Calendar Integration

Since Elisi’s launch, calendar integration has been the most in-demand feature.  The app’s initial conception featured the compilation of a weekly to-do list, with no planned design for calendar events. However, after utilizing Elisi as a daily tool in the long term, we all realized the convenience that calendar events could offer. For this reason, we began work on calendar integration with Elisi. 

Surely, we have confronted some obstacles along the way. We needed to figure out how to parse iCal files, how to sync calendars across devices, and how to display the events in daily boxes, without overloading the interface or losing information. The hardest part, however, has been to avoid overfilling the interface with calendar events in the cases when an already full calendar is integrated. For now, we have made it easy to hide calendars, but we are open to other solutions that are more intuitive. 

To add calendars, please make sure you update Elisi to the latest version, click on “calendars” from the planner, and then simply follow the instructions.  We hope that you like this feature, and please don’t hesitate to give us your feedback.

Achieving A Work-Life Balance Using The GTD Technique

By Elisi Studios

People waste a lot of time. How much? One study involving small business owners discovered they wasted an average of almost 22 hours every week.

You might be wasting time right now, reading this to distract yourself from whatever it is you know you should be doing. Do you struggle to make the most out of your day? A productivity system may provide the discipline you need to stay on track.

Getting Things Done, or GTD, is a technique that can boost your productivity. Never heard of it? Written almost twenty years ago, it’s still considered one of the best books on productivity.

We’ll cover the basics.

What is the GTD System?

The Getting Things Done system doesn’t try to tell you how to do your work. Instead, it focuses on how you organize and tackle your daily obligations. The idea is, without organization, you won’t know where or what to begin.

Trying to remember everything is — well, it’s a waste of time. David Allen, the creator of the system, advocates the use of a to-do list or work calendar. This way, you can concentrate on the task and avoid being overwhelmed.

The Five GTD Methods

There’s a lot to unpack from the GTD methodology. It was a self-help book after all. But when trimmed down to its five basic tenets, it’s easy to understand.

1. Capture

Stop relying on your head to keep everything straight. The first step of the GTD process is to capture every task at hand. And by capture, we mean to get them out of your head and written down on a piece of paper.

Your organizational system doesn’t matter. Choose what fits your fancy. The important part is to, without fail, jot down even the most trivial of tasks.

Whatever you use, make sure it’s convenient and available. The worst thing you can do is tell yourself you’ll write it down later — and then forget.

2. Clarify

Since you’re listing tasks as soon as they come to your head, they’ll need some clarification. Perhaps you remembered you need to finish a college essay. Don’t leave it on your to-do list as complete college essay.

That doesn’t give you a good place to start. Break it into pieces, such as researchessay, construct outline, and so forth.

3. Organize

Now that you’ve broken your tasks into smaller parts, take some time to prioritize them. Remember to consider the deadlines of these projects, as well as your workload.

During this step, you should also categorize similar actions. Have a lot of writing to do? Clump those assignments together.

4. Reflect

Priorities change. As more tasks spring up, you may realize an assignment was not as stressing as it was before. You should spend a few times each day skimming through your list and making changes should you find them necessary.

As well as looking for changes, you should reflect on your current tasks. If you don’t look at your list to keep yourself organized, then what’s the point of making one?

5. Engage

With an organized list full of simple actions, you’ll know which task to start first. Keep your priority system in mind and work through your list at your leisure. Not only does this system erase the anxiety that comes with disorganization, but it also gives you the clear guidance you need to get started.

And getting started is everything.

Stay Organized With Elisi

The entire GTD system is hinged on the use of an intelligent and convenient planner. Simply put: Taking notes on your phone won’t be good enough.

Instead, consider the Elisi app. It’s a comprehensive digital journal that features a calendar, a to-do list, notes, and more. Try the Elisi app and see how it can increase your productivity.

Pomodoro Timer, A Time Management Tool You Should Try

By Elisi Studio

Time management is of the essence, and it’ll take some focus and concentration to put these sorts of practices into place.

Thankfully, there are plenty of time management tools that will help you out tremendously. Regardless of what sort of task you are focusing on, the tips in this article will help you get focused and stay focused.

