PRODUCTIVE
A recent post shared “6 easy tricks that will make you way more PRODUCTIVE”:
- Never touch things twice. (When proofing I try to cover all considerations in one sitting. When meeting with someone I try to cover the issue at hand, system improvement for the issue at hand, and discovery of next issues in one sitting.)
- Don’t put off eating a frog. (Do the least appetizing items on your to-do list right away. Then it is done and you don’t spend your day fretting over it while trying to get the exciting things done.)
- Master the tyranny of the urgent. (Drop or delegate if urgent but not important.)
- No is a powerful word. (As I get busier, and more PRODUCTIVE, I find I have an increasing number of important and impactful opportunities. I have developed a system for prioritizing my efforts so I can say no more confidently to new commitments if they are not more important than current commitments.)
- Check email on a schedule. (On the days when I do this I am more PRODUCTIVE. Checking in case of an urgent message is distracting while doing other more impactful things.)
- Avoid multitasking. (Despite our beliefs we are really not skilled at split-thinking and multitasking. Paying attention to the focus of the moment is much more PRODUCTIVE than trying to do multiple things at once.)
I remember a Dunkin Donuts jingle advertising their coffee: “I’m slightly more PRODUCTIVE than I previously was.” I’ve been applying that daily for the past four months and have seen a tremendous impact from the cumulative effort. I didn’t read the above until today, but it is a good match for methods applied to continually increase productivity.