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16 Simple Tips to Boost Your Productivity x10

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

17 November, 2022

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1. Remove Notifications 🔔

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.

2. Slice your time 🍕

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 📥

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 🕯️

Creative work happens on flow state.

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 💭

Use simple software.

Minimalistic tasks editors like writemonkey and simple managing software like Trello

Don't procrastinate gold plating your articles.

6. Close Your Browser Tabs 🔓

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 🏠

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 📅

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 🤖

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 🤝

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 👨‍💼

Don’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 📞

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 🌤️

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 ✔️

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 📈

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 🍓

Save for later is a myth.

There are excellent apps like Pocket, Inoreader, Evernote.

But unless you consume the list often this will grow forever.

Don't save content, consume it.

Have you bookmarked this article for later?

Don't Hoard (Digital hoarding is a disorder).
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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Maxi Contieri

Buenos Aires, Argentina

🎓Learn something new every day.📆 💻CS software engineer 👷coding👨🏽‍🏫teaching ✍🏾writing 🎨Software Design 🏢SOLID 🌉TDD 👴Legacy 💩Code Smells

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