5 Great Productivity Tips

I just listened to a very informative episode of “Build your online business” podcast which discussed five great tips about productivity. In order to save your time, I have summarized the long episode, and added my comments and simple analysis of the topic.

• There are many books and experts specializing in teaching you to be productive. However, the key to this problem is “you” and the confidence in yourself. Only you know your strengths and weaknesses.
• Know your weaknesses, so you are able to deal with them. For example: if you are not great at organization, get software designed to help you stay organized.

There is not one perfect solution to make you productive. You will need to take the time to find out how to increase your productivity. Listed below are five ideas that will help you determine the best way to help you.

1. Stop Multi-Tasking.

You cannot do more than one productive task at a time. Listening to music while you are working can be considered multi-tasking. Many people claim to be much more productive when listening to music, but this can be tricky. There are scientific findings that demonstrate listening to classical music helps improve concentration. College students were found to perform better solving mathematical problems. Therefore, you cannot play songs that you like, or listen to music with lyrics.

2. Brain Dumping.

Clear your mind from ideas and plans. If you have a white board, notepad, Google Documents, or Evernote – use these as little helpers to remind you of everything. We have plenty of ideas generated in a day, therefore writing them down is the best move. Otherwise, you will worry about them or worry about forgetting your ideas.

3. 25-10 Time Tracker.

Work in 25 minute intervals with a break then proceed back to your work. You have plenty of options when it comes to trying out this solution. You can work in 25 minute intervals, 30 minute work intervals with a 5 minute break, or you can work for 50 minutes with a 20 minute break. The idea behind this trick is to get a short amount of time to work on a task, only work on the task, and not enough time to get distracted by something else.

4. Close Everything Down.

Turn off your phone, social media, and email. Also, make sure your working environment is free from anyone that can disturb you. Only allow the programs you need for your work to be up and running. Even the smallest distraction can lead to the rest of the day becoming more distractions.

5.  Make Lists.

You always need to know what the next step is for all of your projects. Make a list in the morning or in the evening for the following day. When you are creating your list, try breaking down the list into steps (divide/conquer approach). As you are getting your work done, you can start to cross tasks off. Not only will you get your work done, but you will feel better with all of your daily accomplishments.

Other Resources:

• The Best Sounds for Getting Work Done (LifeHacker.com)
  
• Brain dump Wikipedia