Humans are social beings, whether it’s with friends, family, or solo. It’s beneficial to engage ourselves in a happy hobby. According to an old cliché: “Hobbies help develop our tastes and our passions in life.”  The best part is they can be just about anything one enjoys. Diversity is the spice of life. 

Few hobbies are ever considered as being productive unless you’re fortunate enough to have incorporated your hobby into your work.  Those types of jobs usually allow one to become more effective and achieve greater happiness in life.

As you probably know, iStratus loves to enhance your proficiency and productivity.  We thought we’d share a list of happy hobbies that you could explore and perhaps schedule into your iStratus calendar.

Hiking or Exploring Trails

Hiking and adventures are usually weekend hobbies for people with a passion for experiencing the beauty of nature and wonder around us. There is much evidence readily available to indicate physical activity has positive effects on mental health. It can have a beneficial effect on your overall productivity at work and home. These types of hobbies allow us to clear our minds of worries and focus on the present.

Paint a Picture

Painting permits individuals to release their creative side. Painting allows connecting to thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. It can lend to some wonderful perspectives towards life. It can also even convert goals into something physical, even within the workplace. Grab a paintbrush! You may not be a master painter, but it’s still something creatively tangible and truly authentic of you.

Cooking Up a Storm 

Not everyone is destined to be the world’s greatest sous chef.  However, cooking culinary delights is one of the most beneficial hobbies out there and an experience everyone should consider dabbling in. Cooking is an escape from daily stresses as it forces us to focus entirely on the product and process at hand. Using iStratus, you can help plan your grocery list and meals well in advance. As a bonus, preparing food ahead of time also means you’re more productive than you thought.

Write. You Don’t Have To Be a Wordsmith

Writing with passion is an incredibly powerful and important form of self-expression. It can help to channel your energies into things you feel fervent about. Pour out your inner thoughts and dreams! Write anything, unlock your creative side, and be as productive and strong as possible.

Knit. It’s Not Just a Hobby For Grandma, Celebrities or Social “Influencers”

Grandma knew knitting was good stuff. Truthfully, Hollywood celebrities have nothing on her. There are plenty of knitters circles in the world – with good reason. Not only is knitting a satisfying pastime, but also it is a superb tool for improving productivity. It encourages planning skills that a modern-day workplace will utilize. Knitting promises a warm and cozy product at the end of your endeavors.

Woodwork is Craft of Creation

Whether it’s a mahogany bookshelf, a fancy pencil holder, or something truly beautiful, woodwork helps boost your self-esteem once the project is started and completed. It also helps increase your productivity in creating a focused vision of the product. Constructing something out of wood that is useful not only helps make life easier but also can make you happier in the process.

Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

It’s awesome to get into the groove. Dancing may not be considered the most useful hobby of all time. However, when you consider the amount of hard ward, sweat, and diligence that go into it, dance is no doubt a rewarding and beneficial hobby.  Learning routines and practicing movement highly helps promote mental and physical productivity. At the end of the day, it increases your happiness in your daily life.  

Garden Greenery

Hand in hand with cooking – is there anything honestly more inherently relaxing, and worthwhile, than gardening? Gardening is not only a productive pastime but also allows you to bring food from the ground to the table. What a marvelous way to boost your productivity!

Gardening allows you to unwind, letting you conserve your energies for other busy days ahead. It also connects us with nature. We’ve only got one amazing world. Let’s treasure and build upon it.

“You never lose a dream. It just incubates as a hobby.”

~ Larry Page

Daydreaming is Not a Waste of Time

Some people may not technically regard this as a ‘hobby’.  However, daydreaming is another thing that stimulates one’s creative side and encourages the exploration of ideas. This process could potentially evolve into the solution or “Happy Hobby’ you’ve been searching for.

Resting the mind can provide clarity, reduce stress, and keep you even more focused and productive with your batteries fully recharged and ready to tackle just about anything.

Begin recording some of your desires with us today. Live life and roll well with iStratus.

A Travel Checklist. The Goal: Fun-filled, likely stress-free, or at least less, on adventures. Simplifying what you need before and during your trip can be the difference between delight and disaster. A checklist provides less stress for preparation to your trip and more time for relaxing once your get to your destination. 

