Pagoda Blog

Do you find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day? Our professional and personal to-do lists are never-ending and sometimes it feels nearly impossible to stay on top of our deadlines and also make time for the things in life that matter most.

 

While technology is often to blame for increased stress levels (before the internet threats like Meltdown & Spectre didn’t even exist!), it also has the ability to increase our productivity and reduce feelings of overwhelm. It allows us to automate certain tasks, improve our time management skills, and it can even remind us to slow down and unwind. The trick is using technology in ways that reduce our stress and free up time for spending with family, hitting the gym, or just unwinding with an old-fashioned book.

 

Here are 3 ways technology can help reduce stress and increase your productivity:  

Stay focused

1Focus

If you find yourself on Facebook or checking your email every five minutes, you need 1Focus. 1Focus lets you block access to apps or websites for designated periods of time. Make sure you stay focused on writing that proposal or fixing that UI glitch by removing the opportunity to scroll through your Twitter feed or watch cat videos on YouTube.

 

Habitat by Plantronics

Do constant water cooler conversations and sales calls constantly disrupt your focus at the office? You’ve tried those white noise apps but the fuzzy static is almost just as distracting and leaves you feeling depleted and anxious. Plantronics has designed a new soundscaping system called Habitat that uses sounds from nature, like a babbling brook or the crash of the surf, to create a soothing, distraction-free environment. This smart system actually adapts to the changing acoustics of an open office and includes soothing visuals of nature.

Manage your to-do’s

Things

Remember that never-ending to-do list we mentioned earlier? Here’s how you stay on top of it. Things, for Mac and iOS, has a clean user interface that features deceivingly simple checklists with all sorts of handy capabilities. To name just a few, you can sync the app with your calendar, divide bigger tasks into sections with headers, drag and drop your tasks into different to-do lists or sections of your list, and view your progress on each task with the progress completion circles that fill in as you check off your to-dos.

 

Asana

For those who want a more robust app that helps manage your tasks and your team, Asana is great at both. Create tasks, assign people to them, add deadlines and comments, and attach files. Asana is great for managing workflow and encouraging streamlined collaboration.   

Practice mindfulness

Buddhify

To-do apps are a must for staying organized in the digital age but perhaps the best way to reduce stress is to slow down, breathe deep, and take up meditation. Buddhify has meditation options that work whether you’re in the privacy of your home or in the middle of a stressful situation.

 

Headspace

Headspace also provides a variety of ways to meditate that you can use throughout the day. According to the developers of this mindfulness app, when you calm your mind, you can be more productive, resilient and creative. Sounds worth a try, don’t you think?

For more productivity tips, check out these other Pagoda posts:

 

8 Easy Hacks to Improve Your Productivity Online

9 Useful Apps Every Business Owner Should Know About

 

 

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About Pagoda Technologies IT services

Based in Santa Cruz, California, Pagoda Technologies provides trusted IT support to businesses and IT departments throughout Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area and across the globe. To learn how Pagoda Technologies can help your business, email us at support@pagoda-tech.com to schedule a complimentary IT consultation.