It’s getting considerably harder to stay focused these days. With the constant evolution of internet services (Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, to name a few), videos games, movie and tv entertainment, every distraction is now just a click away.

To help you stay ahead of the curve, i have compiled a list of laws. Those can be applied at the office as much as at home. Knowing and understanding them will save you countless deadline misses and sleepless nights.

Pareto Principle

Also known as the 80-20 rule, it dictates that 80% of the results comes from just 20% of the work.

What can be done :

• Devote yourself to the core of your skillset.
• Get rid of the superfluous.

Parkinson’s Law

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson

The reverse is also not true.

What can be done :

• Fix a “time budget” for each task.
• Impose yourself strict deadlines.

Laborit Principle

We spontaneously do…

1. What we like … before what put us off.
2. What is easy … before what is difficult.
3. What goes fast … before what takes time.
4. What is urgent … before what is important.
5. What we know … before what is new.
6. What others impose … before what we choose.

Carlson’s Law

Sune Carlson was a Swedish economist. In the 50′s he conducted research which demonstrated that an employee never work more than 20 minutes without being interrupted. Be it a phone call, a meeting invitation or a simple discussion between colleagues, any work that is interrupted would be more effective if done on a continuous manner.

What can be done :

• Group related tasks together.
• Plan ahead and learn to say no.

Murphy’s Law

Roughly, it states that “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. Transposed in a work environment, everything will take much more time to complete than was previously planned.

What can be done :

• Integrate “buffer zones” in your planning.
• Split up important tasks.
• Do regular checkpoints.

Illich’s Law

Past a certain threshold, human efficiency decreases, to the point of becoming negative. Therefore, it is wise to know when to stop.

What can be done :

• Alternate between various kinds of task.
• Fight against perfectionism.

Fraisse’s Law

Time is subjective. This law states that for each individual, time seems to flow faster according to the level of interest in an ongoing task.

What can be done :

• Know your biorythm and its peak hours.
• Plan ahead – hard tasks during optimal mind fitness.

Conclusion

There you have it, with these simple and effective tools in mind you will be able to stay ahead of the game. If you have any other time saving trick to share please do so in the comments below.

Intro image source

Mother Nature is still the world’s greatest architect and designer. Since the dawn of time, mankind tried to replicate animals and plants most basic of functions. From the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 to scientists trying to duplicate the complexities of the human brain, Nature will never cease to inspire us.

I have listed below 5 recent technologies that were inspired by the ever evolving wonders of life. Some of them we use so often we never even think about where it comes from.

Speedo Fast Skin Shark Suit

Speedo spent 4 years researching and studying shark skin in order to develop this suit. Through scientific research, it was discovered that thousands of tiny “teeth” cover the surface of a shark’s skin and the shape and positioning of these vary across the body to manage the flow of water.

By mimicking this evolutionary pattern they developped a full bodyskin with different fabrics and textures on different parts of the male and female bodies, and even targeted to specific swimming strokes.

This revolution improved overall performances by 4% over any other available product. When the first model was introduced in 2000, 83% of the swimming medals won were by swimmers wearing the suit. The newest iteration called the LZR Racer®, gave Michael Phelps 8 gold medals in 2008.

Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car

To develop the bionic car, the engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre and the DaimlerChrysler Research department have for the first time turned their attention towards nature. They based their design on the body shape of a boxfish, a cube-shaped fish found in tropical marine habitats.

Despite being boxy and cube-shaped , the boxfish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. In order to use this great potential, designers first created a 1:4 car model whose shape was substantially based on the boxfish. Tests in the wind tunnel generated a drag coefficient of 0.095, a result previously unheard of in automotive engineering.

The fully functioning and roadworthy bionic compact car has a drag coefficient value of just 0.19, making it one of the most aerodynamically efficient in this size category. This technological breakthrough permits 20 percent lower fuel consumption.

DaimlerChrysler researchers also examined the bionic structure of the boxfixh, whose skin consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates. This structure provides maximum strength with minimal weight. They transferred this principle to the Mercedes-Benz bionic car and achieved up to 40 percent more rigidity. If the whole car was made according to this principle, one third of the weight could be shaved without losing any strength.

Gecko Tape

The toes of the gecko evolved in such a way that allows them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. Every square millimeter of a gecko’s footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like structure, called setae. Those create a Van der Waals attraction to the surface the little creature walks on.

By duplicating this phenomenon, scientists are developping a material that uses nanoscopic hairs to cling to sheer surfaces. They hope one day to be able to create a full body suit using this material. Enabling the wearer to cling to walls or even walk accross ceilings, Spider Man style!

Velcro

Everybody knows Velcro, we all used it at one point in our lives. But do you know how it was invented?

Velcro came about in 1948 from a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, after he noticed how the hooks of the plant burrs stuck in the fur of his dog.

Observation of this under a microscope showed numerous tiny “hooks” that belonged to the plant. Shortly after his invention, he was disappointed that fashion designers were not interested to adopt his product. Most likely because of that ripping sound.