Traveling provides us with an insight into the world. While going with the flow is important, a little organization goes a long way towards ensuring you have the best time possible. 

Of course, every traveler has their preference and approach to things.  iStratus hopes to help you with this checklist for a safe, active, and enjoyable trip that will create memories to last a lifetime. 

Firstly, Know Your Personality

No matter where you choose to travel, feeling comfortable is central to enjoying the overall experience. How you choose to travel is completely your preference. However, setting your goals and your needs are paramount for quality time and feeling at home away from home.  

So, what brings you the most joy and comfort? Do you enjoy a toasty room? Snoozing in a stiff bed or would you prefer sleeping on a cloud? It’s the little things that truly make a difference. How you experience the world around you matters most.

We all have different tastes as does the company of those who join you on this experience. Some may love a foodie tour while others may enjoy being on the beach with a packed picnic from sunrise to sunset. Whatever your choice, for balance, that’s where using iStratus for a trip checklist and schedule comes in handy.

Be Prepared with a Plan

People may have decades of travel experience behind them and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of adventure a new place. Regardless of the type of experience, the more thorough a plan is, the smoother the logistics are likely to be. Whether an “expert or novice” adventurer, using iStratus can be fundamental to your trip.

Essentially, planning allows the right fit. Perhaps you have a preferred restaurant that requires booking in advance or you require accessible options, such as elevators. Needless to say, there are tons of spontaneous or unplanned experiences that can occur.  However by being organized and planning early, choices and experiences are more likely attainable.

The Right Time of Year Makes a Difference

The key to quality adventures is understanding what and how you want to experience your destination. What factors are most important to you and your family, or your travel buddies? You can plan a fantastic trip by using iStratus to making notes of preferences, goals, and needs. The “best time” of the year may vary as it may not necessarily be set upon a generic timeline or season.

If you are not limited to a certain time of year, different times on the calendar could be set. iStratus can easily help you layout your plans with various options and alternatives so the diversity of any destination can be experienced, regardless of the calendar. Do what works best for you as to when you wish to visit. For instance, you might be a person who prefers to hit sunny warmer places during cooler winter months. 

Pack Smart, To Stay Sharp

Packing is an essential part of travel which can also be challenging. Let’s face it!  No matter where we are, we are creatures of habit who enjoy a few comforts of home. It is easy to overpack, which can add to the overall cost of the trip. It’s not always the best feeling having to lug heavy luggage between transfers, accommodations, or destinations.

Lighter luggage lends itself to better travel. Consider all essentials required and create a packing list that accounts for weather conditions or special requirements at your destination (such as Passports and so forth). Think about what you truly need versus what you want to take. Your items can quickly become more than essentials.

Regardless of where you wish to explore the globe, iStratus recommends keeping packing lists versatile and straightforward. Copies of important documents are important. Keep your cell phone handy as these things can be stored in iStratus and at a tap, things are there as needed. Also, portable battery chargers make things easier as power is with you wherever you go. 

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

~ Miriam Beard

It’s a big, wide world out there. Traveling does not have to be lost with all the changes of recent years. It is good to discover new places. Let iStratus help you organize things to a tee, reduce stress, and explore the wonders of the world. 

Go ahead and starting preparing for your next travel experience today! Live life and roll well with iStratus.

“Analysis paralysis” (Yes, it exists!) can hit us all when faced with a challenging decision. Often, we wish to avoid making the “wrong” choice so we expend a huge amount of energy analyzing every possibility or potential disaster.

On the flip side, sometimes we are convinced that we know what the best solution is. Decisions are quick and subsequently. Sometimes, we can omit poignant alternatives.

Weighing up the “pros and cons” is a simple but effective decision-making strategy. It is well known for highlighting different angles, solutions, and assured choices. This article will address using iStratus to analyze the pros and cons of a choice quantitatively for all-around well-informed decisions.  We hope this process will help you become more productive and efficient at decision making. 

Quantitative Pros and Cons –  What Are They?

Weighing up the pros and cons can improve your understanding of a situation and help avoid decision-making paralysis. Using a simple “pros” and “cons” list encourages objective decisions without those “gut feelings” impacting choice. It boosts perspective and can help one reach a balanced, informed decision.