Start with these tips so that you can use everything from apps to Pomodoro Timers to get help.

1. Use Time Management Tools on Your Phone or in Your Web Browser

There are several apps you can put onto your phone that will help you focus. Some of these apps you can look into include Forest, Wunderlist, Evernote, and Elisi.

If you want to use a time management timer, there are also apps that can let you make use of the Pomodoro technique. By striking this balance with your workflow, you’ll get the most out of these strategies.

Whether you download an app on your phone or use a web browser as a timer, you’ll have the help that you need.

2. Learn the Pomodoro Technique and Use it Regularly

The Pomodoro technique is one of the best productivity hacks that you can use on a regular basis.

With this technique, you are on and active for 25 minutes and take breaks of about 5 minutes.

The science behind this technique is that experts say your brain can’t focus for much longer than 25 minutes at a time. By voluntarily taking a break and then getting back to work, you will keep your mind fresh and avoid burnout.

3. Go For a Walk and Get Outside During Your Breaks

To really get the most out of the Pomodoro technique, be sure that you are moving your body and getting some fresh air.

When you walk, you increase your blood flow, which also increases the blood flow to your brain. You can also rejuvenate yourself by going outside and taking in some sunshine.

Both of these matters can keep you fresh and energized so that you feel great when it is time to go back to work.

4. Add a Meditation Practice to Your Time Management

The mental and productivity benefits of meditation can’t be overstated.

When you add meditation to some of your breaks, you will have more clarity and better cognitive function. Doing this will help you sustain an inner peace that will also carry you throughout every workday with a positive mindset.

Get the Most From Your Time Management

When you put these time management tools to use, you’ll be able to earn more money, study more and get more done.

Whether you work a 9-to-5 office job, are your own boss, or just want to study hard and retain the information for an exam, these tips have you covered. You’ll be able to maximize on this by not only using the Pomodoro technique but also incorporating some apps or tools that can be helpful.

Consider these tips so that you have a time management system that serves you.

Introducing Monthly View

Since the launch of Elisi, one feature that has been requested most often by our users is a monthly calendar view.

Initially we didn’t include a monthly view because we felt the weekly granularity provided a good balance between an overview and an actionable to-do list. However, customer feedback clearly indicated that a monthly calendar is needed by many of our users, and is better for planning the far future than a weekly view.

Designing the monthly view presented its share of difficulties, from both UI and technical viewpoints. There was the challenge of keeping the UI clean while still being functional; with a monthly view it is surprisingly easy to put too many things on the screen and lose focus. The technical challenge is how to optimize performance when suddenly Elisi had to show much more information than in a weekly view.

After several iterations and many weeks of internal testing, we are releasing the monthly view for everyone, starting today.

We hope you like Elisi’s interpretation of a monthly view. Please give it a try and tell us what you think.

Introducing Goals

Elisi has been a great tool for all of us at the Elisi team. We use Elisi to manage our daily lives, and to work on to-do lists and our hobby projects. On a big screen, Elisi really helps by putting everything in front of our eyes, so we can make organize things better, and track progress with confidence. 

Then the question arose: how would it be if Elisi could show all the items related to a single goal, and hide everything else? 

Say you are working on a bike project. Your goal is to build a bike from scratch. What if Elisi could act like a project board? Notes would show only notes about your bike design, lists would show only the lists related to your bike build, and planner would show only your bike-related to-dos on your weekly view.

And wouldn’t it also be nice if you could have multiple goals, such as work, life, bike, and kids, and Elisi were able to switch quickly between them? 

Well, that’s exactly what we’ve been developing. Today we are introducing Goals. With goals, Elisi becomes the project board that lets you focus on one objective, with the help of all existing Elisi modules. 

To start using Elisi goals, click or tap on the week number display, then select “Enter goal mode”. The rest of the process should be pretty straightforward: anything created in goal mode will belong to the goal. You reassign goals from each item’s details page. 

Please give the goal mode a try and let us know what you think.

4 Self-Management Skills You Can Easily Incorporate Into Your Life

Remember when you were a child and you thought that when you grew up, you’d be able to do whatever you wanted? How wrong we all were.

For many of us, it’s harder to achieve goals as adults because no one is pushing us. That is, until we learn the self-management skills that let us push ourselves.

