Like a lot of people, I used to find myself getting pulled in multiple directions all at once throughout the work day, something which resulted in lower productivity as I could never seem to work on tasks without having other ones on my mind. This all changes when I opted to set rigid themes for each day of my work week, ensuring that I only worked on a select number of connected tasks at any given moment. I first heard about this productivity hack by reading an interview with Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter. Currently, I spend Mondays and Tuesdays engaging with clients, Wednesdays pitching stories or market research to publications, Thursdays focusing on growing our brand, and Fridays reviewing projects with my team. Splitting up my week in this way has had allowing me to focus all my energy in one direction at a time, resulting in a noticeable impact on my overall productivity.
The way how I get most things done in a day is by breaking my day into smaller blocks. I get up early and work between 7 am and 10 am. Then I do something fun. When I'm in London, I might go into the city to take a Pilates or dance class, when I'm somewhere near the sea it might be a surf session or paddleboarding. It varies, but it should be something fun and away from the laptop! Then, I return to my desk, or in most cases, I sit with my laptop in a coffee shop. I continue working for 2 or 3 hours. I know exactly what I would like to get done in that time. That reduces distractions. It works like a mini-deadline. Once that time is up, I take a small break again, and most importantly, I change location. That could be another coffee shop, a library or I move from my desk to the kitchen table. I set another mini-deadline of 2 or 3 hours. Once again, I know exactly what I will be working on during that time and what I want to get done.
I like to call this my "CEO Hack" and I ask this to guests on my podcast. My top productivity hack is counter intuitive but to get more done I do less in the morning. I used to jump into my day and tried to tackle as many things of my to do list but I started to take a step back in the morning to do things that aren't work including meditating and setting my vision and intention, reading the Bible, some type of movement and walking my dog. While my morning routine is made up of different things, the most important is I get more done by starting my day and creating space by doing less.
My go to strategy is to time-box important activities. For example, if a priority is to update our marketing calendar, I’ll find 30-minutes of my day for this to be the sole focus. Focusing on a single task for a controlled amount of time provides the perfect amount of concentration and urgency. I’ve found that taking this approach also allows time to add creativity and innovation into the task, without being distracted by less pressing activities. This has allowed me to crank through my to-do list, and free up more time to support my team.
It's both easy and common to add dozens of new tasks to a never-ending "to do" list, hoping that you'll find time to get to all of them... eventually. Instead, I find it much more helpful—and humbling—to add new tasks as specific time blocks in my calendar. This is especially true with the vital few tasks that will truly move the needle towards big outcomes. The upside of using a calendar is twofold: 1) it forces you to get realistic about how much work you're committing to, and 2) it gives you a pre-defined game plan when you sit down to start your day.
Instead of starting your workday looking through emails or instant messages, use the first hour of your day to work on your important tasks of the day. This is a great way to start the day off in a productive manner. Even if you don’t finish the task in the first hour, you will have made a lot of headway. If you start the day looking through emails or messages, you can sometimes spend the entire morning going through them. You will often start spending time on what appear to be small tasks from emails but end up taking longer than expected. When you start your day by focusing on an important task, whatever happens, the rest of the day you can be confident you have had at least a productive start to the day.
I list my pending tasks by urgency to ensure my day is as productive as possible. The matters of running a business never end, so instead of tackling duties at random, I've found that organizing my to-do list by priority helps me stay on track. For example, if three of ten pending tasks need attention within the next two days, I will complete those first. Time management is one of the most crucial skills an entrepreneur must embrace.
The hack that I persistently follow is- Don't multitask! Focus on a single task at a time and get it done. Multitasking diverts your attention, which is why it becomes difficult to complete all of your tasks on time. Make a list of all the tasks you have at hand and pick which one you wish to complete first. Give your 100% to each task and in no time you will be able to complete all the work assigned to you.
I never look at my phone or messages until 1pm during a given day. This massively limits my distractions and I can focus on the "important, not urgent" tasks that tend to move the needle in business. After 1pm, you can take calls and answer emails and messages in bulk. If you're not used to doing this, don't worry, people will adapt to your new schedule after a couple of weeks and only expect your answers after 1pm.
