make more time for your practice using digital tools for your business

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By: Miranda Aponte
I studied strategic design management for four years at Parsons in New York. After having experienced two study abroad trips, I fell in love with travel. My personal mission statement is to ...

Modern yogis are constantly aiming to bring awareness into daily activities. Imagine bringing that awareness to your online work life. Imagine how productive and focused you could be if you used the right digital tools for you.

Choosing effective digital tools saves time and conserves energy. Let’s bring mindfulness into our digital spaces.

When are you most productive?

Research has proven that doing something daily at a reoccurring time allows for the task to be more easily completed. Choose a time of day that your brain is present and most active. Could it be before your yoga class or after? In the morning or late afternoon? In the long term, your body and mind will adjust to this set time and settle into that state more quickly.

Digital calendars are now used for three simple reasons: It literally fits in your back pocket or purse. Notifications allow you to stay on top of the plans you’ve made. It takes under a minute to type in all the details of your appointment, date, or event. Gmail has a great calendar service that can be synced to your phone. Another alternative is SolCalendar.

Microbreaks is a Google Chrome extension especially beneficial for yogis. It sets reminders to your computer to take your eyes off the screen or take a walk. If you really want to get creative, use the reminders to do a seated Eka Pada (pigeon pose).

Headspace is an app that provides 10 to 60 minute guided meditations. You can do the 10-day trial for free. After using this app I am more focused and thoughts seem to pass effortlessly through my mind. If you don’t want to try the app just try meditating before you do your online work. Working with focus and clarity is ten times more productive than working with a foggy mind.

How can you create an organized digital space?

Momentum is a great way to start. It is my homepage and every time I open chrome it inspires me with a quote and a large photograph of nature. I instantly get in the mindset to perform my daily tasks. You can add your most important to-do’s for the day, check the weather, and time. Feel free to customize it to your preferences too.

Evernote creates organized and handy to-do lists from groceries to your business checklist. You can add texts, images, or documents. Remembering things can be tricky. This tool provides an easy way to jot down the stuff you don’t want to forget but somehow always manage to.

Google drive is a super productive tool if you regularly write documents, create excel sheets, and presentations. You have 15 GB of space to store, organize, and share your files easily. You can edit in real-time with multiple people and files are automatically saved. There are a ton of things you can do with Google drive. I definitely suggest looking up all the ways you can be productive with this one.

Where is your most productive physical space to work from?

Are you productive working from your home office or your local coffee shop? It’s important to choose a place where can you sit, breathe, and think without a ton of distractions. It’s definitely not on your couch or in your bed.

Sharedesk.net can help you find your perfect workspace match. Coworking spaces are becoming increasingly more accepted and needed.

Yelp.com is another alternative, type in “internet cafes” to find a place near you with the strongest coffee and WiFi.

Coworkation.com and hackerparadise.org are places you can find more evolved coworking holidays and retreats targeted at entrepreneurs. Many of these coworking holidays also offer yoga, meditation, and other lifestyle activities to balance the mind, body, and spirit.

Are you conscious of when it is time to log off?

Technology is taking control over our lives whether we are conscious of it or not. Most of us have smartphones and check them far more regularly than we’re aware of.

Sign up for a Digital Detox, a technology-free retreat you can attend that includes yoga class and many other holistic practices. This is just one way to hibernate from the cyber world. Give yourself the gift of a digital detox for 1-2 days or set specific times during the day when you log off and tune into the world around you.

The challenge is not technology but how ineffective we are with it, such as the amount of time and energy we spend “browsing” instead of being present with our friends, the place we are at, or the activity that we are doing. If we use technology more consciously and pick the right tools at the right time, we can be more productive and have more free time to do other important things.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comment box below.

The tools listed are not sponsored, most of them are used by Inspiral Studio’s remote team.* For more information on digital strategy – Inspiralstudio.com or sign up for our newsletter here.

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