Self-Management Skills Everyone Can Use

One of the few guarantees in life is that you will lose motivation every now and then. Keep yourself on track with these self-management techniques.

1. Creating Accountability Systems
Everyone talks about setting clear goals and writing them down. As important as that is, it’s rarely the only thing we need to keep us moving.

Hold yourself accountable for each task. For some people, positive reinforcement works best, so set rewards you can earn. For instance, if you complete this task today, you can watch the new episode of your favorite TV show.

Other people are more motivated by negative consequences. You might tell yourself that if you don’t complete that task, you have to deep-clean your refrigerator.

Use trial and error to find the rewards or consequences that motivate you best. Above all, track them in your planner and follow through with them.

2. Crafting Success-Based Routines
Sometimes we have big goals but we never start the little steps it takes to achieve them. This especially true if we’re working toward multiple goals at the same time.

Set up a daily routine that includes steps toward each of your goals. This might include an exercise regimen, reaching out to business contacts, organizing one area of your home each day, and more.

When you have that routine, keep track and hold yourself accountable. A bullet journal is a simple way to see your progress.

3. Managing Stress
As important as motivation is, you can’t solve all of life’s problems by working harder. In fact, pushing yourself too hard and burning out will do more harm than good in the long run.

Make your mental health a priority and include stress management in your daily routine.

There are plenty of helpful options: meditation, exercise, aromatherapy, bubble baths, reading a book, or playing a video game to name a few. Find out what works and make time for it.

4. Being Selectively Social
Self-management isn’t just about you. None of us exist in a vacuum, so the people you surround yourself with will impact your success too.

Keep this in mind as you look around your social group. If there are people in your life who push you to do things that go against your goals, take a step back.

Try making friends with people who have similar goals. This could include your co-workers or other people in your industry. If weight loss or fitness is a key goal for you, get social with other people at your gym.

Being Your Own Boss

Whether you’re your own employer or you just need to hold yourself accountable for your outside goals, self-management is no easy task. In many ways, it’s easier to motivate others than it is to motivate ourselves.

If you’re struggling, the self-management skills above can help you get out of your own way and get on the road to success.

For more help, check out the Elisi self-management app.

Why is Meditation Good for You? 7 Benefits You Will Find From Meditation

Do you deal with brain fog? Trouble focusing? You may need to add meditation to your daily routine.

If you’re asking yourself “why is meditation good for you”, then you need to check out this list of seven benefits you’ll enjoy once you start meditation.

1. Helps Achieve Goals

Wondering why meditation is good for you? For starters, it can help you achieve your goals. Whether they be personal or professional goals, adding meditation to your daily routine can improve brain function.

When brain function improves, so do the levels of brain integration. This increases your attention and allows you to be better at problem-solving, so you can better achieve your goals and be more productive.

2. Increase Your Creativity

Do you deal with writer’s block or loss of creativity? Meditation can help. If your mind is full of chatter and chaos, you’re not able to create.

When you meditate, you’re able to quiet all the chatter. This allows for incredible content and ideas to flow more freely.

3. Serves as a Memory Booster

Do you struggle with remembering things? Are you constantly making notes and keeping reminders on your phone? Give meditation a try.

Meditation can improve your memory by clearing your mind of the mumbo jumbo.

4. Pain Reduction

Wondering why you should meditate? If you deal with physical pain, you can benefit from meditation. Meditation and mindfulness can greatly decrease the pain levels in people with chronic pain.

By enhancing emotional and cognitive control, an individual can experience less pain as a result of using meditative practices.

5. Helps with Depression

If you struggle with depression, you should give meditation a try. Why does meditation work for depression? Deep breathing and clearing the mind can decrease depression.

When you regularly practice meditation, you increase your control over how your brain processes. This can help you better recognize negative thoughts and triggers so that you can work through them easier.

6. Reduce Stress

Do you struggle with stress and anxiety? Just like meditation helps with depression, it can also alleviate stress and anxiety. Meditation can lessen the release of cortisol, the stress hormone that affects your entire body.

Deep breathing exercises help calm your mind so you can deal with stressors in a more productive way.

