Blog — Productivity
New Planner for the New Year
Arguably the best part of a new year is a fresh new planner. The blank pages bring excitement of what they may be filled with. As we saw last year, you can do all the planning in the world and life can throw a wrench in that plan. This year may seem a little daunting after the past year we had, but start small with your new planner and set your intentions to make this the best year yet!
Here are a few planners to get you started this year:
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Photo courtesy of Full Focus Planner |
Full Focus PlannerWho they’re good for: Professionals or anyone who wants to set intentions each day.
Why we love them: With the ability to track goals annually or quarterly or just by the day, you can start as big or as small as you want. After the past year planning quarterly may seem over whelming so you can start small with just daily goals.
How to use them: Each day you write your “Daily Big 3”, so you have 3 things that you make sure to get done by the end of the day. You can also track your appointments daily and other tasks you want to accomplish. With a glance you can have a whole snapshot of your entire day. |
Passion PlannerWho they’re good for: Anyone who wants to feel more purpose-driven in life.
Why we love them: No more juggling several different notebooks. This all-in-one solution gives you one place to set goals, track appointments, write journal entries and even sketch. In fact, the company calls it “one place for all your thoughts.” And, did we mention? Stickers!!
How to use them: Consider the passion planner a place to really reflect on your life then use that insight to dream. Once you’ve done this big picture work, you can leverage the planner to break it all down into manageable steps and live out your goals in daily life. If it all sounds a little overwhelming, tackle it 10 or 20 minutes at a time with the Time Timer MOD® - Home Edition to help keep you on track. |
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Photo courtesy of Bullet Journal |
Bullet JournalWho they’re good for: Anyone who struggles with focus, including people with learning disabilities.
Why we love them: These look like simple notebooks on the surface, but they’re built around a method for rapidly logging information as bulleted lists. (There’s a whole book outlining the methodology.) It’s all based on the founder’s own trial and error to figure out how to be focused and productive despite his own learning disabilities.
How to use them: You start by jotting down lists in simple categories—tasks, events, notes and more. Then use symbols next to those entries for highlighting everything from high priorities to inspiration. Many people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) consider the Bullet Journal to be one of the best ADHD planners around. |
Poketo Project PlannerWho they’re good for: Professionals and Educators.
Why we love them: This planner is perfect for focusing on specific projects. You can set tasks, goals, and timelines for project specific plans. Poketo includes many different planners for specific things in life such as a food planner and much more.
How to use them: Outline your project, develop tasks, and schedule meetings. Keep everything to do with projects, whether they are in the office or at home, organized. |
Photo courtesy of Poketo |
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Photo courtesy of Bloom Daily Planners |
Bloom Daily PlannerWho they’re good for: Educators and Students.
Why we love them: Bloom Daily Planners have a version for both teachers and students. The teacher collection of planners offers undated planners that range from August to July. Teachers and Students can personalize their planner to match their style and needs.
How to use them: Set your Time Timer PLUS 60 Minute for 15 – 20 minutes to help organize your day or week and develop a checklist whether you are in the classroom or at home. |
We hope this list helps you find a planner to help you plan your best year yet!
How To Time Audit Your Life: A Year In Review
As we say goodbye to 2020 and usher in a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past year and consider what you would like to welcome into your life in 2021. Set aside one hour for your personal year in review and discover your intentions for the year ahead.
The Time Timer 2020 Holiday Gift Guide Part 2: Friends, Coworkers, and Teachers
Our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide Part 2: Friends, Coworkers, and Teachers is here! We’re sharing gift ideas to help your friends, coworkers, and teachers make every moment count! The Time Timer family of products are perfect for creating less stress and more ease for everyone, wherever you work, rest, and play.
The Time Timer Holiday Gift Guide Part 1: Family and Home
Our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide Part 1: Family and Home is here! We’re sharing gift ideas for kids, families, and everything you and your loved ones need at home. The Time Timer family of products are perfect for creating less stress and more ease for everyone, wherever you work, rest, and play.
National Assistive Technology Awareness Day
March 27th is National Assistive Technology Awareness Day. Do you find yourself suddenly teaching your child with special needs at home? Time Timer has been a proud Assistive Technology product for over 25 years and can be a great tool for students during this period of at-home learning due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
5 Tips for Less Eye Strain
March is Save Your Vision Month. This month, we have a few tips to help with eye fatigue while on the computer all day.