One side is likely to feature more points than the other in countless situations. Thus, making the decision-making process easier. iStratus’s Checklist feature easily highlights your thoughts. When constructing a “Pros and Cons” list, select the format that works best for you. 

Creating a Pros and Cons List Effectively

To achieve the best results from a pros and cons list, iStratus suggests organizing and undertaking the process as follows:

• Choose a way of populating your desired list
• Brainstorm and list the pros of each decision
• Examine and note the risks or cons associated with the decision
• Include any potential third-party pros and cons

Applying Quantitative Pros and Cons

Weighing up the pros and cons of a decision is a quick and easy process with iStratus. In simple terms, it is one side versus the other by listing all of the possible positive outcomes of the decision and all the negative ramifications.

We suggest assigning a positive or negative value to each one with all factors considered and recorded. A score of 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 may be strongly favorable while 1 may be unfavorable. The intention is to try to score as objectively as possible not leaning with bias!

Once your rating scale is complete, total the score in each column and subtract the amount of “cons” from the “pros”. Ultimately a more positive overall score indicates a benefit while a more negative indicator suggests to scrap it.

Remember, common sense is also vital. These lists aren’t necessarily definitive right off the bat. If you suspect the overall solution isn’t appropriate, commit some further time towards identifying factors likely to have been missed or omitted.

Some advantages could be obvious immediately whereas others are potentially discovered following meticulous thought and reasoning. Posing certain questions can also underline the benefits associated such as:

• What are the fundamental benefits of this decision?
• What favorable outcome would be accomplished that you don’t currently have?
• What could be further accomplished?
• How will this contribute to your current goals? 
• How does this option impact other people in your life?
• How does it position you for success in the future?

The cons chart should include reasons why a decision is not in the best interest. It should also list in potential consequences or undesirable outcomes.

Once more some indicators will be obvious, such as distances or the amount of time and investment required. While other cons will require examination of your intended goals. Questions to assist in determining specific cons might include:

• What are the risks correlated with this decision?
• What are you sacrificing?
• What significant challenges does this decision present? Are they conquerable?
• How would this position or choice impede other goals?

Tip:

Set a time limit for decision-making. This encourages brainstorming issues without over-analyzing the “nit-picky” details.

Set Your Direction But Be Flexible 

Weighing up pros and cons is a quick, simple way to make objective, considered decisions. Quantifying options helps you to weigh your decisions and come to thoughtful conclusions. Each decision is important so must be processed throughly. Seeing some sort of total will help you to decide whether it’s worthwhile going ahead with something or not. 

“Good plans shape good decisions. That’s why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.”

~ Lester R. Bittel

Mastering these skills and using the simple checklist tools within iStratus, can help your future decisions flourish, regardless of what the context is. We must emphasize all of this advice doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the choice you MUST stick like glue with. Be flexible, go easy on yourself, and take time. There are pluses and minuses to everything decision. Direction and planning simply provide a sense of balance in what can be a crazy world.

Live life and roll well with iStratus.

Time Management.  How can I manage something that I never seem to have?  Have you ever looked at your weekly calendar on Sunday evening and cringed?  You have work deadlines, a repair person coming, kids to get to practice, a spouse who’s traveling, and, to top it off,  your mother needs a ride to the doctor.

Have you ever gotten to the end of a week and wondered what you’ve really accomplished? Or wondered if what you’ve accomplished really was the most important?  As our lives get busier and more complex, managing how we spend our precious time has become increasingly important.

You Can’t Stretch Time, But You Can Make the Most of Every Minute

Making the most of every minute does NOT mean that you never slow down to engage in your favorite activities…or to simply relax.  In fact, by implementing time management strategies, you can actually “find” time. Not only will you use your time more efficiently and effectively at work and at home, the time you “find” can be used for that extra hour of reading your favorite author or walking to the park.

Get Started With Time Management

SELF-ASSESS

• HOW IS MY TIME MANAGEMENT NOW?
• Do I procrastinate?
• What are my time wasters?  (social media? office chatter?)
• During what hours do I feel most focused and productive?  
• How do I keep track of my schedule, and is it working for me?

Once you’ve taken a few minutes to honestly assess your current time management, you’re ready to consider the following:

LIVE BY THE LIST

List, List, List.  Can’t be stressed enough.  The process of making a list forces you to account for all that needs to happen on any given day.  Plus, by writing a list, you’ve effectively downloaded that information from your brain. That frees up your brain’s power to get things done.  But, be ready to edit. List making can be tricky at first.