7. Get More Beauty Sleep

Looking for more reasons to meditate? If you struggle with getting a good night’s sleep, meditation could be the answer you’re looking for. Meditation helps to calm your brain and clear your mind of the racing thoughts that keep you from getting your beauty sleep.

Why Is Meditation Good for You?

If you’ve assumed that meditation is just a fad, think again. There are so many benefits to using meditation and becoming more mindful. Now that you know the answer to “why is meditation good for you?”, you can start practicing today!

Want more ideas on living your best life? Check out Elisi self-improvement blog for more tips and tricks!

Personal Time-management System 7: Improving Focus and Concentration (3/3)

By Ryan Douglas

3.Exercise

Another cornerstone of brain power and good health. The impact of exercise on focus and concentration may not be as apparent as food. However, the resulting increase in energy levels and stamina are palpable.

Exercise also releases dopamine- which has been proven to increase happiness and confidence. And when you’re confident in yourself, it shows in your efforts.

You’re more apt to produce quality work that you’re proud of. You take chances and become more spontaneous. People who exercise take risks that they might not have otherwise. Which leads to even more confidence, increased abilities, and a stronger belief in what you’re capable of.

Elisi can help here as well.

Utilizing the built-in habit tracking function, it’s easy to log your workouts and move towards your fitness goals. Once configured, the Elisi app automatically calculates your progress. As your active streak trends upward, it becomes a habit that you don’t want to break.

4.Quality Sleep

A severely underrated tactic for improving focus and concentration. Research shows that sleep improves almost every single process in the human body.

Which seems strange considering that modern society views sleep deprivation as a badge of honor. Many think hustling, grinding, or being relentless is the only way to get ahead. Yet, that’s simply not true.

Studies confirm sleep has a pronounced impact on memory and learning and helps us achieve peak performance. Some mistakenly believe caffeine or other stimulants can make up for bad sleep habits, but that’s not the case.

There is no substitute for getting good sleep each night.

So, go ahead. Turn off your electronics, read for a few minutes, and then power down for the night. In the morning, you’ll find yourself more refreshed, alert, and focused on the tasks ahead.

Focusing Training

Aside from the techniques and tactics previously mentioned, it helps to remember that better focus and concentration are skills that anyone can develop. But it does take desire, intention, and consistency to experience results.

1.Mental Exercise

In many ways, training your mind is like training your body. What seems difficult at first tends to get easier with time. Establishing your routine comes first but sticking with it each day is what facilitates progress.

Because as you continue training your mental strength improves. You’re able to focus and concentrate for longer periods of time. Your tasks get done faster. And you produce higher-quality work to show for it.

A good analogy is thinking about the propeller on an airplane. It takes tremendous force to complete the first few revolutions. Yet, once you start generating momentum, each successful revolution requires less effort.

Your focus might be weak right now. But with regular practice, it will get better.

2.Stumbling Blocks

We’re all human and human beings possess a finite amount of willpower. We can focus for only so long before we exhaust ourselves. And, as much as we try and fight it, humans give in to temptation.

The key is to recognize this process for what it is – part of life. Things come up, family members get sick, and well, sometimes, we just don’t want to do the work.

And that’s okay.

Rarely does anyone have a successful outcome on the first (or even the 10th) try of anything. It takes countless iterations to strike the right balance and achieve our goals.

But in the meantime, we have to be like Elsa and “let it go.”

3.Forgive Yourself

The final step in improving mental clarity. If you do lose momentum and veer off course sometimes, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just gently right the ship and bring yourself back on track.

A slip-up doesn’t mean abandoning your goals, losing faith, or punishing yourself forever. Give yourself permission to fail and vow to try again. Learn from your mistakes, figure out what you can do differently next time, and take it from there.

Conclusion

In the end, improving focus and concentration is more of a marathon than a sprint. Each daily practice builds upon itself to create a larger, more meaningful end result.

Techniques like pomodoro sprints, scheduled time blocks, and distraction-free environments can help. However, sustainable improvement also requires a holistic approach.

For instance, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine. Meditating, relaxing, and getting a good night’s sleep. Along with being kind to yourself and practicing forgiveness when you hit those inevitable stumbles.

