The top productivity gurus help you make your life simpler with lots of lifehacks and efficiency tips.



Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
In some of my workshops, I run a short activity which provides the audience members with an immediate and practical example of how and where we focus our attention and energy – and the potential consequences. It’s a pretty simple process used by plenty of facilitators.How it works:I ask my aud...

Stepcase Lifehack | 11 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities. – Benjamin Franklin Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist. Ask any physician and they will tell you that rest is essential for physical health. When the body is deprived of sleep, it is...

Zen Habits | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Are you exhausted, annoyed, and ready to throw in the towel on something that once made you leap out of bed with joy every morning? I know that feeling well. It’s one I suffered from often in the past and still encounter occasionally. It typically signals an impending burnout.Not the type of...

Stepcase Lifehack | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:35 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter or identica. I don’t often write reviews of ebooks, but a handful of them have come out in the last couple weeks that I just can’t ignore — I really think they’ll be of interest to Zen Habits readers who are interested in gett...

Zen Habits | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:04 pm CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
I’ve never been one to sit on my hands and wait for some cosmically pre-ordained life purpose to miraculously reveal itself via a series of dreams, visions or prophecies. Or for an angel to appear at my window with hand-written instructions from God. Although an angel would be pretty cool.Nor hav...

Stepcase Lifehack | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Are you easily distracted? I bet you are. If I told you this link led to a list of funny pics of deranged kittens, you’d likely click through and quickly forget our conversation.That won’t happen this time!Interruptions do the most damage when we allow their appearance to affect us long...

Stepcase Lifehack | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Awhile back I (a bit ironically perhaps) tweeted this message: Consider what you give your attention to each day. It’s a precious resource, & determines the shape of your life. This seemed to strike a chord with many people, who I think a...

Zen Habits | 5 Mar 2010 | 8:01 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Brilliant thinkers are very comfortable with ambiguity – they welcome it. Routine thinkers like clarity and simplicity; they dislike ambiguity. There is a tendency in our society to reduce complex issues down to simple issues with obviously clear solutions. We see evidence of this in the tabl...

Stepcase Lifehack | 4 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Annabel Candy of Get In the Hot Spot. You probably don’t need me to tell you that there’s a global recession at the moment. People all over the world are feeling the pinch and the travel industry is suffering because we all have less money t...

Zen Habits | 3 Mar 2010 | 5:22 pm CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Review of Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style (2004, Harper Perennial, Paperback)Virginia Postrel’s The Substance of Style is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time.  Postrel has a rare combination of talents: her writing is fluid, vivid, and memorable, her writing is informed b...

Stepcase Lifehack | 3 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Potential and PossibilitiesWe’ve all had breakthrough moments in our lives. Moments when a switch flicked, a light went on and a door to a new world of potential and possibilities opened up for us. For most of us, the door was always there to be opened but, for a range of reasons, we never turned...

Stepcase Lifehack | 2 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” - Jack London Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. We all have days when we’re just not very inspired, when we need passion and creativity breathed into us. I know I do. For anyone who needs a little sho...

Zen Habits | 1 Mar 2010 | 8:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
How many emails do you have in your inbox right now? Are you an inbox zero freak like me? Or do you have emails piled up and unread that you’re hoping you’ll get time to get to?I’m not judging – I used to have as messy an inbox as anyone. And even now, if I go on vacation or...

Stepcase Lifehack | 1 Mar 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons. Imagine everything you do could fall into one of three buckets: 1. Bad Work. 2. Good Work. 3. Great Work. I’m not talking about the quality of the work you deliver – I’ve no doubt that’s fine. I’m ...

Zen Habits | 26 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
I have to tell you that I’m not great at handling conflict.  I’d much rather have things run smoothly and make sure that everyone gets along, works together, has fun and delivers great results, so when conflict happens I feel awkward and uncomfortable.I tend to do what I can to set things up a...

Stepcase Lifehack | 26 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Carnage in the Toy StoreThis morning I went to a local shopping centre (mall) to buy a birthday present for my two year-old pseudo-niece (my business partner’s daughter. Happy Birthday little Jessie!)  It proved to be quite the eye-opening experience for the childless (and somewhat clueless) al...

