ActionComplete helps people around the world become purposeful,
effective, and successful in career,
relationships,
and other aspects of life.
The hallmark of ActionComplete Tasks is its streamlined yet flexible
task management approach that enables people of all walks of life to take a firm grip on their tasks,
assignments, errands, and to-dos and put a stop to leaks through the cracks.
ActionComplete Tasks was inspired by David Allen's Getting
Things Done methodology. Over time ActionComplete adopted elements of other task management approaches,
notably Stephen Covey's quadrants. Because of its inherent simplicity and flexibility, ActionComplete
can be used to implement a wide range of task management techniques including your own.
On this site you will learn about various ActionComplete products. Your feedback is very
important to us. Please let us know what you think because you have a vote in shaping the future of
ActionComplete!
A guest post by Rebecca Temsen. Originally published on
SelfDevelopmentSecrets.com.
Republished with permission.
There are lots of challenges that you face to be more productive in the modern workplace.
If you’ve been working for some time, you will know what I’m talking about.
And if you’re working by yourself or just want to add productivity in your personal life, you can still relate to
this post.
Demanding deadlines, competitive promotion opportunities, and intense workloads all play a part in worker
stress.
It can leave you feeling like you barely
have time to breathe.
Perhaps you have come to the conclusion that minimising your sleep could be the solution to your deadline
battles.
It could be that you have done away with your breaks at work to dedicate more time to your job.
You may be one of the 66% of American workers that skip lunch to meet workplace demands.
These conclusions seem logical.
It seems obvious that if you dedicate more time to something, you will achieve more.
While this may appear to be helpful, these productivity shortcuts are actually productivity obstacle.
So how do we become more productive, handle more work and get more done without breaking ourselves?
Here’s how…
The First Step Is To Actually Take Breaks
Taking breaks at work may seem unnecessary, particularly when you have a pressing deadline.
You might feel like cutting them out of your work day all together will help you get more done.
The truth is that cutting breaks out affects your efficiency, focus and mental attitude.
This might seem counter-intuitive, but a distraction can give your brain a break it needs.
These brief periods of mental relief can offer you a new perspective and fresh determination when you return.
This is in contrast with perpetuating feelings of frustration or anxiety that can ruin your workday.
Work days are long and getting longer.
The average American work day is now up to 9.4 hours! (Based on The Washington Post)
Concentrating on a single set of tasks or repeating a set of activities for that entire amount of time is bound
to drive a person to the brink of insanity without something to break the day up.
HOW TO SQUEEZE IN A BREAK WITH NO TIME
Having a demanding career can make it feel like your schedule literally can not handle a break.
It can be a struggle to pencil in bathroom time on some days, let alone an entire chunk of time to unwind.
Despite what you may think, taking frequent breaks might not be as impossible as it seems.
Breaks don’t have to be as long as you may be used to thinking of them.
They can be anywhere from a few minutes to even just a few seconds.
This makes it easy to fit a brief breather into even the most hectic schedule.
Microbreaks
Microbreaks are a good
alternative to full breaks if you packed your day to full capacity.
They can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes long.
Even incorporating just one of these small breaks into your busy day can improve your mental acuity by up to
13%.
It can be easy to defend break times for labour workers, but office workers also suffer greatly from a lack of
breaks.
Even just a 15-second break from staring into the abyss of your computer screen every 10 minutes can do
wonders.
Taking these microbreaks from your endless emails and reports can help to decrease your fatigue.
If a short break is all that you manage, by all means, take what you can get.
While short amounts of time are certainly better than nothing, taking a larger chunk of time to decompress from the
day’s stress is the preferable breaking option.
Extend your microbreaks whenever you possibly can.
YOUR LUNCH BREAK IS IMPORTANT, SO TAKE IT
In the era when being a workaholic is the new norm, breaking for lunch has become a thing of the past.
Drinkable meals and snacking on-the-go have replaced the away-from-the-office, sit-down meals of the past.
Even though this technically gives you more time for work, it turns out that extra time is a bit of a waste.
Two-thirds of the American working population skips their lunch break entirely.
Even if you aren’t part of that majority fraction, chances are pretty high that you eat your meal at your
desk.
You’re hoping to get in just a little bit more work.