My favorite productivity hack to get more done in a work day is to use a tool like Zapier. Zapier lets you automate tasks between different apps, which can save you a ton of time. For example, you can set it up so that every time you add a new contact to your CRM, Zapier will also add them to your email marketing list. Or, if you receive a new order in your ecommerce store, Zapier can add the customer's information to your accounting software. There are endless possibilities for how you can use Zapier to automate your workflow and boost productivity.
I use a free time tracker (Toggl) to record the time I spend on my top three or four daily activities. Setting the timer before I sit down to work on a task keeps me focused and makes it less likely that I'll stray to time-wasting activities like social media. Additionally, every week I can review how much time I spent on my most important activities and use this data to become more productive in subsequent weeks.
In an age where hybrid and fully remote work is commonplace, it’s important to designate a space that is specifically for work. Rather than sitting on your couch or dinner table to do work, set up a physical workspace that you can go to for work and leave when you’re done. Having this separation helps get you in the mindset to work and be more productive as it tells your brain that you’re in work mode. Even if you don’t have a home office, you can set up a desk in the corner of a room that you only use when you’re working.
Declutter! Rid your surroundings and your mind from unnecessary distractions. It is a fact that you will work best in an organized, clean environment. And this applies to more than just your physical surroundings. For example, you can declutter your inbox by creating a filter for the word “unsubscribe” which ensures that you won't be getting distracting marketing emails, and they will go to a special folder. You can declutter your mind by making To-Do lists and organizing your tasks by order of importance. The less you have to think about, the more you will focus on the things at hand.
Travel time is work time. Whether on a plane, train or in a a car, we all spend time travelling somewhere. Use the time waiting for the plane to send out emails. In the back of the cab, finish up phone calls. Schedule meetings on the train to the conference etc.. The only exception to the rule is if you're the driver! Safety first!
No matter how many fancy Excel sheets you create or advanced project management systems you implement, there are only so many hours in a day and the human brain can only accomplish so much. One hack is to focus entirely on your most pressing, time-consuming, or challenging task at a given time and tackle it first thing in the morning. Not only is your well-rested brain more productive after a good night’s rest, but once it’s done, morale, confidence, and momentum are boosted to help you tick off the remaining tasks on your to-do list.
I start my workday with the task I want to do the least. We all have tasks we push to the back burner because they’re frustrating, intimidating, or boring. As long as we avoid these tasks, we’re not as productive as we can be. If I start my day by completing the worst thing, I don’t have to think about it again, and I’m more engaged with my work.
The morning is critical for productivity. For me what I have seen that really works well is to spend about 30 minutes the evening before compiling a list of the critical To-Do items. This has helped me in a couple of ways. (1) I get going straight away the next morning instead of thinking about what exactly needs to be done (2) It reduces the anxiety of having to only compile the list the morning of the day and (3) I can structure my day such that I know how much free time I have. This is important as it helps me deal with ad-hoc tasks that may present themselves throughout the day.
One productivity hack that works for me is making to do lists. While many can see this as counter-productive, list-making greatly improves long-term productivity because of the organizational benefits. To do lists narrow one’s focus to the tasks at hand for a specific day, week, or what have you. Making to do lists is also a great way to procrastinate effectively when one is stuck at a mental block.
One of my favorite productivity boosters is a to-do list with a twist. This task-management evergreen can be used in a slightly different, refreshed form. Writing down things to do is just the first step. Prioritizing them, using symbols and/or numbers, comes next. I then decide on the most important things which cannot be skipped, add nicely to have done ones, and all the rest. I ensure that my to-do list is a kind of success list by trying to make its bullet points purposeful, unidirectional, and motivational. Completing them gives me a much stronger sense of satisfaction.
Co-founder and Writer at My Speech Class
Answered 4 years ago
My favorite productivity hack is related to mindset. I need to set my mind that I need to finish my daily job as fast as possible, and only after I do things that I like. For example, I can't use my mobile phone for searching some fun stuff or watch series, or play games. I can't go out with my friends to drink coffee until I finish my daily goal. With a mindset like that, I know that I need to finish my daily obligations as fast as possible because I can't enjoy things I like until I have done my daily job goal. That improved my productivity during the day, and I can finish my obligations as precisely and quickly as possible. I hope my answer was helpful. Have a nice day!