Entrepreneurial Zen: Just what the doctor ordered
What makes an entrepreneur great?
You might think it’s knowledge, resourcefulness, and a go-getter attitude. Even though all these qualities are excellent for helping entrepreneurs succeed, they don’t mean anything without the right focus.
We live in a digital world with so many distractions that finding peace of mind has become almost impossible. It’s scary.
Everywhere we look there’s another advertisement pulling us away from what we’re doing. Fifteen minutes or even a couple of hours of productivity gone in the blink of an eye.
It’s time we do something about bringing back our focus and getting tasks accomplished. So how do we get our entrepreneurial Zen back?
To help you out, I made a list of resources that together have doubled my productivity, uncluttered my mind, and brought me back my entrepreneurial Zen:
1. Momentum
Momentum is a peace-of-mind Chrome extension that gives every entrepreneur must-needed focus by replacing your new browser tab page with a personal dashboard that includes features such as a to-do list, weather, and inspirational quotes.
This Chrome extension is made to eliminate many of the internet distractions while providing motivation. The extension resonated with so many people that in the first four months it was downloaded 100,000 times.
2. RescueTime
RescueTime silences the distractions of social media. It’s a free web service and Chrome extension made to keep you from endlessly scrolling through your social media feeds.
RescueTime is an excellent tool to keep you in your Zen while researching on the web. It provides detailed reports on applications and websites that gobble up your time. Also, the service categorizes the different sites you visit, gives you a productivity score, and keeps you informed on whether you’re hitting your goals.
3. News Feed Eradicator
News Feed Eradicator is a Chrome extension made to keep you from getting addicted to Facebook. It replaces your Facebook News Feed with a motivational quote. Also, it’s easy to turn off, all you have to do is go to your browser Settings, locate Extensions, and then simply uncheck your News Feed Eradicator.
Before you find yourself sucked out of your Zen and into the social media black hole, turn off our Facebook News Feed and concentrate on what’s important – you.
4. focus@will
Focus@will is a web service and a mobile app. This awesome and unique application plays music with binaural beats to keep you focused. Moreover, it’s compatible with Android and iOS.
Binaural beats are proven to help you concentrate, sleep, and even relax. The application comes with a variety of great stations to play music. My favorite is Up Tempo. Also, the mobile app and web service provides you a 30-day free trial.
5. SleepBot
Sleep is vital for muscle growth and work performance, heart health, preventing diabetes and obesity. Without sleep your entrepreneurial ambitions will take a nosedive.
SleepBot is a free app compatible with iOS and Android. The app puts you back in control over your sleep in a scientific way by acting as an intuitive alarm and a sleep cycle tracker that logs your movements and sounds when sleeping.
20% of Americans report that they receive fewer than six hours of sleep on average, and the number of Americans who report that they receive eight hours or more has decreased.
6. Headspace
Headspace is an app compatible with iOS and Android. The app helps you learn and practice mindful meditation with simple instructions through creative tutorials and guided meditation sound files of 10 minutes for 10 days.
Paid subscribers receive more features to strengthen their meditation skills starting at $12.95/month.
7. Sunrise
Sunrise is my go-to calendar app that’s compatible with iOS and Android. It’s free, easy to use and helps me focus on a few critical tasks throughout each day.
Sunrise’s effortless user interface syncs with all major platforms including iCloud, Google, and Exchange. It’s a perfect app to help those who don’t want complex scheduling and basic functionalities of a calendar with reminders.
8. Pocket Yoga
Pocket Yoga is the perfect app for any entrepreneur looking for exercise and a little more Zen. You just need a yoga mat, and Pocket Yoga will guide you through your entire session. The app costs $2.99 and is compatible with iOS and Android.
A 2007 study discovered that in experienced yoga practitioners, a 60-minute yoga practice increased levels of a neurotransmitter called GABA. Low levels of GABA correlate with depression and anxiety disorders. Another study linked yoga to decreased depression as a result of increased alpha waves in the brain. Additional benefits include more flexibility, strength, and endurance.
With 27 different sessions of varying duration and difficulty, this app will satisfy any yogi. Also, each pose contains an explanation of the correct posture, alignment, and benefits.
9. A journal
Writing every day will help you translate all those millions of thoughts that run through you entrepreneurial mind onto paper. Not only does it unclutter your mind, but it’s a healthy habit for any individual because it helps you discover more about yourself, enlighten your mind, and have fun. Moreover, a notebook is great for taking work notes, using as a diary, or even doodling.
We think of great ideas all the time only to lose them 5 minutes later. It’s brutal. So keep a journal with you and it will help you take action and get things done faster.
10. Mint
Mint is a free app compatible with iOS and Android, and a web service. Mint is the best app for creating budgets and managing your all your finances. It’s simple to set up an account: authenticate your bank accounts, link to your credit cards, and choose if you want to keep an account separate from your working finances.
Furthermore, Mint offers you a guided tour through all of its features. These features display beautifully; for instance, the dashboard and overview screen provides you a summary of every piece of your financial status and is updated every day.
11. Post-It Plus
An excellent method of brainstorming is using Post-it Notes; moreover, Post-It Plus. If you’re not accustomed to utilizing Post-it Notes, then that’s okay because this free app, compatible with iOS, makes it fun and simple.
How does Post-it Plus work? Just take a picture and the app shows you which of the notes it captured using a green checkmark and which it didn’t using no checkmark.
You can capture up to 50 Post-it Notes with a single picture. For the notes that are unidentifiable, tap on them to expand, and then adjust the edges of the scanned image, tap Done, and Post-It Plus will present a green checkmark to confirm recognition.
So what do you do with a bunch of notes?
With your unorganized notes, tap Create Board to put them on a board that can contain multiple categories. You can drag each note on a board to categorize them, even transferring them between groups.
The individual notes can be printed, emailed, or the entire board can transferred into a PDF then uploaded to various popular cloud services such as DropBox and OneDrive.
12. AdBlock
AdBlock is a browser extension for Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox. AdBlock removes an enormous percentage of popup ads, helping your minds move with fewer bumps and bruises from internet browsing. AdBlock prevents ads from showing up almost everywhere – even YouTube!
Here are a couple of features that AdBlock provides:
- Can block tracking, malware domains, and banners
- Can block pop-ups and video ads
It’s time you tell all those annoying distractions to stop pulling you out of your Entrepreneurial Zen. Now that you have the tools, are you ready to put some Zen back in your entrepreneurial journey?