• Make a realistic list.  Making your list too long can set you up for disappointment and frustration.
• Prioritize.  What is truly MOST important for you to accomplish today?  This might not necessarily be the same as what is “talking” to you the most and getting your attention. Top of your list should be the MOST important item for you to complete, not someone else’s priority.  The iStratus task manager is a great way to start prioritizing your to-do list.
• Commit to the list.  We all know the unexpected happens, but consistently commit to following your list in order of importance to meet priorities most effectively.  If you’ve committed and life throws you a curveball, at least you’ve worked towards the top priority first even if you can’t complete it.
• Write it today.  Write your list for tomorrow at the end of your day today so you enjoy your evening with a clear head. Plus, with your list written, you’ll start tomorrow with your plan of action ready and waiting.  

STOP PROCRASTINATING

We’ve all done it.  We’ve worked diligently on our To Do List.  We’ve promised to dig in right away with task #1 first thing in the morning.  Morning comes, and task #1 seems daunting. How do I get started? How am I going to finish this?  Then it starts.  I’ll just clear my inbox first.  Or I’ll just knock off task #4 first—it’s quicker. STOP.   This is where strategy #1—Live by the List—can save you.   You’ve prioritized. You’ve committed. Feel the power of sticking to it!

If task #1 is completely overwhelming, break it into more manageable sub-tasks that you can complete more quickly.  More quickly completing that first sub-task can provide the much-needed buzz of accomplishment to spur you on to the next sub-task.  

GET HELP—DELEGATION IS YOUR FRIEND

You are focused on your task #1, but there is another task distracting you.  Successful time management doesn’t mean you must do everything yourself. Nor should you. If there is someone in your sphere capable of handling the distractor task, ask for help!  This is not a weakness, but working smart. Perhaps your co-worker can lead that meeting. Or your child can get dinner started. To truly be productive, you should consider delegating. Delegating keeps you focused and builds capacity in others.

MULTI-TASKING IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

You’ve got three balls in the air—you’re cranking and feeling productive.  But are you? At first glance, multi-tasking seems like the perfect solution to an over-stuffed schedule.  

However, when your brain’s focus is switching among multiple tasks, you are less able to fully attend to any one task, often sacrificing quality.  The time your brain spends to re-focus on each task as you shift among them, actually wastes time. But even worse, over time, the brains of frequent multi-taskers often become less able to filter out distractions to truly focus on one task.

SCHEDULE—THE MUST DO’S AND THE WANT TO DO’S

You’ve got a long list of Must Do’s on your schedule.  But don’t forget about those routine tasks that can eat up a big chunk of time, but never make it onto your calendar. Catching up on email, returning calls, face-time with co-workers are all sneaky time users that should be scheduled into your day like any other commitment.  If they are scheduled, you’ll be less likely to address them through multi-tasking.

When you schedule tasks is also important. If you are not a morning person, tackling your #1 task first thing, when you aren’t your most alert and productive, might not be the best choice.

With those Must Do’s accounted for, you can now schedule the Want to Do’s.  Whether it’s extra time at the gym, lunch with mom or a movie with your spouse, if you treat it like any other time commitment and add it to your calendar, you are more likely to make it happen.

USE A MASTER CALENDAR—MASTER YOUR UNIVERSE

You’ve got your work calendar, your personal calendar, your kids’ calendars, your spouse’s calendar, and maybe a parent’s calendar to consider. If you must keep it all in mind when scheduling your time, then you must keep it all in one place.  Whatever your style–the giant chalkboard in the kitchen, a day planner, or a digital calendar tool—keeping all relevant events in one place keeps you from the annoying time suck of re-scheduling tasks later.

GET REST AND EXERCISE

With all this talk of prioritizing lists and making schedules, and your actual WORK, how can you possibly have time to get enough rest and exercise?  The fact is, you may become an expert at time management. But, if you’re chronically over-tired or rarely exercise, you still won’t be as effective and efficient.  Too little sleep chips away at your ability to focus and maintain attention on tasks to bring them to successful completion.

