In the summer months it seems many of us are trying to relax more, slow down and enjoy the season. Although, that does not necessarily mean our work or lifestyle falls in line. How can you keep it simple when “life is happening” all around you? Here are three tips that may help you, making things a little easier at a time when you can appreciate it:
1) Control your email inbox, don’t let it control you.
Have you ever spent nearly an entire day just reading, responding to and dealing with your emails as they come in? This is a trap many people fall into: the little beep indicating “you have mail” takes attention away from what we are doing and we get roped in to a cycle of responding to the beep. Many times these emails are not important or even urgent to what is most essential that you accomplish in that given day. The solution? Set aside 2 or 3 designated times each day to review and respond to email, do not deal with them as they come in or you will be in the trap.
Another crucial habit you need to adopt for email management: only deal with a given email one time. It should either 1) get a response, 2) be filed for future reference (this means you need some decent organization around your email filing system) or 3) be turned into something like an appointment on your calendar.
2) Clear your mind of all those different passwords.
Pretty much every website you use from amazon to the wall street journal has you set up an account with a username and protect it with a password. It becomes a big brain-drain to recall all these site passwords. Here is how stressed this makes us: 38% of people said they would rather scrub toilets then cough up yet another combo, according to a recent survey. That is where a secure password manager like KeePass, PasswordSafe, LastPass or Dashlane comes in. All these sites offer free versions. You only remember one password; all other will be input for you on the sites you register. Many of the sites offer perks like free credit monitoring or security alerts, which can come in handy. Could you save time or stress when you do not have to deal with resetting, locating or recalling all those passwords?
3) Keep yourself out of the rabbit holes of online news.
You log onto the web and on your homepage flashes up headlines that draw you in. You click on the link and the next thing you know, you are pulled into web-surfing you had no intention of ever spending time on. One way to avoid this or get up to speed more efficiently is through a news digest. One example is thirst.co. It combs the web to find the best, most current news stories and delivers them in an easy to read format. A bonus, this site is free.
To recap, keep it simple and harness your technology with some free options to make life a little easier. Do not let your technology harness and trap you into complicating your life or draining your time. Imagine the potential of 15 extra minutes a day? What would you do? Walk your dog. Spend more time reading with your kids or taking a walk to enjoy some time outside. Enjoy the simple things in life, this summer and for always.