How To Batch Task: Improve Focus, Save Time, and Create Space
Do you find yourself jumping from one task to the next? Do you multitask all day long yet feel like you don’t get anything done? The less you have to switch gears, the more you can focus on the task at hand. We share how batch tasking can improve focus, save time, and create space in your life for what matters most.
How To Time Audit Your Own Life: A Year In Review
Now that the holiday decorations are back in storage and the dust has settled on the new year, it’s the perfect time to dive into reflecting on the past year and consider how you’d like this year to look. Set aside one hour for your personal year in review and discover your intentions for the year ahead. Let’s get started.
The Time Timer Holiday Gift Guide
Our Holiday Gift Guide is here! We’re sharing gift ideas for the special people in your life. The Time Timer family of products are perfect for creating less stress and more ease for everyone, whether at home, school, or work.
The Little Tool That's Changing My Productivity Game
One of my resolutions this year is to be more productive with my time, but that broad resolution deserves some breakdown into more specific manageable goals. Because I know my tendencies and am aware of how my productivity has changed over time, I recognize one particular mindset that continually sets me back–waiting for one big dedicated block of time to tackle a project or “get things done” and squandering all the perfectly good smaller chunks of time available in the meantime.
Guest Blog: A Tutor's Perspective of the Time Timer
Katya Seberson is a results-oriented SAT and ACT tutor. After struggling through school with dyslexia and a learning disability, Katya taught herself new learning techniques that allowed her to succeed. The company she started, ExecutiveMind, Inc., has helped students commonly gain 190+ on the SAT and 4+ points on the ACT.
By Katya Seberson
As far as we know, human beings are the only mammals who can tell time.
Since the clock has become a permanent fixture our homes ONLY around the 16th century, telling time is a relatively new feature in our evolution, and we (humans) are horrible at time perception. Let me explain.
Time perception is your ability to sense how much time has passed since you started doing something. Let’s say you are writing an essay on a piece of paper (weird, I know), and tell yourself, “let me spend 10 minutes on this paragraph.” How likely is it that you will put your pen down in exactly 10 minutes? Unless you have a clock in sight, there is an almost 100% guarantee you won’t stop after exactly 10 minutes. If you are engaged in a task, you will likely spend more time (time flies when you are having fun), and if you are stuck, you will likely spend less then 10 minutes... “a watched pot never boils.”
We are lousy at telling time because our brain is NOT designed to sense time well. We have areas in our brain dedicated to sight, hearing, smelling, etc. that have been perfected through evolution, but there is NO distinct area in the brain exclusively devoted to sensing time.
What about the biological clock, you ask?
Yes, our biological clock relies on messages from our vital systems to compose a prediction about how much time has passed. Scientists agree that the brain may have several different clocks working together, but independently, the brain selects a “winner” from these different possible timings depending on the context.
Why should I care about telling time if I can always look at the clock?
Developing a good sense of time is a valuable skill in many areas of personal development. Many of you know that the time management industry (teaching people how to manage their schedules) has exploded in the last few years. Many people feel inadequate when they are unable to tell how much time has passed since the meeting, the exam, or the call has started. In my work as a tutor, I see students continuously run out of time on a test as they lack knowing how much time they’ve spent so far on a problem and how much time is left.
The Time Timer has been a magical tool for my students and myself to develop the time perception skill. Because it’s visual, the brain can now lean on the visual cortex (one of the largest areas in the brain) to help itself develop a good sense of how much time has passed and how much time is left. As you are working, the red circle keeps disappearing, letting you know that the time is ticking away, setting the rhythm.
Because the circle is large and very vivid, you can sense how much time is left with your peripheral vision without even looking at the clock directly — no need to stop your task and switch your attention to the clock. I have my Time Timer right next to me as I am typing this article. It shows that I have 15 minutes left of the time I planned to spend on writing this short article for you.
Notice, my eyes are glued to the screen, and I keep my focus on the task, and I am not checking my phone and getting distracted. The Time Timer is a great tool to develop an invaluable sense of time, focus and perfect your time management at work or school.
I have created a video dedicated to using the Pomodoro Method along with The Time Timer. Hope you enjoy it!
