Today, there is no denying that gadgets and apps rule our life. Most of this gizmos are intimidating to the layman or they are not fully conversant with the functionality of the gadgets. Well, you may not know this but there are several tricks and tech hacks that can uncomplicate our life, numerous friendly, easy to use apps that can break open the locks of forbidding portals and websites.
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The Pomodoro technique is a starting time management system that believes in using time as an ally. The technique calls for scheduled break of 5 minutes after every 25 minutes of focused work. Each 25-minute work block is known as 'Pomodoro'. After four consecutive 'Pomodoro', a person is entitled to a 15-20 minutes break. This helps the mind to stay fresh and improves the productivity of the person. (source)
There are numerous Pomodoro apps, most of them are free! Check out To Mighty, Tomato Timer, Simple Pomodoro, PomoDone, Focus Keeper etc.
Image Source: businessinsider
If you are the type of person who is regularly inundated with tons of emails or if you want to peruse the current emails without getting diverted by the incoming emails, Inbox Pause is the thing for you. Inbox Pause installs a pause button to your Gmail that allows you to control the flow of messages to your inbox. (source)
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You are determined to spend your time wisely today, focusing only on your work and not get distracted by ANY notifications but reality is different,an incoming notification from twitter or any other social will have you clicking on that, soon you are sucked into the whirlpool of tempting social media and your attempt st being productive is shot!. How to avert these tempting diversions? Freedom is the answer. The app blacklists your chosen websites for a set period thus helping you to work uninterruptedly. Freedom is compatible with iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows. (source)
Image Source: focusatwill.com
There are people who can work in complete silence, there are people who love to work with the music on and then there are people who 'want' noise that does not distract them. Focus@will is an app that streams music that is scientifically optimized to boost your focus and concentration. This app is available on mobile, tablet and computers and comes with multiple music channels. (source)
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This feature can be a great time saver if you find yourself posting the same replies. Click the gear icon in the top right corner, scroll down to setting - click on it. Go to Labs, scroll down to "canned responses"choose 'enable'. It's important to save the changes, scroll all the way down, hit "Save Changes". When you are composing a new reply, click on the bottom right arrow of the "compose new message"window, select "new canned message" and save your messages. (source)
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Sidenotes is a chrome extension that allows you to take quick notes on your current window without having to open an app. Once you install the extension, you will find a small icon near the address bar. Clicking on the icon opens the Sidenotes and the notes jotted down is synced to your dropbox. (source)
Image Source: todoist.com
With a user-friendly interface, Todoist is one of the most popular task managers geared for the fast pace and high pressure of the modern life. This feature-rich app works on almost all devices. (source)
Image Source: Bloglovin
Did you lose a file before you could save it? The current Word software comes with inbuilt features that minimize the loss of work but there are times when this features come a cropper. Sometimes, the document recovery file will not open automatically and you are unsure of how to find the unsaved file. Here is a way to retrieve it. Locate and navigate to the autorecover file location. Open Microsoft word/file open and paste the path of the autorecover file location. Enter to open directory. In the filetype dropdown list, select all files. You will see the filename with something like "Autorecovery save of Document1.asd. This is your latest unsaved document. (source)
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TLDR is a plugin that summarizes a long web article without leaving the original page. The free extension is available in both Chrome and Firefox. (source)
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Google Scholar is an easy way to search for scholarly and technical literature. It is a one stop place to find peer reviewed academic papers, court opinions, conferences, theses, dissertations, patents from different sources such as academic publishers, online repositories and other websites.(source)
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Foursquare is a location-based websites for the users on the move. These smartphone owners also love to connect to wifi from their given location, be it a coffee shop or a mall. As a result passwords for the free wireless connection is available in the comments on the foursquare location listings. You can work on your site from anywhere without losing time.(source)
While working is good,however, all work and no play make jack a dull boy. A time to relax once in a while boosts your productivity and efficiency even more. Here are few hacks that help you to maximize your 'relaxation' benefits.
Image Source: Imgur
Proxtube was developed by a 17 year old Malte from Germany. Malte was irked by his inability to watch certain YouTube videos due to the copyright issues. So he created an extension called Proxtube available for both Mozilla and Chrome that lets the user watch those restricted videos. The extension is free. (source)
Image Source: Imgur
Everybody loves to watch movies. Here is a simple hack that lets you get you a FREE red box movie. (source)
Image Source: Imgur
SNES.com is a website that allows you to play almost all old Nintendo games online, in-browser using flash emulator. (source)
Image Source: Imgur
With this trick, you can download any YouTube videos. You don't need any software or license, you don't have to pay. It even lets you download videos from other sites. (source)
Image Source: Imgur
YouTube has three modes: 1) Page focused mode 2) Player focused mode 3) Full-screen mode. The latter two modes allow you to jump 10%, 20%, 30% into the clip just by pressing 1, 2, 3. (source)
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This tip applies to a laptop or a desktop. The aforementioned command will allow you to determine the quality of the picture that is streaming in. A higher bitrate gives you clear and sharp picture while a lower bitrate will give you a fuzzy and uninterrupted (if the network is busy) streaming. (source)
1. Adopt Pomodoro Technique, which encourages you to take a break every 25 minutes for an increased productive output.
Image Source: happyasannie
The Pomodoro technique is a starting time management system that believes in using time as an ally. The technique calls for scheduled break of 5 minutes after every 25 minutes of focused work. Each 25-minute work block is known as 'Pomodoro'. After four consecutive 'Pomodoro', a person is entitled to a 15-20 minutes break. This helps the mind to stay fresh and improves the productivity of the person. (source)
There are numerous Pomodoro apps, most of them are free! Check out To Mighty, Tomato Timer, Simple Pomodoro, PomoDone, Focus Keeper etc.
