Automated Tools for Home, Work and Life

Automated tools for home work and life

 

Without a doubt, technology has changed our home, work and life. The smart tools in our home include security, light bulbs, coffee makers and fans. In the last year, even more so has life changed with the popularity of Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Google Home. It’s easy to automate and delegate some of the little things that can make life and work even easier. Here’s a list of the tools and tasks that can delight you as automated toolsfor home, work and life.

 

Tools to use

Both the Amazon Echo and Google Home are easy to use and cost about the same amount depending on which product you purchase.  Here’s the differences that you should look for.  Amazon Echo has more commands (Skills) while Google Home can best answer diverse questions.   Amazon Echo has more smart home commands to control such as smart light bulbs or security.

 

Commands to use

These devices can play music, tell you the time, give you this week’s weather and give you the traffice report.  There’s more though! Keep up your productivity with these commands.

Calendar

  • OK, Google, tell me about my day”
  • OK, Google, good morning.” (This includes a personalized greeting, info on weather, traffic, reminders, calendar entries, flight status and curated news stories.)
  • OK, Google, add my 9 am appointment to my calendar.
  • Ok, Google, remind me to purchase my airline tickets.

To-do lists

  • Alexa, create a to-do list
  • Alexa, I need to make a doctor appointment
  • Alexa, buy bathroom tissue
  • Alexa, reorder pens
  • Alexa, track my order

Reminders and timers

  • Alexa, set a repeating alarm for weekdays at 7 a.m.
  • Set a timer: “Alexa, timer” or “Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes.”
  • Create a named timer: “Alexa, set a pizza timer for 20 minutes.”
  • Set multiple timers: “Alexa, set a second timer for 5 minute

Self care

  • Alexa, ask Random Workout to pick a workout.
  • Alexa, ask Random Workout to pick an exercise.
  • Alexa open Sleep Sounds.
  • Alexa ask Sleep Sounds to play Thunderstorm.

What’s my most surprising task for Alexa? It’s remember things! We all want a fail safe spot to remember stuff.  Alexa can do that too!

You don’t have to be a big techie to enjoy the advantages of this small addition to your tech collection.  Adding these small devices can make a big difference for you as we add automated tools for home, work and life to our everyday spaces.

4 Surprising Ways to Use a Planner

4 ways to use a planner

“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”  ― Allen Saunders

A goal without a plan is just a wish.”   ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”   ― Benjamin Franklin

 

It’s all just a wish until you make a plan! Whether it’s home, work, meals or exercise, a planner helps you accomplish your goals. It sets the road map for your work and helps you track your metrics. Here’s some planner love for you!

 

Work planner

work planner

 

A week at a glance planner, where you can easily write on it and see it, makes it easier to accomplish your goals.  What special about this planner page is that you write in your priorities at the start of the week. This helps you stay on task and keeps away distractions.

 

Meal planner

meal planner

 

One of our most important goals is to plan meals for ourselves and our families. This weekly meal plan helps you write down what you are preparing and what ingredients you will need.  In the notes section, track information about the recipes. Keep each week in a binder to use as a meal rotation schedule.

 

Exercise planner

workout planner

Weekly exercise can be a lofty goal.  Here’s a planner that’s a weekly tracker.  It’s creating a plan for you that is specific, measurable and realistic. Keep your tracker with you to be sure you get your workout complete.

 

Travel planner

Travel planner

 

We’re off on a wonderful adventure! We want to share our travel information with friends and family. This travel planner helps us share the most important information.

 

Of course, all my blog posts on planners must share my love of the planner pad!

 

This week as you do your weekly planning, download one of the extra planners to help you get things done.  It will help you stay accountable and work on what’s missing from your goals.

How to Fix Holiday Glitches

how to fix holiday glitches

 

As holidays approach, we’re thinking of twinkling lights and not last year’s dry stuffing.  Even worse, last year we may have spent much time preparing, yet not feeling that holiday joy. Heading into the holidays is the best time to think about the big picture of the holiday season.  It’s time to assess what worked and what did not.

 

Here’s some oops moments that may have happened to you last year.  There’s solutions for you to fix these holiday glitches.