The long, non-interrupted period you spend at your job can create a monotonous mental state and quickly cripple
your creativity.
According to a study referenced by NPR, only one out of every five United States workers steps away from their
desk for their mid-day meal.
Research has shown that changing your environment helps to boost creativity and relieve stress, so getting out
is important.
A stagnant work environment affects areas of work including problem-solving and time management for task
completion.
Going through long, mentally draining days often have you exhausted far before it’s time for you to head home.
Along with the much-needed break from the workplace environment, it is important that you are taking the time to
fuel your body properly.
Relying on vending machines and the occasional for sustenance will eventually leave you lethargic and unproductive.
DON’T LET YOUR WORK KEEP YOU FROM SLEEPING
High-pressure work sometimes find a way of making their way home with you.
You leave work and, even though you are home, all you can think about are all the things you left at work.
Partially finished tasks and looming deadlines help to make your time away from the daily grind anything but
peaceful.
Stress is a serious contributor to insomnia and career stress is exceptionally common among Americans.
You might be one of the many professionals whose work ethic and dedication to their job make it difficult to
relax.
Even when you are away from work.
Transferring career stress into your home life makes it difficult to shut your brain off no matter how tired you
are.
Letting go of these workplace anxieties is much easier said than done.
There are a variety of different relaxation and meditation techniques that sleep professionals insist help alleviate
the stress and
tension that prevents sleep.
And with that, distracting yourself by reading or engaging in a relaxing activity might get your mind off your job
long enough for you to drift off to sleep.
Training your brain to think about something other than that project at work or the presentation you have to finish
isn’t a simple task.
It takes a sincere effort and a lot of trial and error to find what is right for you.
While you may not always be able to keep your thoughts focused on things other than work, what you can do is
make the commitment to minimise the amount of time you are working at home.
There are some times where bringing work home is inevitable, but it should not be a regular part of your
day.
Working late into the night on your own time can easily seem like a productive and responsible thing to do to
advance your career.
However, a consistent or even frequent lack of sleep will eventually make you a poor worker and your performance
will soon start to suffer.
Exhaustion catches up with us all.
As much as you might like to think that you are the exception to the sleeping rule, you aren’t.
It turns out you need sleep if you want to avoid your performance being noticed for all the wrong reasons.
NAPPING ISN’T LAZY, IT’S SMART
You may be among the many Americans who are
deprived
of sleep, and not only for work related reasons.
There are a plethora of things and events that might cause you to lose sleep.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that being low on sleep is bad for business no matter what the excuse may be.
There might not be anything that you can do about your sleepless situation, but what you can do is supplement it
when you can.
Work instinctively feels like the worst place to grab a nap.
As it turns out, sleeping on the job is a good thing that employers should encourage.
Sure, it might seem strange to schedule a snooze into your work day.
All of our experiences tell us that catching some zzz’s during working hours, even if only ever on breaks, is not a
good idea. Napping is often professionally
regarded as being irresponsible.
According to the CDC, 30% of adults get six or
fewer hours of sleep on a consistent basis.
If you are one of the people who fall into this category, give yourself some shut-eye in the middle of your work
day.
This can be just what the doctor ordered to get you focused and back on track.
A short 40-minute slumber can make you more alert by an average of 34%. (According to the
National Sleep Foundation)
When you rest your body properly, your brain can operate more quickly and effectively. Increasing your mental
capacity is beneficial no matter what field you are in.
Even if you can only fit 20 minutes of sleep into your afternoon, it can still make a tremendous difference.
In fact, studies have shown that sleeping for 20 minutes in the afternoon can provide you with more rest than
sleeping in for 20 minutes after a night of little sleep.
Figuring out a way to nap while you are at work depends quite a bit on the type of work you do and your working
environment.
For instance, if you have an office, you could even lie on the floor during one of your breaks.
If you work in a cubicle, finding somewhere to snooze may be a little more difficult due to lack of privacy.
Since simply laying your head down at your desk and snoring away is typically frowned upon, napping becomes quite
the challenge if you don’t have your own office.
Places like conference rooms or other spaces that are often vacant might be a good alternative. In a pinch, sleeping
in your car provides quite a bit of privacy from your colleagues for a mid-day nap.
The moral of the story is: if you are tired, get a little bit of sleep. Pushing yourself to your limit isn’t doing
your career any favours.