2. Control the flow of emails with Inbox Pause
Image Source: businessinsider
If you are the type of person who is regularly inundated with tons of emails or if you want to peruse the current emails without getting diverted by the incoming emails, Inbox Pause is the thing for you. Inbox Pause installs a pause button to your Gmail that allows you to control the flow of messages to your inbox. (source)
3. Gain 'Freedom' from intrusive social media websites such as Twitter, Instagram (by banning the sites for a defined period of time).
Image Source: freedom
You are determined to spend your time wisely today, focusing only on your work and not get distracted by ANY notifications but reality is different,an incoming notification from twitter or any other social will have you clicking on that, soon you are sucked into the whirlpool of tempting social media and your attempt st being productive is shot!. How to avert these tempting diversions? Freedom is the answer. The app blacklists your chosen websites for a set period thus helping you to work uninterruptedly. Freedom is compatible with iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows. (source)
4. Focus@will help you to maximize your output by streamlining music to enhance your concentration.
Image Source: focusatwill.com
There are people who can work in complete silence, there are people who love to work with the music on and then there are people who 'want' noise that does not distract them. Focus@will is an app that streams music that is scientifically optimized to boost your focus and concentration. This app is available on mobile, tablet and computers and comes with multiple music channels. (source)
5. Did you know Gmail's Canned responses allows you to compose replies to common messages and save them for future use?
Image Source:magnoliamedianetwork.com
This feature can be a great time saver if you find yourself posting the same replies. Click the gear icon in the top right corner, scroll down to setting - click on it. Go to Labs, scroll down to "canned responses"choose 'enable'. It's important to save the changes, scroll all the way down, hit "Save Changes". When you are composing a new reply, click on the bottom right arrow of the "compose new message"window, select "new canned message" and save your messages. (source)
6. Jot down important notes in the sidebar, without leaving the tab/ leaving the web page, pausing the video using Sidenotes (Chrome extension).
Image Source: educatorstechnology.com
Sidenotes is a chrome extension that allows you to take quick notes on your current window without having to open an app. Once you install the extension, you will find a small icon near the address bar. Clicking on the icon opens the Sidenotes and the notes jotted down is synced to your dropbox. (source)
7. Todoist is a powerful task management tool that allows you to create to-do lists, share projects with your team and set notifications and the best thing about it is, you can access it from anywhere.
Image Source: todoist.com
With a user-friendly interface, Todoist is one of the most popular task managers geared for the fast pace and high pressure of the modern life. This feature-rich app works on almost all devices. (source)
8. How to recover an accidentally deleted word file?
Image Source: Bloglovin
Did you lose a file before you could save it? The current Word software comes with inbuilt features that minimize the loss of work but there are times when this features come a cropper. Sometimes, the document recovery file will not open automatically and you are unsure of how to find the unsaved file. Here is a way to retrieve it. Locate and navigate to the autorecover file location. Open Microsoft word/file open and paste the path of the autorecover file location. Enter to open directory. In the filetype dropdown list, select all files. You will see the filename with something like "Autorecovery save of Document1.asd. This is your latest unsaved document. (source)
9. Too Long; Didn't Read is a plugin that summarizes a long web article essentially giving you the important points which help you to save time that could be utilized for other productive purposes.
Image Source:Pinterest
TLDR is a plugin that summarizes a long web article without leaving the original page. The free extension is available in both Chrome and Firefox. (source)
10. Google Scholar is a search engine that helps the users to find information related to scholarly articles
Image Source: Imgur
Google Scholar is an easy way to search for scholarly and technical literature. It is a one stop place to find peer reviewed academic papers, court opinions, conferences, theses, dissertations, patents from different sources such as academic publishers, online repositories and other websites.(source)
11. foursquare allows you to get the WiFi password to almost any public locations thus allowing you to work from any public place.
Image Source: Imgur
Foursquare is a location-based websites for the users on the move. These smartphone owners also love to connect to wifi from their given location, be it a coffee shop or a mall. As a result passwords for the free wireless connection is available in the comments on the foursquare location listings. You can work on your site from anywhere without losing time.(source)
While working is good,however, all work and no play make jack a dull boy. A time to relax once in a while boosts your productivity and efficiency even more. Here are few hacks that help you to maximize your 'relaxation' benefits.
12. Proxtube lets you watch YouTube videos that are restricted in your country.
Image Source: Imgur
Proxtube was developed by a 17 year old Malte from Germany. Malte was irked by his inability to watch certain YouTube videos due to the copyright issues. So he created an extension called Proxtube available for both Mozilla and Chrome that lets the user watch those restricted videos. The extension is free. (source)
13. How to get free movies from Redbox?
Image Source: Imgur
Everybody loves to watch movies. Here is a simple hack that lets you get you a FREE red box movie. (source)
14. This site allows you to play retro-Nintendo game.
Image Source: Imgur
SNES.com is a website that allows you to play almost all old Nintendo games online, in-browser using flash emulator. (source)
15. Download YouTube video without downloading any software's.
Image Source: Imgur
With this trick, you can download any YouTube videos. You don't need any software or license, you don't have to pay. It even lets you download videos from other sites. (source)
16. You can forward the youTube clip by pressing 1,2,3.
Image Source: Imgur
YouTube has three modes: 1) Page focused mode 2) Player focused mode 3) Full-screen mode. The latter two modes allow you to jump 10%, 20%, 30% into the clip just by pressing 1, 2, 3. (source)
17. How to improve the video quality in Netflix?
Image Source: Pinterest
This tip applies to a laptop or a desktop. The aforementioned command will allow you to determine the quality of the picture that is streaming in. A higher bitrate gives you clear and sharp picture while a lower bitrate will give you a fuzzy and uninterrupted (if the network is busy) streaming. (source)
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
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