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What's your #1 productivity hack?
Mine, is this one "Picking the right thing to work on is the most important element of productivity and usually almost ignored." from Sam Altman. I take the time each day to prioritize my tasks, meetings, etc.
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At the end of the day, I close all my browser tabs and just look at my to-do list. I take the three things I want to get done tomorrow and put them at the top, uncategorized.
I then think about those things for about 5-10min (no more than that, unless you want to get sucked into a late night) and then I log off.
When you wake up, you'll look at your to-do list and realize that you have three main things to focus on, and you'll immediately recall what you thought about them the day before. You'll also get the benefits of sleeping on those thoughts.
@henry_shapiro yeah, just started forcing myself to do this one. I used to just clock out. Forcing myself to clean up the desktop definitely create a better start to the day.
@jack_wright1 Awesome, great to hear! Yeah, for some reason I find this activity to be more effective personally at the end of a day instead of the morning. Mornings are foggy for me and it's nice to wake up to a list of three goals instead of having to mentally get myself there in the morning while I'm still trying to get my caffeine levels right ;)
@henry_shapiro Very true!
Also I just saw that you created a time blocking tool! I came really close to working on a similar product, but decided to make a morning routine app instead: magicmorning.co/
Going to try out Reclaim now!
@jack_wright1 Awesome! Magic Morning looks super cool -- we're actually working on a feature right now that blocks time for Daily Habits (e.g., I want to meditate 3x a week between 7a and 9a M-F, ideally for at least 30m). Integration oppty?
@henry_shapiro Hey! Awesome. Yeah I think there may be a opportunity here. Our roadmap is fixed for the next 3 months, but let keep in touch.
I built a system called PEP based on the OKR system. It stands for Purpose Energy Priorities.
If you're looking for a quick fix hack though, the Pomodoro timer ranks high for me.
@lluis_m_ventura How about a video? :) I find think I explain it better this way. Feel free to ask me any followup questions. Thanks for asking! https://www.loom.com/share/9f202...
Redirect websites to 127.0.0.1 in my host file lol https://peterthaleikis.com/posts...
@spekulatius1984 Thanks for sharing this! This hack was very effective for snapping out of bad browsing habits
I try to keep it simple and easy. For example, I start my week and day with only 3 priorities for each. For this week/day I have 3 high priority tasks and will focus my 80% of energy and attention on that only.
In the same way, every day starts with me penning down my 3 tasks for the day ahead. It can be anything from administrative tasks to technical. This helps me maintain a balance and not lose track of the priority tasks and enhances my productivity. At the end of the day review the tasks planned versus completion.
Also, I reserve a day exclusively for housekeeping/maintenance activities which are mundane and don't need to be pushed on to productive days of the week.
There is a very good book which talks in detail about such best practices for regular users like you and me written by Chris Bailey "The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy "
I would highly recommend for our folks to read this and am pretty sure there will be good takeaways.
Stopping work on an exciting note, e. g. with one simple unfinished task. Makes you wanna go back to it.
@sidyakinian This seems interesting :). I can recognize lots of times when that worked for me even though I did not do that intentionally. I will try to do that more often. Thanks
Currently, I'm trying something I call the Daily Sitdown. It's like the daily standup meeting, but it's close to the end of the day. It really helps people clarify, in their minds, how productive they were that day. I find that it helps me to be mindful about what I'm working on, and it lets the rest of my team know they can count on each other to deliver.
@rossbaltimore And do you do it in a meeting? Or sharing this with the team? Or it is for you alone? Interesting!
@lluis_m_ventura we haven’t been doing it in a meeting, just because we tend to finish up at different times. But, I’d like to try that out. We’re all remote now, so any excuse to have a quick, real-time chat with my teammates (or anyone, for that matter) is a net positive!
@rossbaltimore hmm interesting. We've been running the standard morning standup, but flipping it might have some interesting results. Have you tried both?
Turning on "do not disturb" on my mac and phone so I don't get any notifications, and putting on noise cancelling headphones and one peppy song on repeat.
I write a todo list everyday. I also try to focus on the items I am most passionate about and tick them off the list first.
@lluis_m_ventura yes exactly. It kind of makes me feel happy to see stuff ticked off my todo list.(: also, I can normally get more done when I am passionate about what I am doing...
Block daily 2hours without phone. Put 3 most important tasks everyday. Prioritize tasks with one metric that matters(OMTM was taught in my 500Startups batch)
Doing one thing at a time. It's been the hardest thing for me to do. I keep too many tabs open and keep shifting between things. Which is always messy and nothing gets ticked off my list. So now I make a list and do only one thing at a time, even if it means having to hold off replies to the team. Tick off one thing, then get back to next and in between keep time for team conversations. Works wonders for me and I recommend to everyone who starts doing too much together!
@sonika_zonka_feedback Just to kind of piggyback off this, I also keep too many tabs open :) I find that "cleaning" my desktop at the end of the day (i.e. closing all tabs, removing everything from my desktop) has a cathartic effect.
the get focused extension for mac (basically pomodoro technique) with a 25 min timer and 5 min break timer :)
@stockholm Interesting, you're the second person to post about this. Curious is this much different then just setting a normal timer?
Breaking down a Big Project into a set of mini tasks. Then, I create a checklist and start with the easy ones until I finish. This strategy will help ease you into the work process, lowering the chances of procrastination.
For me is more like avoiding being unproductive, or how we know it: procrastinating. The biggest fuel for procrastination is self judgement for not doing the stuff you're avoiding. The more you judge yourself for not doing a task, the more impossible it will feel to even start. So, I keep a clear calm mind and start the task, if I catch myself doing something else, no judgement just start the task again.
For meetings:
Divide meetings into:
1. Informational
2. Must Attend
3. Can do without
Attend all "Must Attend" Meetings, don't attend "Can do without" Meetings at all, if you have the free time then attend "Informational" Meetings.
You'll start noticing that your productivity goes up by 30-40%
Lately, while I am working at home with the fam: Noise Isolating Headphones. I get so much more done when I am not constantly distracted.
@benjamin_nau lol, yes, these are a godsend... especially with the yippy little dog that lives next door to me 😂
What headphones do you use?
- Have your own dedicated work space
- Have some great music lined up
- Use lists to manage jobs (I user Trello.com)
- Set personal goals often (to push your limits and make sure you're not coasting along)
25 minutes of work + 5 break. Although can't say this can be sustained throughout the whole day, with the increase of calls/video meetings
Shameless plug here!
I'm creating a morning routine: magicmorning.co
It's actually really helpful. We've been testing for about a month, and users say it's helping them get energized / stay focused throughout the day.
We're still accepting beta testers if anyone's interested!
Thanks,
J
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