Stepcase Lifehack | 24 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” ~Woody Allen Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Often you’ll read an article called “The Seven Deadly Sins of” (fill in your topic here). But when it comes to changing habits, there aren’t Seven Deadly Sin...

Zen Habits | 24 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Being authentic can be surprisingly difficult, especially in business. I often work with people who have no problem being genuine in real life, but who really struggle with authenticity in business. I hear from clients that, in business, they have to appear to be mega-successful — not just so...

Stepcase Lifehack | 23 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Scott Young of ScottYoung.com. In high school, I rarely studied. Despite that, I graduated second in my class. In university, I generally studied less than an hour or two before major exams. However, over four years, my GPA always sat between an A and a...

Zen Habits | 22 Feb 2010 | 5:33 pm CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Some years ago I remember standing in my kitchen, staring silently at my boxes of cereal, trying to decide which to have for breakfast.  Was it a Frostie’s morning, or was it more of an Oat Crunchie’s day?  Or maybe granola?  I stood there for 5 minutes, until – utterly frustrated – I ma...

Stepcase Lifehack | 19 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
“If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, then this is the best season of your life.” ~Wu-Men Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. When I hear about a great idea that a friend has, I get excited. I can’t wait to see that idea become reality. Then I ask about the id...

Zen Habits | 19 Feb 2010 | 6:39 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Just over a month ago, I ran into a friend at a CES event. While I see this friend around town once in a while, this was the first time I’d seen him in a non-casual setting since Blogworld 4 months earlier. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, he asked me an odd question: “Is this like your...

Stepcase Lifehack | 18 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Zen Habits
Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Everett Bogue, author of The Art of Being Minimalist, and blogger at Far Beyond the Stars. Have you ever had a creative evening when time suddenly flew by? A day when you executed a difficult project at work flawlessly? A brief moment in time when your ...

Zen Habits | 17 Feb 2010 | 3:10 pm CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Valentine’s Day. The red hearts make us feel like love and happiness is all around. We see images of couples hugging and gazing into each other’s eyes and we want that. We go shopping at beautifully decorated stores and envision making our loved one feel special and cherished. And, secretly...

Stepcase Lifehack | 17 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
What if it Just Ain’t True?A few years ago one of my friends accidentally discovered that his dad was in fact not his dad at all. Ouch. At twenty seven years of age, he discovered that something he absolutely knew (not thought, hoped, or wished) to be fact, was in reality, not true at all. Let’...

Stepcase Lifehack | 16 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
So someone said no. You asked someone to participate in a joint venture, tried to close a sale, invited someone to be your social media friend, and they said no. And you felt that uncomfortable feeling of having put yourself “out there” on a limb, only to look over and see that someone&...

Stepcase Lifehack | 15 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
You can’t walk down the street at this time of year without seeing a schmaltzy couple draped over each other or a window full of love hearts.  Whether you like it or not, the trappings of St Valentines Day can be seen everywhere.Now, I’ll put my hands up right now and tell you that I’ve scre...

Stepcase Lifehack | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Einstein said that all great original ideas at first appear absurd.  This is why it is so easy to dismiss radical suggestions when they surface.  We point out that they are absurd and so miss great opportunities.  How would you react if an unorthodox business idea was presented to you and you co...

Stepcase Lifehack | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Have you just moved to a new town? Are you a couch potato? Or have your friends decided they don’t want to do anything this weekend? Have no fear, the internet is here!  We’ll get you out of the house yet with these six websites.Six Places Online To Find Something To DoCraigslist.   ...

Stepcase Lifehack | 8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST

Stepcase Lifehack
Stepcase Lifehack
Whether you work outside the house or stay at home full-time, the toughest part of the day is the same: those frantic early evening hours when there are mouths to feed, homework to do, and cranky kids to handle. The trick is to streamline your to-do’s so you can feel calmer and focus on what cou...

Stepcase Lifehack | 4 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am CST