How to be productive on the Internet

29 must-visit websites you should be on instead of Facebook.

1. Brain Pickings – Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why, bringing you things you didn’t know you were interested in — until you are. It is maintained by Maria Popova who reads over 12-13 books a week to post all the awesomeness that’s in there. According to Forbes, “She is a one-woman curation machine, dedicated to surfacing content, old and new, that makes her readers smarter. Her website, Brain Pickings, started as a weekly email sent to friends; now she has 1 million monthly readers and a six-figure Twitter following.”

2. HowStuffWorks  – HowStuffWorks got its start in 1998 at a college professor’s kitchen table. From there, they quickly grew into an award-winning source of unbiased, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works. Today, their writers, editors, podcasters and video hosts share all the things we’re most excited to learn about with nearly 40 million visitors to the site each month.


3. TED: Ideas worth spreading -TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.
Start with this list we made: #dailymotivation | 10 TED talks to need to go watch right now.

4. Investopedia- Investopedia is a premiere resource for investing education, personal finance andmarket analysis. With a comprehensive financial dictionary, exam preparation materials and active trading strategies, Investopedia is a leading destination for investors of all stages.

5. Mind Tools – Mind Tools teaches over 900 skills that help you excel at work. Learn management, decision-making, time management, goal-setting, communication and more. Established in 1996, our site helps more than 21,000,000 people each year, as well as providing cloud-based training solutions to companies and government agencies worldwide. Members of their team are based in four continents. They comprise career experts, business people, coaches, writers, editors, and journalists – all of whom are focused on helping you make the very most of your career.

6. Mental Floss – From the funny bit of description on their website, “Mental Floss magazine is an intelligent read, but not too intelligent. We’re the sort of intelligent that you hang out with for a while, enjoy our company, laugh a little, smile a lot and then we part ways. Great times. And you only realize how much you learned from us after a little while. Like a couple days later when you’re impressing your friends with all these intriguing facts and things you picked up from us, and they ask you how you know so much, and you think back on that great afternoon you spent with us and you smile ,And then you lie and say you read a lot.”

7. The Art of Manliness – Another thought provoking blog to keep you inspired and intellectually hungry. Example article The Power of Ritual: Building Shared Worlds and Bonds That Transcend the Everyday.

8. BBC – Future – Know more about the future stuff that matters. Example:Timeline of the far future
BBC is the international technology, science, environment and health site from the BBC.

9. Litemind - Litemind is about exploring ways to use our minds efficiently. Covering articles on being more creative,thinking more clearly, boosting your brainpower, developing yourself and more.

10. Entrepreneur. – For all the entrepreneurs out there, the website offers some amazing insights related to entrepreneurial world. Entrepreneur is a North American publication that carries news stories about entrepreneurialism, small business management, and business opportunities.

11. Stumbleupon  : This helps in discovering more stuff that interests you. StumbleUpon is the easiest way to find cool new websites, videos, photos and images from across the Web.

12. Big Think: Big Think is a knowledge forum. Big Think aims to help you move above and beyond random information, toward real knowledge, offering big ideas from fields outside your own that you can apply toward the questions and challenges in your own life.

13. The Mind Unleashed: Helps you discover yourself scientifically, culturally and intellectually. Here you will find a healthy mixture of information related to activism, awareness, and personal growth, break the chains of conventional thinking and inspire others to get involved and help create big change on the planet. Example article: What If Everything You Were Ever Taught Was A Lie?

14. Top Documentary Films - TDF offers full watchable documentaries in hope to provide a valuable resource to those with an interest in documentary films and to help independent documentary filmmakers and festival coordinators promote their films and events.Choose from a wide category and watch some interesting documentaries. Example (and favorite one): The Century of the Self.

15. Free Online Course Materials (MIT OpenCourseWare), Coursera,edX- They need no introduction!

16. Project Gutenberg – Find over 48,000 ebooks for free. Choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online.They carry high quality ebooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers, which they digitized and diligently proofread them with the help of thousands of volunteers.