TAKE A BREAK FOR YOUR BODY’S SAKE
Sleeping and eating aren’t the only things that you should be doing during your much-needed workplace breaks.
It turns out that job stress of the average American combined with the often sedentary nature of office workplaces
can do physical damage.
Sitting in an office chair answering a phone or looking at a computer screen from between 8-10 hours a day can be
harmful to your body.
Staying seated for extended periods of time can be the root of back and joint ailments. Pain from remaining
stationary is a common complaint among those who work in an office.
These joint pains can range from annoying to debilitating regarding severity.
Objects like support pillows and footstools can help to alleviate the pressure while you are at your desk.
But the best solution is to move your body whenever you get the chance.
Standing up and for a few seconds during a swift break will help to keep your body from getting stiff.
Even a quick stretch of both arms to the sky can do more good than you might think.
Not only does it redistribute your weight to ease joint pressure. This simple move also drives oxygen into your
brain.
A little bit of movement is also helpful when you are feeling lethargic or bored.
The action, no matter how short the duration, helps to tell your body that it is time to wake up and get back to the
grind.
If you can manage to duck out of the office for a quick walk on one of your longer breaks, so much the better.
The exercise will help to wake you and relieve minor tension stress.
All this while providing a change of scenery and fresh air.
The physical effects of modern work aren’t just due to the stationary nature of office work.
Typing and gazing at a computer screen are also factors in impact office work has your health.
In a study done by workers who suffer from forearm wrist and hand discomfort, a short break of 5 minutes every hour
eliminated their pain.
This means that these short breaks could prevent you from having permanent damage in the future.
Doing simple wrist and forearm stretches can also be beneficial and are easy to do at your desk.
While this isn’t necessarily an exercise, it is worth noting that your eyes endure quite a bit of stress.
Especially if you are working on a computer all day.
Taking a super quick 20-second break to gaze approximately 20 feet away can help alleviate and even eliminate the
symptoms of over-strained eyes.
SANITY BREAKS
There are some things in your job that require your undivided attention.
Some people are depending on you to do your do your job well and to get it done in time.
That pressure can sometimes be overwhelming.
This can be a good time to take two.
Two minutes seems like a pretty short amount of time. But it is enough to give you a bit of a reset.
Take the little bit of time to move around.
Hydrate and connect to the world outside work by briefly glancing at your social media.
It may seem like spending your break surfing around social media sites is a distraction or a waste of time.
Studies show that this kind of distraction can be helpful to productivity in moderation.
Those who spend a small portion of their work time (less than 20%) on the web are shown to be around 9% more
productive than those who did not browse.
Thinking about something other than work periodically throughout may help you from becoming frustrated with your
job.
A little bit of indulgence can go a long way.
Your job is important to you.
You want people to recognise your work and your talent, and you strive to do the best you can.
Even if that means making significant personal sacrifices.
Taking your breaks is vital to your professional success.
It might seem like you are making a good impression by working through your breaks.
Abandoning your lunch, and spending all your free time working makes you seem more hardworking.
Your superior might even be urging or suggesting that you work more continuously.
Don’t fall for the misconception that more time equals more efficiency.
At the end of the day, your boss is concerned with results.
It doesn’t matter how many hours you put in if the result is only average.
You are better than sufficient work.
That means taking care of yourself properly so that you can be your very best.
Taking breaks, whether full breaks or microbreaks, will keep you working in peak performance condition.
Sleeping right, eating right, and taking care of yourself physically and mentally aren’t things that you should
abandon once you clock in.
Productivity and efficiency are the things that makes careers.
So making sure that you are at your most productive and that your work is done correctly and efficiently is done by
breaking up the stress and boredom or your average office day.
Fit in breaks where ever you can to begin with.
Then gradually extend those breaks and figure out times and places that work best around the demands of your
job.
Do this until you are taking your full breaks every single work day and you will definitely increase productivity in
your workplace.
Setting work/home boundaries and making your health and sanity a workplace priority will contribute to making your
job the best that it can possibly be.
Of course, not everyone wants to stay in their jobs.
To find your true passion and quit your job, check
this
article out with 13 steps to pursue your dreams.
Do you have any other tips to be more productive? Let us know in the comments below!
