For many people Pinterest is the new super-addictive time-sink. You can name and create “pin boards” of whatever you like. You can pin things you find interesting, creative, beautiful, things you want to try; pretty much anything. You can also follow people and repin the things they discover; it’s well designed to suck up your time and make you unproductive. But you can make pinterest into a useful productive and motivational tool. Here are 4 ways to get productive with Pinterest:
Create boards for read later articles
Sometimes you don’t have time to read everything you discover. Use Pinterest to bookmark the articles. One cool thing about Pinterest is that the webpage from which you pinned the picture will be directly linked. For example, we have created several boards linking to articles of various topics (e.g. http://pinterest.com/lifehack/productivity). This makes it easier to go directly to an article you have saved for later.
Motivational boards
We’re not always productive and sometimes we need an occasional boost to get us up and running. Keep a board with motivating, inspirational pictures. And it’s a bonus if they link to articles that help you get into the right frame of mind to kickstart your motivation.
To-try lists
Have a new technique you want to try? New lifehack? New recipe? Pin it and keep it as reference for later. You can arrange your boards into different categories for the areas you want to improve (like Lifehack’s food hacks).
Collaboration & Communication
Pinterest allows you to have a shared board which is a great way to share ideas, link to useful articles for your team or other people to read. It becomes more than just pictures but a resourceful to pull from. You can comment on the articles on your own boards making it into a useful communication tool (like Lifehack’s communication hacks). Do you have some ideas on how to use Pinterest to improve your productivity?