17. Goodreads – Learn more about your favorite books, review them, find lists, award winning books, quotes, trivia, join reading groups etc. Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Their mission is to help people find and share books they love. Goodreads launched in January 2007.

18. Zenpecils – Meet art + inspiration. It’s a website where inspirational quotes from famous people are adapted into cartoons.It launched in February, 2012 and is run by Gavin Aung Than, a cartoonist living in Melbourne, Australia

19. MAKE – DIY Projects, how-tos and inspiration from geeks, makers and hackers. Maker Media is the publisher of MAKE Magazine and the producer of Maker Faire. Maker Media is a global platform for connecting makers with each other, with products and services, and with our partners. Through media, events and ecommerce, Maker Media serves a growing community of makers who bring a DIY mindset to technology. Whether as hobbyists or professionals, makers are creative, resourceful and curious, developing projects that demonstrate how they can interact with the world around them. The launch of MAKE Magazine in 2005, followed by Maker Faire in 2006, jumpstarted a worldwide Maker Movement, which is transforming innovation, culture and education.

20. Duolingo : Want to learn a new language but can’t find a reliable source? Duolingo is your solution. Duolingo works on the principle of ‘We believe everyone should have access to education of the highest quality – for free.’

21. Coffitivity - Did you know that cafes are one of the best places to spark your creativity? Since now you do, check out Coffitivity recreates the ambient sounds of a cafe to boost your creativity and help you work better straight from your laptop/PC. Their coffee shop sounds are supported by science and backed by a community of creative people using the app every day. Coffitivity is the perfect addition to your workday arsenal!

22. IFTT: Standing for “if this then that,” IFTTT helps different apps, online programs, and services work together to make your life way easier. Think getting the weather texted to you every morning or having your photos automatically save to Dropbox.

23. Codeacademy: With the mission to ‘Teach the world how to code.’ Codeacademy is an extremely addictive website that helps you make the most of your time on the internet and teaches you all about the languages that back it and more. The web has rethought nearly everything – commerce, social networking, healthcare, and more. Codeacademy is building the education the world needs – the first truly net native education, taking cues from Facebook and Zynga, in creating an engaging educational experience.

24. Canva: Canva gives you everything you need to easily turn ideas into stunning designs. Create designs for Web or print: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more. Canva for you that makes designing insanely easy for you and the only limitation is your imagination.

25. Sporcle: Sporcle is still the best place on the internet for testing your knowledge. You can take quizzes on any topic imaginable, which is a pretty fun way to learn new things (and also to challenge your co-workers to see who knows more about obscure TV references or countries of the world). Sporcle is the leading provider of trivia entertainment on the web, on mobile devices, and at live shows.On the web, they operate this website, which has over 250k user-generated trivia games that have been played over 1 billion times. On mobile devices, they develop and publish a suite of trivia applications for iOS and Android devices, including Sporcle and Badly Drawn Faces.

26. FACTSlides → Amazing FACTS you didn’t know!: FACTSlides allows you to click through a variety of random facts that not only feed your curiosity, but are also perfect fodder for the break room. For example, did you know that UPS delivery trucks save 10 million gallons of gas every year by making no left turns? FACTSlides is an endless stream of amazing facts presented as colorful and animated slides. All facts are verified and well sourced.Random facts are updated daily on our frontpage and are later organized by themes.

27. 99U : With the tagline of “At 99U, we don’t want to give you more ideas—we want to empower you to make good on the ones you’ve got.” 99U is Behance’s effort to provide the “missing curriculum” for making ideas happen. Through our Webby Award-winning website, popular events, and bestselling books, we share pragmatic, action-oriented insights from leading researchers and visionary creatives.

28. Fast Company : Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business.

29. zenhabits: Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness. It also happens to be one of the Top 25 blogs and Top 50 websites in the world, with more than a million monthly readers, and is uncopyrighted. Zen Habits features a couple powerful articles a week on: simplicity, health & fitness, motivation and inspiration, frugality, family life, happiness, goals, getting great things done, and living in the moment.