Awesome Websites to Drastically Increase (or Decrease) Productivity

Here is a list of some of my favorite websites that increase productivity, help decrease the amount of time spent on day to day tasks, and some that are just entertaining.

Functional:

-www.Mint.com: Really easy online banking site. I’ve tried Microsoft Money, Quicken, and the individual websites from my banks, but Mint is the best by far. It links all of your online banking together in one place and updates automatically. The new budgeting features allows you to keep track of how much you’re spending in each category, and will send you emails if you go over. It’s safe, customizable, and free. Plus they make all these pretty charts and graphs for you.

-www.DailyBurn.com: This website is really helpful in tracking your health. You enter your goals, and then the foods consumed and exercises done.  It totals your calories, carbs, protein, and fats, and if you get a premium subscription it will monitor just about any other info possible too. I’ve used Calorie King, Excel spreadsheets, and a marble notebook to keep track of my nutrition, but nothing quite as effortless as DailyBurn. There is also a great support group where you can join teams with similar goals.  Coolest new feature: You can use your iPhone to scan in the bar codes of foods your eating.

-www.Pandora.com: Free Internet radio. You create different stations based on songs or artists you like and Pandora gives you recommendations that are similar. It’s pretty accurate picking songs I like, and it’s a great way to be introduced to new bands.

Sites that increase and decrease productivity at the same time:

(I say they decrease productivity because often there are so many awesome articles I get sucked in and 3 hours later I forget what even brought me to the site.)

-www.stevepavlina.com: Tons of great articles on things to help you lead a more productive life, networking, and being happy.

-www.4hourworkweek.com: Inspirational site that will teach you how to spend less time working and more time doing the things you love. Info backed up by personal experiments and results.

-www.lifehacker.com: “…an award-winning daily blog that features tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently.” Tongs of simple things you can do to ‘hack’ into your way of living and improve your life.

-www.gizmodo.com: “An online review dedicated to gadgets, gizmos, and cutting-edge consumer electronics.” I love Gizmodo for introducing all the newest high tech gadgets and happenings in the tech community.

-www.ratracetrap.com: “Escape from the Rat Race Trap.” I really like the articles about happiness and philosophy.

-http://zenhabits.net/: This website is all about living a simpler, happier life. Great tips on de-stressing and uncluttering your life.

Fun Sites:

-www.ikariam.org: Addicting free online game. Think Ancient Greece, Sims style. Building cities, pillaging, expanding. It’s a real time browser based game that you can log onto from any computer.

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