Productivity & Positivity

In the past six months, our team has been working hard on how to take another step forward. Finally, after numerous reflections, self-confrontations and breakthroughs, it is time to welcome Tick 6.0. Ever since the version of 4.7.0, we began to discover the magic of customization. We launched the “Make Your Own Tab Bar” function and encourage you to customize TickTick according to your own need. This time, we not only go further in the necessary efficiency and practicality as a tool app, but also pay more attention to the personalized experience of users. Custom Appearance Don't like the default tone? Not satisfied with the default theme? Custom appearance can further meet your individual needs! You can upload any beautiful picture you like and set it as background. It will not only be displayed in the side bar, but also be used as the background for list, calendar view, pomo timer, etc., which makes the page style more harmonious. Also, we offer more icons of different styles for you to choose from. Brand-new UI Following the GTD concept, TickTick 6.0 is designed to help you get more things done and take your productivity to the next level. Different from the

Journaling has been attracting a lot of attention. Its influence on personal growth and productivity has made it worthy of anyone’s attention.  Keeping a journal can be a very effective way to keep track of your progress and thoughts. It can also allow you to find new ways to tackle certain issues and approach your goals. Are you aware of the power of journaling? Do you know how journaling can help you reach a better version of yourself? If you are inquisitive about journaling and you want to push towards your goals, you are in the right place. We present to you 6 ways through which will journaling can help with promoting productivity and personal growth. Let’s get started! 1. Write Down Your Most Important Goals What do you want to accomplish? Who do you want to become? What are your short-term goals? These are just some of the questions you can answer while journaling. The journal is the perfect keeper of your goals. Writing your short-term and long-term goals in the journal can keep you focused on what you want to accomplish.   What's more, writing down goals has been linked to a higher achievement rate. According to research, if you

“The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” Benjamin E. Mays When we talk about goals in life, two scenarios may come to the stage: Some people are super goal-oriented and drive themselves harshly goal after goal. Others live in static and dullness with no goals to reach. In this article, I tend not to address the adverse effects behind both but emphasize a healthier and more scientific approach for goal setting and reaching in life. That is the SMART Goals. The Definition of SMART Goals You may have heard of it multiple times but are still confused with the interchangeably used definitions. Despite those slightly different interpretations of this acronym, the most well-recognized version of the SMART Goals criteria is the one popularized by Professor Robert S. Rubin in Saint Louis University: S - specific M - measurable A - achievable R - relevant T - time-bound Each step is essential for overall success. I’ll explain them specifically in the following with some tips and examples of SMART Goals to help you understand them better. S - specific This simply means that a goal has to be

Keeping your motivation up when you're working in an office is relatively easy. You need to get your work done before you can return to the comfort and privacy of home, so dragging your feet will only cause you further inconvenience. And with your colleagues surrounding and observing you, you’ll at once be reminded that you’re part of a team and driven to show productivity. For most of us, though, that office life is behind us: gone for the foreseeable future, at least, and plausibly gone for good. Unless you've been hibernating in a hermetically-sealed underground chamber since early 2020, you know perfectly well why it isn't advisable for people to gather in significant groups. Regardless of the broader consequences, remote working is the new normal. So how are you supposed to stay motivated when you’re working from home with your colleagues many miles away? How can you achieve focus when trying to get things done in an environment designed and built for comfort? It isn’t easy, but it can be done, and in this piece we’re going to set out five tips that can help you manage it. Let’s get started. Assemble a solid home office Slouching on the

The Meaning of PDCA Cycle PDCA Cycle (also known as PDSA Cycle or Deming Cycle), is a problem-solving method used for the continuous learning and improvement of a process or product.  There are 4 basic steps in PDCA Cycle: Plan: identify a problem and possible solutions Do: execute the plan and test the solution(s) Check: evaluate the results and lessons learned Act: improve the plan/process for better solutions These four steps incorporate inductive-deductive interplay and have been a simple and scientific approach for problem-solving (process-improving). It follows the curve of how we acquire knowledge through constant reflection, standardization, and modification. The PDCA framework begins with a planning phase where a problem or a process to be improved is identified. This involves not only the goal setting and finding possible solutions, but also hypothesizing methods that can be used to reach the ultimate goal. Another thing that needs special attention is defining the success metrics. This simply means a clear evaluation matrix is ideally to be set beforehand. Then, the solution(s) will be tested in the Do process. To detach the Do, there could be two steps: making the Do multiple To-Dos by splitting the task and defining them with a

What is the Pomodoro Technique? The Pomodoro Technique is one of the simplest and most feasible methods of time management, proposed by Francesco Cirillo in 1992. He named it “Pomodoro” (tomato in Italian) just because of the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used to track time. Struggling with constantly refilling to-do lists and never-ceasing deadlines like all of us today, Francesco found a way to enhance his concentration and productively get things done as a university student. That is Pomodoro Technique. Every 25-minute is considered as a Pomo, dedicating to a task during the Pomo and taking a 5-minute break when it ends. After 4 Pomos, take a longer break (usually 15-30 minutes). The whole process goes like that. With time, this can train our brain to focus in short and timed intervals, while also ensuring relaxation for quick recharging during work. Therefore, Pomodoro Technique outweighs other productivity methods mainly because it’s distraction-fighting and brain-training. How to do it? Pomo Timer was introduced to TickTick a long time ago, and we’ve mentioned this technique several times before, but we’ve never dived into it to see how it can be applied practically into work and life. Let’s do that now. First of