16 Simple Tips to Boost Your Productivity x10

16 Simple Tips to Boost Your Productivity x10

These easy-to-follow tips will improve your output dramatically.

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4 min read

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1. Remove Notifications ๐Ÿ””

  • Check your phone after a couple of hours.
  • Keep an eye on the app with the most notifications.
  • Block them.
  • Don't fear FOMO.
  • Choose your shots.
  • You are going to lose some content around.
  • Deal with it.
  • Watch The Social Dilemma.

2. Slice your time ๐Ÿ•

  • Use blocks of time without interruptions (timeboxing).
  • My favorite is Pomodoro Technique.
  • If you come across new tasks write them down.
  • Don't multitask.
  • You cannot switch until the time is up.
  • 20 minutes it's a good slice.

3. Inbox0 ๐Ÿ“ฅ

  • Keep your inbox ALWAYS empty.
  • Unsubscribe to all irrelevant emails (most of the time is just one click).
  • Create filtering rules - out of the inbox.
  • If you need to take action on emails: (keep the list out, create a special folder).
  • Inbox is not a To-do list.

4. Find your Flow ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ

  • Creative work happens on [flow state](en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology).
  • Takes some time to enter flow (about 15 mins).
  • Takes one second to leave it and go to the queue again.
  • Remove all external flow interruptions, notifications, noise
  • Control all internal stimuli.

5. Use Zenware ๐Ÿ’ญ

  • Use simple software.
  • Minimalistic tasks editors like writemonkey and simple managing software like Trello
  • If you blog on @hashnode you will find its markup editor very convenient.
  • Don't procrastinate gold plating your articles.

6. Close Your Browser Tabs ๐Ÿ”“

  • Manage to-do lists and items.
  • Do not open multiple tabs.
  • No operating system or web browser handles them very well. Neither you.
  • Don't multitask.
  • If something takes less than two minutes do it. Else add it to the To-Do list.
  • Web tabs are not to-do lists.

7. Find Homes for everything ๐Ÿ 

  • Every object (real or virtual) should have a home.
  • We can keep inboxes (or incoming places) for things for a couple of days.
  • We need brief processes to empty those inboxes.
  • When emptying those inboxes we should define new 'homes' if necessary.

8. Keep a Daily Agenda ๐Ÿ“…

  • Start each day with a short daily agenda.
  • You can mix personal and work items or keep them in two separate lists.
  • Plan for unplanned work.
  • Revisit hourly to keep up.
  • And close it at night.
  • Never reuse it for the next day. Start from scratch.

9. Automate Repetitive Tasks ๐Ÿค–

  • Find repeatable shortcuts.
  • Automate repetitive tasks.
  • It is a two-sharp blade. Never automate when DOING a task.
  • Automating is more enjoyable than doing (Procrastination).
  • Automate only tasks made on daily basis.
  • Don't automate infrequent things.

10. Avoid Unproductive Meetings ๐Ÿค

  • Schedule meetings for 25 or 50 minutes.
  • So you can have time to switch.
  • Meetings without agenda are useless.
  • Avoid meetings with more than three people.
  • The outcome of the meeting should be action items.

Commitments must include:

  • who / what / when

11. Avoid Multitasking ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ผ

  • Donโ€™t multitask.
  • Work on one task at a time.
  • Multitasking is a myth and trying to do it only splits your focus.
  • Human Brain is a monotask.
  • Context Switching for neurons is too expensive, so you are thrashing most of the time.

Focus -> Flow.

12. Avoid Voice Calls ๐Ÿ“ž

  • Voice Calls are interruptions.
  • Interruptions are our worst enemy.
  • Avoid unscheduled voice calls.
  • If it is not urgent you can talk via messaging in an asynchronous way.
  • If it is urgent, double-check it is urgent.
  • If you wanna talk, schedule!

13. Eat the Frog Early in the Morning ๐ŸŒค๏ธ

  • Do the annoying tasks early in the morning.
  • You will be happy the rest of the day
  • Avoid procrastination and gain self-confidence.
  • It is the moment with more energy and freshness.
  • Plan for the rest of the day.
  • Review everything accomplished the day before.

14. Don't reuse daily to-do lists โœ”๏ธ

  • Start each day with a different one.
  • With this method, there's no carry-over.
  • Daily check yesterday's unfinished goals and evaluate if they deserve being on the new list.
  • It is YOUR list. Be honest with yourself.

15. Measure Objectives ๐Ÿ“ˆ

  • Set long-term, middle-term and short-term goals.
  • They should not be fuzzy.
  • Set a realistic and measurable metric.
  • If it is not measurable with exit condition it is not a goal.
  • Keep track of them on a weekly basis.
  • Change it if need it.

16. Don't Save for Later ๐Ÿ“


ko-fi


[Update] Part II

I'm sure there is plenty of productivity advice around. Which one does work for you?

Please leave me a comment.

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