a standard office. Learn how to set up a home office that meets all your needs. "

Kill Meetings to Get More Done

Kill Meetings to Get More Done: " You’ve got your list of things you want to accomplish for today, and yet, after a series of meetings that you had to go to throughout the day, none of the things on your list got done. That’s because meetings are almost always a huge drain on your time, and should be killed on sight. Think about the last few meetings you attended — did you sit through them wishing you were somewhere else, or finish the meeting wondering what the point of the meeting was, or worse yet, feel that the same thing could have been accomplished through a simple email? Meetings are time hogs, and often leave you wishing you could get that time back. Is it possible to have a productive meeting? Sure, but it’s rare. A productive meeting would be if ideas could be communicated and agreed upon faster than through phones or email, not longer. A productive meeting would have a clearly stated purpose, be as short as possible, and have an outcome with assigned tasks to be completed a"

Keybreeze - Window’s Quicksilver?

Keybreeze - Window’s Quicksilver?: " A Lifehack commenter recently put me onto Keybreeze, a windows command line much like the hyped Quicksilver app for Mac. I’ve been trying out similar apps and have had issues with most that we covered in Alternatives to Quicksilver post. Keybreeze, however, appears to handle a lot of queries, all in a very small package. Here’s the feature list: Keybreeze can do more than just opening files and websites. Use macros to automate your every-day computer actions. Macros provide shortcuts by recording your mouse clicks and keystrokes for a certain period of time. You can then type the macro name as a keyword, and Keybreeze will play back your actions automatically. Whenever you find yourself pressing the same buttons or typing the same thing again and again, you can always record a macro to automate your repetitive tasks. Keybreeze looks to provide a lot of versatility without cramping your computer’s memory. We’ll check back in with this one soon to give you a good run down on what "

50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity

50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity: " Here are 50 ways to increase your productivity and add hours to your day. 1. Take a break. You can’t always be working at optimum productivity. Instead, you should shoot for working in short bursts at your most productive times. 2. Set a timer for each of your tasks. 3. Eliminate all distractions. This includes the phone, email notifications, and having multiple web browsers open on the desktop. 4. Distractions should be avoided, but sometimes a bit of music in the background can help you focus. Of course, it doesn’t need to be heavy rock music, but a bit of Beethoven may do you some good. 5. Love what you do. Enjoying what you do is the ultimate way to increase your productivity. 6. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning. Whichever activity you are dreading the most is probably the one you need to complete first thing in the morning. 7. Use JDarkRoom. This application allows you to write more efficiently by removing all distractions. You’re g"

10 MORE ways to create a breakthrough in your life.

10 MORE ways to create a breakthrough in your life.: "Here—again in no particular order—are 10 more ways to transform your working life. Maybe you should try them. Slow down. Give yourself time and space. Never be in more of a hurry than you have to be. Allow time for thinking, musing, just noodling around in your head with no apparent purpose. Give space in your thinking for ideas you haven’t had yet; allow openings for sniffing out the ideas of others. Haste is the enemy of creativity. Being busy all the time is a great way to stop any possibility of breakthroughs. You won’t break out of your old habits by rushing. When people are under pressure, they don’t have energy to try anything new. They reach for whatever they’ve done before, or for some supposedly “tried-and-true” answer. They don’t believe they have time to take risks with change. As a result, they rush headlong down the same old paths into the same old messes. Refuse to be hurried and surprising ideas and opportunities "

Seven Questions That Will Change Your Life

Seven Questions That Will Change Your Life: "Self-reflection is the name of the game. When you look back at your week, are you happy with what you’ve done? Was it productive or wasteful? Alex Shalman asks himself seven questions each week to keep him on track. Whether or not you think all seven are necessary, looking back at your actions objectively will work in your favor. Try them out now: 1. What will I try to improve on next week? 2. What was I most proud of this week? 3. What was my biggest accomplishment this week? 4. What have I done to get closer to my life goals this week? 5. What was hard for me this week, and why? 6. What was my biggest waste of time this week? 7. What did I do this week that made me ashamed? If this becomes a regular thing, it could well change your life. If you’re a practicing GTDer, fit some of these questions in your weekly review. Seven Questions "

Get more out of Gmail thirty different ways

Get more out of Gmail thirty different ways: "Like your Gmail? Of course you do. Techie love site MakeUseOf.com has come up with thirty different Gmail-related tools and hacks, from 'seen that already' to 'Oh. My. God.' I admit that I haven't..."