 

Oops! Holiday cure!
There’s so much to do for each holiday. Set aside a planning time in early October.  It’s a meeting for you, your list and your planner.
There’s so many activities and events every night during the holidays. You booked 2 events on the same evening. Start early with your holiday planner and calendar.  Enter every date as you receive each invitation.
You wanted to send holiday cards and you need a family photo and your address list updated. Use a family photo taken during the year. Use multiple photos of faces only.  Update your address list as new holiday cards arrive.
You need to decorate the house and your family is busy with school, sports and choir. Downsize your decorating. Decide if your decorating should be a single tree, indoor decorations only, or another smaller effort this year.
You purchased too many items on Amazon and don’t know what your purchased are or for whom you purchased. Open all the boxes and create an inventory of your purchases. Assign names with post it notes on each item. Assess if you have enough by setting a budget or a number of gifts.
There’s so much to wrap and you must bake, go to church and other things to do. Pay a neighborhood teen or grandkid to be your holiday wrapper.
You want to go to the cookie swap and you need to bake 12 dozen cookies. When do you have the time for that? Through social media, ask for referrals of local bakers, crafters or other small businesses to help you.
The holidays fly by and you feel you have not enjoyed the time together as a family. Host a family meeting with everyone sharing what’s most important to them to celebrate the season. Share what’s most important to you and set aside time for this.

 

As you prepare for this year’s holiday season, keep in mind your level of planning and organization.  Balance your investment in time with your joy for the outcome of that investment. It will lead you to a happier holiday season.

4 Simple Productivity Concepts to Organize Your Work and Life

4 simple productivity tips

 

Take a big step back to think about your productivity.  Are there foundations that you can build on to organize your work and life to be more productive? There are! Think about concepts that can be overarching your work and life. Here are 4 simple productivity tips that can be the base of your producitivity strategies. These are to pause, to consolidate, to chunk, and to create a process. In addition, here are ways to use these strategies in your home and office.

Pause

a temporary stop in action or speech.
“she dropped me outside during a brief pause in the rain”
synonyms: stopcessationbreakhaltinterruptionchecklullrespitebreathing space, discontinuation, hiatusgapinterludeMore

 

It’s so easy to jump right  in and start organizing and getting stuff done. The power of a pause can make your work more efficient and focused. Inserting a pause gives you time to plan and prepare for the outcome. You can look at what you are working on and prepare sequentially for the outcome you want.  With a pause, you can define what is your end goal before you leap ahead.  Giving yourself a pause is a way to ensure your work is your best effort leading to the outcome you have in mind.

  • Use mindfulness throughout the day to stay in the moment as you work.
  • Include meditation or yoga as the first routine in your day.
  • If you are feeling aggitated or anxious, take a few deep breaths or take a walk.

 

Consolidate

combine (a number of things) into a single more effective or coherent whole.
“all manufacturing activities have been consolidated in new premises”
synonyms: combineunitemergeintegrateamalgamatefusesynthesize, bring together, unify

“consolidate the results into an action plan”

 

When you consolidate, you are getting all the items, tasks or thoughts in one place.  If things are too spread, you are not sure what you have, your thoughts are jumbled and your tasks might be in listed in many different spots.  The Power of One is when you only have one place to look, one list to review or one thought that summarizes your results.

  • Write all your ideas and tasks in a single notebook.
  • Gather all your supplies and store these at a single point of use.
  • Add all your contacts to a single database, CRM or contact list.

 

Chunk

divide (something) into chunks.
“chunk four pounds of pears”
method of presenting information which splits concepts into small pieces or “chunks” of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. 

 

To chunk, or chunking, is a strategy to break a big project into smaller, do-able units.  When you are feeling overwhelmed by a project, create a plan that breaks it into smaller chunks that are manageable. Chunking also creates a unit for context.  By grouping together information into ideally sized pieces, these can be used effectively to produce the outcome you want.  Time chunking, according to Productivityist Mike Vardy, allows for purposeful use of your days.

  • Use a project management tool like Trello to establish chunks.
  • Set up your day with a chunk of time set aside for a daily routine.
  • Create your task list with just the one next step, the one next chunk.

 

Create a process

a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
“military operations could jeopardize the peace process”
synonyms: procedureoperationactionactivityexerciseaffairbusinessjobtaskundertaking

One of my biggest pet peeves is “re-creating the wheel”, that being when I am doing the same things over and over.  There might be a better way to do something, however first I want to establish one way to do that thing with the outcome that I want.  Yes, it is highly linear and specific in that it is step by step. At times we need to know what to do to achieve the end result we want repeatedly. That’s where a process makes all the difference.  Your process should be a tried and true method.  Here’s what basic processes come into play.

  • Set up a process for getting laundry complete and dinner on the table at home
  • What is the process for when you have a new client?
  • Use a bill paying process that includes setting up online bill paying.
  • Create a paper process for your home or work.

 

This is big picture stuff! One of these is most likely already a part of your productivity toolbox. Think about how one of these as a single concept can make a difference in your work and responsibilities. All 4 concepts help you use your time productively as well as efficiently.  Assess which tip is already working for you and that could be enhanced, as well as which tip you would like to try out.  If you are already working hard, it’s time to assess and work smarter.

 

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