The Productivity Guide: Time Management Strategies That Work
Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. Being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything. And no matter what you are working on, there are only the few things that are truly important.
Top Productivity Strategies
Eliminate Time Wasting Activities by Using the Eisenhower Box
- Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy
- The Ivy Lee Method
- Do the most important thing first each day
- A 15-minute routine written by Anthony Trollope to help with productivity
Develop a “pre-game routine”
A sequence that starts your morning ritual
More Productivity Ideas
Most productivity strategies focus on short-term efficiency
- We often fail to realize, however, that there are certain strategic choices we need to make if we want to maximize our productivity for the long-term
- In these articles below, I break down some ideas about long- term productivity.
Step 4: Turn your phone off and leave it in another room.
This eliminates the urge to check text messages, Facebook, Twitter, and other electronic devices while at the same time eliminating the likelihood of slipping into half-work where you waste time dividing your attention among meaningless tasks.
Step 1: Manage your energy, not your time
Determine what tasks each energy level and time of day are best suited for
- Think about it, what type of energy do you have in the morning? Afternoon? Evening?
- Manage what tasks are you better at doing?
Sit up or stand up
When you are hunched over, your chest is in a collapsed position and your diaphragm is pressing against the bottom of your lungs, which hinders your ability to breathe easily and deeply.
Step 2: Prepare the night before
Outline an outline for the next day and develop a short list of the most important items to accomplish
- Organize your to-do list to give yourself more time to relax and focus on other important things to do that night
Step 3: Don’t open email until noon
Use the morning to do what’s important rather than responding to what is “urgent”
- This will make you more efficient and give you more time for other important things, like finishing your to-do list.