Regular exercise (even just 10 minutes a day) improves sleep quantity and quality and increases mental alertness. Spending time exercising can help you find time as you rest better and approach each task with more clarity and focus.  Schedule your rest and exercise on your Must Do list!

By practicing these eight time management strategies, you’ll be well on your way to becoming your most productive (and less stressed) you.  Plus, you’ll find more time for fun and relaxation. To learn more about tools to help you in your pursuit of skillful time management, visit istratus.com.

Whether it’s brilliant ideas or the exciting possibilities that await us, most of us have many more activities noted on our “bucket lists,” than the time readily available to work on them.  In short, there’s never enough time to do everything we want to do. It’s a universal hitch.

We can easily bog ourselves down in time-depleting, low-yield tasks that prevent us from moving forward. 

In a world where alerts and notifications pop up on us for everything under the sun, it is imperative to distinguish which alerts are critical and which alerts can be addressed later. 

It really doesn’t matter which technique you use. In our App, you can blend parts of different techniques to create your own custom method that feels right, and get to work.

Read on to take action on your priorities. Check-in on that bucket list. Let iStratus, help you structure things from “high to low” to make the most of your time, and keep it flowing that way, today…

What’s The Priority?

You have 40 tasks upon your list, and before the “worst-case scenario” towards underachievement rears its ugly head, ask yourself: Which one of those things is the most important?

For iStratus, our prioritization “Flags” and “High to Low” preferences support your answer to that question, with an immediate method for quickly evaluating the necessity of each task on your list. We believe, through informed decision making, you’re more likely to: 

• Do what is required to complete tasks.
• Recognize what you don’t need to do, and as we like to say: “Roll Up”.
• Work out exactly when you need to focus on certain tasks and
• Accomplish what needs addressing next in line.

Prioritization Tackles Two Significant Matters:

Everything is Critical! If you feel like you spend your day extinguishing fires, because everything is considered to be “urgent”, at work or home – we hear you!

Use iStratus to establish a succinct prioritized list and regain control of your own time, pushing back any unreasonable last-minute expectations or requests.

Prioritized lists can be an effective armor against delays and distractions. For instance, any new, work-related ‘urgent’ demands can potentially be refuted with evidence of clear priorities, and the cuts that would be required for such accommodations. In the long run, prioritization and productivity should aim to be improved, even if, it’s in the smallest of ways. Our brains love to procrastinate and deter us from accomplishing important work.

Speaking of: Should you really answer that email? It’s not rocket science, if you constantly enable incoming emails to influence your list of priorities, you’ll find it difficult to get ahead. That’s not to say recurring important documents needing attention should be ignored. 

We simply mean, sometimes a delayed reply to an email is justified when you’re attending to what needs to be focused on first and foremost.

“Of course, our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking.”

~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Rate It, We Say.

Thinking about the ‘High to Low’ points we mentioned earlier, research suggests, the MoSCoW process (pronounced like Russia’s Capital) is a humble technique for the resourceful distribution of every task into one of four categories:

• M – The Must Do’s (M): Are rated as such for immediate attention.
• S – The Should Do’s (S): Are the ‘Should Do’ tasks that are important, but they’re not as critical.
• C – The Could Do’s (C): Are the cream of the crop, kind of To-Do’s. You’d like to do them, but if you don’t, it’s unlikely to be a big deal.
• W – The Won’t Do’s (W): Are things that really aren’t worth doing. Hello, procrastination!

Use the MoSCoW technique in Stratus, to evaluate your To-Do list. By the end, you should be able to see your tasks inflow, from top to bottom in accordance with their priority. Any W tasks should be deleted.

If you consistently address your list from the top-down, you’ll always feel a sense of focus and direction.

Hey, by the way – we recognize, some days you might feel off base, and that’s okay. Remember, there’s always more than one way of doing things. 

You might find, iStratus works better for you in 5 Simple Steps known as the “Ivy Method”:

1. Conclude every workday identifying the six most crucial tasks remaining on your list for tomorrow.
2. Order those in terms of priority.
3. Set to work in the morning, focusing on task number one until it’s done.
4. Complete tasks in sequential order.
5. Continue until all six tasks are complete (preferably). Repeat this process daily.

Bottom line: Do what works. 

Which elements work best for you?

Live life and roll well with iStratus.