37 Ways to Defuse Stress

37 Ways to Defuse Stress: " Calm down! You can’t be that stressed. It’s not healthy! If you’re having trouble letting go of that little ball of stress, here are 37, yes Thirty Seven, things you can try from Reader’s Digest. You’re bound to find something that works. After all, who needs stress? 1. Embrace the number one truth about stress: Only you create it. Embracing the fact that stress is your reaction to external stimuli — and not the stimuli themselves — is half the battle toward managing it. 5. Use the otherwise stressful time of waiting in line as a chance to relax. As you wait, think about things in life for which you are grateful, meditate on your breath, talk to one of the other customers, or look at a magazine. 12. Don’t take the bait. Happy, low-stress people choose not to get angry, even when the opportunity is dangled right in front of them. 32. Carry a small notebook with you everywhere. This is your “worry” journa"

How Performance-enhancing Drugs Work

How Performance-enhancing Drugs Work: "These days, we often hear about athletes using or at least being tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Get the straight dope on doping. "

How Stress Works

How Stress Works: "Emotional stress can come from a variety of sources, from too much work at the office to the passing of a loved one. Sometimes stress is self-imposed, but sometimes it comes from the outside, and we have no control over it. "

Writer brings Darkroom-style word processing to your browser

Writer brings Darkroom-style word processing to your browser: "Writer is a browser-based word processor that offers the same kind of distraction-free writing environment as Darkroom, JDarkRoom and Writeroom. In other words, it provides green text on a black..."

Outlook quick tip: Send email without using the mouse

Outlook quick tip: Send email without using the mouse: "Ditching the mouse can greatly enhance your productivity — especially when it comes to managing your email in Microsoft Outlook. The Cranking Widgets Blog wrote a short post that walks you through sending email in Outlook without using the mouse. Give this a try and see your productivity grow. I use this keystroke method everyday. Use Alt+Tab to switch to Outlook. If you’re looking at anything other than one of your mail folders (like your Calendar or Contacts), hit Ctrl+Shift+M to open a new mail message, otherwise just hit Ctrl+N. You should now be looking at a blank email, with your cursor placed in the To: field. Type the recipients name (and if Outlook is connected to Microsoft Exchange Server and you’re emailing somebody in your organization, you can type their name and hit Ctrl+K, which will verify their address for you). Use the TAB key to navigate between the CC:, BCC: and Subject fields, filling in as necessary. Hit TAB to enter the "

Download: Tasks Jr. - A task and project management tool

Download: Tasks Jr. - A task and project management tool: " Tasks Jr. is an easy to use, yet robust task and project management tool created by King Management. Tasks Jr. is not quite as robust as Microsoft Project, but for smaller companies (or individuals) with big projects, it is an excellent free alternative. Tasks Jr. supports timelining, task trees (tasks with sub-task dependencies), and iCalendar so you can export all your data and integrate with your calendar. King Management has set up a test Web site where you can try Tasks Jr. online before downloading and installing it yourself. Tasks Jr. is platform independent and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I installed Tasks Jr. over the weekend and have been loving it. If you have any installation questions feel free to pose them in the comments and we’ll address them. Note: The download link is on the bottom right of the page (you don’t need to register to download) Download Tasks Jr. [King Management] Bookmark/Share This! "

How to schmooze properly

How to schmooze properly: "Most of tend to cringe when we hear the word 'schmooze', but entrepreneurial blogger Guy Kawasaki makes the word respectable once again with his article on how to schoomze properly. The main trick..."

Project management in a nutshell

Project management in a nutshell: "Lifehacker alum Keith Robinson wrote up a brief rundown of how he manages projects at his startup design firm. The whole essay is a good read for anyone who has to keep a big task on track, but I..."

Download of the Day: Texter (Windows)

Download of the Day: Texter (Windows): "Windows only: Lifehacker's very own text replacement application Texter has enjoyed a significant new release boasting all kinds of bug fixes and snazzy new features. Texter's major fix adds..."

Organize your tasks with Zirrus

Organize your tasks with Zirrus: "Need a Web-based task organizer? Try Zirrus, a whiteboard/to-do list. Zirrus features include a tag cloud of your designated tasks; you can sort them by priority, color, and/or date. I found Zirrus..."

Stikkit personal note organizer

Stikkit personal note organizer: "Newly-launched webapp Stikkit organizes your bookmarks, calendar events, todo's, contacts and jottings in a personal library of digital sticky notes. The best part about Stikkit is its smarts: ..."