Tools like Elisi make the entire process easier. Offloading thoughts and organizing ideas in your digital bullet journal frees up mental space, reduces stress, and allows you to be more productive.

And isn’t that what we’re all trying to achieve?

Open your FREE Elisi account today to get started.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Hello Elisi users!

We recently introduced keyboard shortcuts to Elisi. With keyboard shortcuts you can easily add planner items, check off habits, add the number of glasses of water you have had, or even add notes. Keyboard shortcuts works on most platforms with a keyboard attached.

One objective we had when designing it was to have predictable shortcuts; we wanted the key combinations for common tasks to stay the same. This way, you can memorize the shortcuts without always relying on on-screen tips.

The other objectives were to have a system that’s as self-explanatory as possible, and to have a shortcut system that covers most common actions. In order to fulfill these objectives, we went through several internal iterations of shortcut design, and settled on the one that made the most sense.

To start using keyboard shortcuts, simply press the command/control key. The UI will indicate how to proceed.

We hope keyboard shortcuts will help you become more efficient with Elisi, and we hope Elisi will help you better live your life.

Personal Time-management System 6: Improving Focus and Concentration (2/3)

By Ryan Douglas

3.Eliminating Distractions

Yet another technique that goes hand-in-hand with improving productivity and focus. We live in a world of distractions which can take over our lives (if we let them). Yet, with proper planning, we can strike a balance between modern conveniences and improved focus. Consider the following:

Internet blocking apps – that keep you from accessing the web or social media during focused work periods. Many assume a quick check-in on Twitter or visit to Amazon is no big deal. However, the next thing you know you’ve wasted 30 minutes with nothing to show for it.

Blocking the web eliminates a large portion of the distractions we face.

A quiet workspace – it seems obvious, but many fail to recognize the importance of a quiet workspace. A busy coffee shop is great for socializing, but probably not the ideal fit for deep thinking or focused work. Likewise, trying to be creative while partners, roommates, or children are nearby is often difficult.

If you can, retreat to a quiet location to concentrate on your work. If that’s not possible, put on some headphones or (softly) play some music to drown out background noise.

Studies show that classical music works best, but most anything without lyrics will do. As long as whatever you’re listening to doesn’t create more distraction.

Developing a routine – besides being a great way to get in the zone, routines help remove willpower from the equation. Routines signal your brain that it’s time to switch into work mode and get focused.

Routines are unique to each person, but many have common elements. Such as location, time of day, or mindset. Even playing a certain song can signal that it’s time to get going. However, you should limit using these items for your focused work time only.

Otherwise, they lose significance and you end up diluting the process.

Besides focusing techniques, there are also a number of generalized tactics that can be used to improve concentration.

Focusing Tactics

Rather than zeroing in on a specific outcome or goal, focusing tactics are more about general physical and mindset improvements. Each of which you further develop by way of continuous practice.

1.Meditation

An excellent tool to sharpen focus, awareness, and concentration. Those who’ve never meditated often dismiss the idea but scientific research proves that meditation works.

One of the many benefits of meditation is how it trains participants to ignore distractions and focus on what’s happening at the moment.

In fact, the central theme of meditation is completely relaxing your mind. Yet, simultaneously, bringing your thoughts back to a central focus as the brain begins to wander. While this practice can feel incredibly difficult at first, it gets easier as time goes on.

Meditation improves your ability to focus and concentrate throughout daily life.

You’ll notice minor annoyances that used to steal your attention no longer matter. And when you eventually do get pulled off track, it’s easier to regain focus. Meditation also allows you to be calmer and less reactive to the external factors around you.

The value of which (in an increasingly “noisy” world) cannot be overstated.

2.Proper Nutrition

We’ve heard it time and time again, but this advice rings true. What you put into your body directly impacts your mental acuity. Nourishing yourself with high-quality food, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and lots of water significantly increases energy levels.

Meaning you can work longer, faster, and be more efficient in everything that you do.

On the flip side, excessive fat, sugar or processed food has the opposite effect. You feel lethargic, irritable, and often experience brain fog.

A disastrous recipe for harnessing creativity or enhanced mental focus.

(to be continued)

Open your FREE Elisi account today to get started.