Forget lists: 3 anti-hacks that will power your productivity

A lot of entrepreneurs struggle to stay focused on their goals through all the mental clutter. Throughout the years, I’ve discovered a few tricks that help me stay focused and productive. Some of this advice is actually the exact opposite of the standard advice out there, but it works for me! Here are my top three anti-hacks:

#1 Throw out your to-do lists  

Want to know how to make a better to do list? I say throw it out the window. Personally I don’t work with to do lists. Most of the time people who use them don’t put the most important things on them. I also think that if something is that important, you probably won’t forget it. Really important things tend to show up on your radar by themselves. When to do lists have too many undone things on them, they also end up creating a mental burden.

The only list I think is really important to keep is our financial one. That one I do keep up to date, because it’s hard to store all those figures in your head. But for the rest I am a pretty radical no-lister. I don’t even list feature requests for our machines: if several customers ask for something, it simply shows up on the product roadmap.

#2 Don’t ignore your email

Sometimes when I catch a glimpse of people’s inboxes, I see a million unread emails with half of them flagged. I really don’t get that. I rarely have unread emails: I even check them on vacation. Not to occupy myself with work per se, but to have peace of mind and not spend a whole day answering emails after I come home. 

Conventional productivity advice will tell you to leave your email for later so you can focus on the task at hand. But when I get an email, I reply right away. Or I flag it, but I don’t leave it flagged for more than a week. It’s not like I’m refreshing my inbox every two minutes, but if I get too far behind it stresses me out. A full inbox signifies outstanding business, pending decisions. To clear these away, you need to be able to make some calls. I’m a fast decision maker, maybe even too fast. That’s certainly important as our team expands. Sooner or later (preferably sooner) you have to make decisions to move ahead, to get things out of the way. 

It’s the same with setbacks: they’re a part of doing business. The trick is not to dwell on them for too long, but to solve problems as quickly as possible. Stay rational, and keep your overarching goals in mind. It reminds me of how I used to take an anti-slip course for driving. Part of the training consisted of stepping on the brakes on a wet surface, causing the car to skid. At every moment you have to keep looking at the direction your car should end up and turn the steering wheel. I do the same professionally. Sometimes focusing on the now means handling things as they come up.

#3 Keep your life-life balance   

I recognize that for this approach, you need to have an optimistic mindset. Life is constantly changing, and I always say “we’ll see” what happens. It’s a necessary attitude to survive this ever-changing world. I also believe in balance in everything, otherwise you won’t keep it up. I don’t even call it a work-life balance, because that’s like saying that work isn’t part of life. So unlike some of the familiar gurus, I don’t advocate splitting yourself in half.

That doesn’t mean that I think we should work all the time. It’s more about finding what gives you energy, and granting yourself a reset once in a while. In my business life I often get energy from people, but when I’m doing a reset I try to avoid people. Nature is one of the things that recharges me. During the pandemic it has been harder to get away, but I did go to the wilds of Oregon for ten days last year, which really revived me. Because sometimes in order to focus on your goals, you need to forget about them for a little bit.

What’s the top (anti-)hack you swear by to boost your productivity? Please share your secrets!