The top 5 tools to boost your productivity and efficiency

I was 9 years old when I was first introduced to the magic world of computers. I knew instantly that I wanted to become a computer programmer. I fell in love with programming and indeed I followed the carrier of the computer programmer for more than 20 years (before recently switching to project management).

During this long and exciting journey I learned how to use the computers to solve complex problems for my customers but I have also learned how computers can make my life easier and more efficient.

• About 15 years ago, I created a simple tool to keep track of my expenses. It was the period that I was starting my family and wanted to make sure that I have a basic financial plan. Since then I keep adjusting the tool, adding more functionality to accommodate more needs and to make it more and more efficient. Currently (2020) I am using it, in order to setup my budget and to have a clear overview of all my past current and future expenses. The "My Budget and Expenses Tracker" tool helps me tremendously to be proactive and avoid overspending.

  
  

• Less than 10 years ago, I fell in love with personal development and I started setting goals. Small, medium and big goals which require detailed plans to achieve them! Without a proper tool, that exercise would be extremely difficult. I had this challenge in front of me so I didn't lose any time. I created the "My Goals Tracker" tool which I systematically use since then. The tool has helped me not only to organize my goals but also to keep track of the progress I make allowing me to know if and when I have to change my course of action.

  
  

• There have been periods in my life that I was feeling really stressed and could not find out why. It was really frustrating but as I said , I have been a computer programmer for all my life. I had to make a program to solve that !! So I started keeping a record with statistics of my actions. What I have been eating, what I have been doing, what was the weather like etc. So it all started as a log, in order to identify patterns and motives of behavior that could help me find out if there was something triggering my stress. That was the main reason that I created the "My Personal Daily Journal" tool. As years passed by I started extending the information I kept in the file so now I am using it as a journal for almost everything I do daily. It is absolute fun when I spend some time looking at my notes about things that happened years ago!! In this course I want to share with you this file and motivate you to start your own diary, that you will keep all your memories alive!

  
  

• My personal diary worked so good for me, so I decided to create something similar for my work. It has a somehow different structure, oriented more towards a business environment and has helped me organize my professional life a lot. I can use the "My Business Journal" tool to report back to my manager on all the things that have happened for a particular project, tasks or assignment. It can remind me of patterns of behavior and actions that I have applied to a certain project, so that I know what I have to avoid or replicate during the next project.  I am also using that file to register and keep track of my objectives at work, so that I know what I have achieved so far and what is still pending.

  
  

• I remember vividly something that happened when I was about 10 years old. A friend of mine had invited me to his birthday party which was scheduled to take place in two months. I remember myself feeling excited every single day for the next two months just with the thought of that party!!  And there have been many more events in my life for which I was feeling excited up front and that would change my psychology to the better. Then one day, it came to me and I said, "why not making a calendar with all the things that I like doing, all the events that make me feel good, all the TV programs that I enjoy watching, all the concerts that I want to attend etc." so that I have almost every day something good to anticipate?. And I did! I created the "My Happy Calendar" tool which I would like to offer you and I am sure you will find tones of ideas to fill in for each day of the year.

But it does not end here!

I created even more tools including an affirmations video, a live workshop, a life evaluation questionnaire and 50 productivity tips that I want to share with you in this course!

I hope that you will find the tools as useful as I have and I wish you a productive and efficient personal and professional life!!

Have fun!!

Georgios Grigorakis