In fact, amongs the first users of the technology was the NASA, who sent Velcro to the moon on astronaut’s boots, suits and inside helmets as nose scratchers.

Turbine Blades

The flippers of a humpback whale are incredibly efficient, allowing to propel such a large animal despite its massive size is no small feat. Using a wind tunnel, researchers have found that said flipper is a more efficient wing design than the current model used on airplanes by the aeronautics industry.

The tubercles (bumps) of the flippers are the reason for this hydrodynamic efficiency. This newly discovered feature was incorporated on Wind Turbine blades and it was observed that they produce more energy and less noise at lower speeds compared to their normal smooth edged counterparts. The improvement is almost two folds, the newly designed turbines generating the same amount of power at 10 miles per hour that conventional turbines generate at 17 miles per hour.

Share yours

There you have it, nature will always trumps us. And that was only 5 exemples, there are litterally hundreds of them! Do you know of any other product that was inspired by nature? Let me know in the comments.

Every designer dreamed one day of creating his own supercar, and many wish they worked in the car industry. It’s very hard to enter in the field and only the cream of the crop manage to get their foot in the door, let alone actually signing the design.

So for all of you Chip Foose’s and Chris Bangle’s of the design world, I’ve selected some of my favorite dream cars to inspire you in your sketching and modeling.

Acura – Advanced

Aston Martin – One 77

Audi – Exo

Audi – RSQ

Bertone – Mantide

BMW – ED Vision

BMW – M1 Concept

BMW – ZX6

Bob Romkes – Equilibrium Car

Buggati – Veyron

Citroen – GTbyCitroen

Dodge – Challenger

Ferrari – Aurea

Honda – FC Sport

Hyundai – QuarmaQ

Iman Maghsoudi – Monza

Koenigsegg – CC Edition

KTM – X-Bow

Lamborghini – Miura

Maserati – Birdcage

Maybach – Exelero

Mazda – Taiki

Mercedes Benz – F-Cell Roadster

Mitsubishi – MMR25

Nike – One

Panthera – Concept

Peugeot – Flux

Ronn-Motor – Scorpion

Sabino – Design B3

Smart – Roadster C

Spada – Codatronca

Spyker – C8 Aileron

Tesla – Model S

Tesla – Roadster

Toyota – FT-HS

TVR – Sagaris

Vauxhall – VX

Venturi – Volage

Volkswagen – 2028

Zento – ST1

Industrial design is an ever evolving medium. New technologies appear every day and existing ones improve so fast it’s sometime hard to even keep up. Product life spans are getting shorter as customers expect more from manufacturers. And amidst all that, a new desire for green design, recycling and sustainability is becoming the new driving force for designers.

We creative people often need to resource ourselves, get new ideas or just stare at beautiful renders. Below is a list of inspirational websites, blogs and galleries, which showcase what’s hot in the design world.

TechEBlog

This blog focuses mainly on gadgets and new technologies. You will find there all the latest news on cellphones, laptops and everything electronic related.

BoingBoing Gadgets

This blog’s content is as colorful as its amazing header. In pure Boing Boing style they cover everything tech related with great reviews on new or upcoming products.

Yanko Design

Great blog showcasing the work of new designers from around the world. Concept design is the main course here, and you can even submit your own stuff for everyone to enjoy. I visit daily.

Trends Now

French blog about everything trendy. It really exploded lately and now covers everything from fashion, architecture and even food, always with style.

Cool Hunting

This one has the distinction of having one of my favorite header design. Ever. Besides, it also features work from fashion, product, graphic and motion designers, to name a few.

Eco Geek

Now for something a little different, but still very relevent, Eco Geek talks about green tech. It’s more about the technologies themselves, and how to improve our daily lives and future. But you’ll come accross some nice and clean designs too.

Engadget

Engadget needs no introduction. And it’s a nice place to find daily design news about gadgets and techno stuff.

Gizmodo

The gadget and technology site from the blogging giant that is Gawker Media. A lot of daily news for technophiles.

Geek and Hype

Geek & Hype is an online magazine centered on the tendencies high-tech. Its main focus is on aesthetic and luxurious products. Out of reach but still so nice to look at.

DVice

Another one in the gadget family. Although this one seems to dig a little deeper than most, and showcase concepts you won’t find on mainstream blogs.

Fly Lyf

Run by a core group of designers and writers, Flylyf tracks the pulse of fashion culture to help its readers stay on top of the latest happenings in design, style, media, and technology.

Behance Network

Behance is a collaborative network of designers where you can upload your portfolio and share projects. It is a great place for inspiration, for all areas of design work.

Core 77

Industrial designers got-to destination on the web. Core77 publishes articles, discussion forums, an extensive event calendar, hosts portfolios, job listings, a database of design firms, schools, vendors and services.

Design Taxi

Another creative network but this time more global in range. Design Taxi maintains an exhaustive design competitions calendar, for those who like a challenge.

Industrial Design Served

This gallery brings you a steady supply of top quality creative work. They also serve other categories of work, and showcase only the best from established creative professionals.

Share yours

I would love to read about your inspiration ressources, so feel free to share them in the comments below.