Don’t forget to share! Sharing is caring 😀
ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS is the evolution of ActionComplete on Apple devices. This new major version of
the product offers quite a few new features and sports a brand new user interface.
Here are the highlights of the app.
Featured Tasks
You want to see the tasks that require your attention right away. That's what Featured screen does.
Our proprietary algorithm sifts through your tasks and picks the ones that are most relevant in your current situation.
We analyze your physical location, the time of the day, and a number of other factors to cut through the noise and
show you just the right tasks.
Location-based Notifications
Have things to do at home? A shopping list for your favorite grocery store? Location-based notifications will alert when
you are near the place and show you the tasks you can complete there.
Powerful and Versatile Search Capabilities
We have many things to do. Too many sometimes. You know you created a task for that pesky thing but where is it? ActionComplete's
search and filter let you find that task in no time.
Did you know that ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS is totally and completely free?
We are happy to announce the release candidate of
ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS!
ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS is the evolution of ActionComplete on Apple devices. This new major version of
the product offers quite a few new features and sports a brand new user interface.
The app was extensively tested in both standalone mode and together with AC for Web. While there might be minor issues, which is why
we want your feedback, it's safe to use the app with your real tasks.
This version of the app is avialable via Apple's TestFlight
app that you can install from the App Store.
To request access to the app before it's generally available on the App Store, please email
support@actioncomplete.com
and advise us the email address
that we should use to invite you.
I’ve got today’s book to my right and my morning protein shake to my left.
Ahhhh morning rituals.
Anyway I have some practicality to rap at you today.
Pop quiz: What’s the best investment you could ever make?
Real estate? An undervalued stock? Education?
The truth is these can be good investments (if you are careful), but none of them are consistently the best possible investment you can make.
Here’s a hint: What’s the most valuable asset you have?
I want you to think carefully on this one. This quiz is 60% of your final grade.
...waiting
Okay I’ve had my fun.
YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST ASSET.
As a result, the best investment you could ever make is in yourself.
Sadly though, most people invest nothing in themselves. People will collect there pay check and immediately blow it on liabilities like sunglasses or expensive clothes.
Tattoo this phrase into the back of your skull: "Everything gets better when you get better"
Wasting your money on shitty consumer goods will not make you better in the slightest.
Instead, a portion of your monthly income should be going to your own self improvement, through books, mentors, coaches, audio programs, etc.
Everything only gets better as you improve yourself and your own capabilities.
Now I’m not saying every penny you earn needs to go to your own self-improvement. Treating yourself to material goods can be a good incentive to continue working hard.
What I am saying is that a certain portion of your monthly income should be invested in your own self-improvement.
You will be amazed at the growth you experience as you do this.
We are excited to announce the opening of the early access program for
ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS!
ActionComplete GTD Toolkit 2 for iOS is the evolution of ActionComplete on Apple devices. This new major version of
the product offers quite a few new features and sports a brand new user experience.
Early access program is a way to try the product before it becomes generally available via the App Store. It's
intended for avid users who want to have a sneak peek at the product and give us
feedback on usability and stability.
As this is a preliminary release, there's a potential for bugs and usability issues.
As such, you should not use it for anything that you'll regret losing.
The early access version is avialable via Apple's TestFlight
app that you can install from the App Store.
To enroll in the early access program, please send an email to
support@actioncomplete.com
and advise us the email address
that we should use to invite you.
We are happy to announce that the procedure of purchasing AC for Web access license has been greatly simplified!
Thanks to the technology provided by the leading online payment processor stripe,
ActionComplete now allows you to acquire one-year AC for Web access license with your credit card
safely and securely.
Stripe's advanced tech let us seamlessly integrate the payments in the license
purchase flow without even seeing your credit card information. AC for Web license purchase and renewal
process is now fully automated and no longer requires any
interaction with
ActionComplete support personnel.
We hope you'll enjoy the new license purchase experience.
Were you ever taken aback by the myriad of tasks jumping at you off the screen?
Have you ever wished of being able to just cut through the clutter and see what you
really need to focus on?
ActionComplete to the rescue! Show Next Actions Only filter setting introduced in
ActionComplete 3.9 for Android will make your task management life less stressful and more
productive.
