June 2015 Summaries

Surveys can significantly impact a company's direction, but their quality depends on sound survey design and analysis. The guide aims to teach readers techniques used by Zapier's data scientist to build an effective survey, including designing questions that are clear, concise, and free from bias, selecting respondents who accurately represent the population, and using appropriate statistical methods for data analysis. The guide emphasizes the importance of avoiding biases in surveys, such as sampling bias, and notes that inferential statistics with surveys can be difficult and often impossible to generalize to a population. By following these techniques, readers can learn actionable insights from their survey results and make informed decisions about their company's direction.

You can use logic to customize questions per respondent in forms, allowing you to create a smart form that serves up questions based on the answer to the first question. This feature is available in many popular form software options, including Wufoo's Rules Builder, Formstack's Conditional Logic, and Typeform's Logic Jump. You can also use hidden fields to track referrals and record extra information about respondents, such as where they found your link or demographic data. Additionally, predefined choices for faster form set up allow you to add dropdown questions with 196 choices, while file uploads enable easy collection of files. Images, icons, and videos can be used to create a better experience in forms, and field validation ensures that answers are in the correct format. Payments can also be handled through form software, and integrations with other apps like CRM software or email marketing tools allow for automated data entry and analysis.

Willpower is a mental resource that determines how easy it is to start working, resist junk food, or go to the gym. It's like a muscle that can be flexed and relaxed as needed, strengthened with training, and lost if not used enough. Strengthening willpower requires a combination of good health habits, including diet, exercise, sleep, hydration, and meditation, which help build resilience and improve focus. Additionally, creating an environment that reduces the need for willpower, such as minimizing distractions and temptations, can maximize its use. By breaking down tasks into manageable chunks, making them a habit, avoiding bad news, and pre-committing to specific actions, individuals can conserve their willpower and make progress towards their goals.

From powerful apps like Evernote and Wunderlist to simpler web tools that excel at solving specific problems, there are numerous apps waiting to be discovered. This article highlights ten lesser-known web apps that can improve your life and work, including Tinynote for timeline-based note-taking, ZenPen for a distraction-free writing experience, Gingko for planning and outlining, MeisterTask for task management, Monday for a calendar-to-do app hybrid, Saved.io for simple bookmarking, Unmark for to-do lists based on bookmarks, 750 Words for tracking daily writing progress, Littlelogs for sharing project updates, and more. These apps offer innovative solutions to common productivity challenges, with features like tagging, search, and collaboration that make them stand out from traditional tools. By exploring these web apps, you can discover new ways to streamline your workflow, boost your creativity, and stay organized.