The setting, which can be found at the bottom of the Filters screen and is off by default,
works together with
the task sorting feature. When checked, it tells ActionComplete to show just the first action for every project according
to the current sort order.
To get the full benefit of the new feature, you need to decide on a task sequencing strategy
within projects.
You could choose to sequence your project tasks by starting their names with a cardinal number,
for instance,
"01 Start here" and sort your tasks by name. Alternatively you could assign your project tasks
due dates
and sort by urgency. Yet another viable strategy that works great for small projects is sequencing your project
tasks by importance.
Please install or update
your ActionComplete for Android
at Google Play.
Tags are your friends. They let you see your tasks in meaningful ways. They are a tremendous help during
planning and review. They are the skeleton of your task system.
That's why ActionComplete 3.8 for Android introduces another tool to help you enforce the discipline
of tagging - a Warn if no Metadata setting.
The setting, which is off by default, allows you to have ActionComplete check if there are tags, or places,
linked to the task you are about to save. If not, you'll be warned right away. If you feel strongly about
it, you can ignore the warning and save the task tag-less anyway.
If tagging is not your thing (and we hope it is!), you can keep the setting at its default No value
and ActionComplete will stay out of your way.
Install or update your ActionComplete for Android
at Google Play.
If you have a lot of tags and places and tagging your tasks feels like a chore, this is an update for you!
With ActionComplete 3.7 for Android attaching tags and places to tasks got even easier than it used
to be.
Select Tags/Places screen is now equipped with a search box that allows you to quickly
narrow down the scope of
your search by typing just a letter or two. As you type, the tag/place list shrinks to show you just the items
that have those letters in their names!
For your convenience, tags and places that are already selected always stay at the top of the list and are not
affected by the filter.
Install or update your ActionComplete for Android
at Google Play.
We start year 2015 with a new release of ActionComplete for Web!
ActionComplete 4.4 for Web improves the integration with Google services in several useful ways.
The 300 character restriction on the task notes is gone.
The new Smart Attachments feature of ActionComplete will detect a long note that you typed or
pasted in the new/edit task form
and automatically convert it to a Google Docs attachment. You can find ActionComplete Attachments in your Google
Drive
in the folder named... ActionComplete Attachments!
Tasks with attachments are now marked with an asterisk (*) similar to tasks with notes.
Now you can have ActionComplete display public and built-in calendars such as Holidays in the United States and
Birthdays along with your personal calendars.
Just click Tools/Options... and make your selections in the Calendars area.
We are happy to announce a holiday discount for our flagship product: ActionComplete for Web!
Before January 1, 2015 you can buy a one-year access license for ActionComplete for Web for
$14.99. That's $5 off the regular price of $19.99.
If you purchase via PayPal, the discount is applied automatically. If you purchase via Amazon Payments, we'll issue
you a $5 refund when we process the payment.
Last year we reimagined ActionComplete for Android. We started from the blank screen and rebuilt the app based on
4+ years of our Android experience and your feedback. The result of this substantial effort is the beautiful and
free ActionComplete
3 for Android.
The decision came at a cost. We could not keep the app backwards-compatible and we had to increase the minimum
supported Android version to 4.0.3. That's how the old (paid) version of ActionComplete for Android bit the
dust.
What does it mean to you?
If you don't own the paid version of ActionComplete for Android, you can stop here. Otherwise, please read
on.
First and foremost, you paid for the app and it's yours to keep. Bear in mind though that it's no longer
available on the Play Store so if you delete it or get a new Android device there won't be a way to get it
back.
While you keep the app on your device it'll work in standalone mode indefinitely. The sync
between the old (paid) version of ActionComplete for Android and AC for Web will cease working after June 30,
2014.
If you use the sync with AC for Web, your device runs Android version lower than 4.0.3, is not ugradeable, and
you do not plan to get a new Android device any time soon, please consider alternative task management
solutions.
If you plan to continue using ActionComplete in the long term, we recommend that you migrate to the new free ActionComplete
3 for Android.
We also remind you that as an owner of the terminated paid version of ActionComplete for
Android you can get up to $4.99 credit toward the purchase of AC for Web one-year access
license. To get the credit in the amount of your purchase, please email your AC for Android purchase receipt
to support@actioncomplete.com*.
* The credit can be applied to a new purchase only.
