Daily goals. Without a clear focus, it’s too easy to succumb to distractions. Set targets for each day in advance. Decide what you’ll do; then do it.
No-comm zones. Allocate uninterruptible blocks of time for solo work where you must concentrate. Schedule light, interruptible tasks for your open-comm periods and more challenging projects for your no-comm periods. (my office time is a no comm zone when parents aren’t home)
Mini-milestones. When you begin a task, identify the target you must reach before you can stop working. For example, when working on a book, you could decide not to get up until you’ve written at least 1000 words. Hit your target no matter what.
Timeboxing. Give yourself a fixed time period, like 30 minutes, to make a dent in a task. Don’t worry about how far you get. Just put in the time. See Timeboxing for more.
Batching. Batch similar tasks like phone calls or errands into a single chunk, and knock them off in a single session.
Tempo. Deliberately pick up the pace, and try to move a little faster than usual. Speak faster. Walk faster. Type faster. Read faster. Go home sooner.
Early bird. Get up early in the morning, like at 5am, and go straight to work on your most important task. You can often get more done before 8am than most people do in a day.
Ready-fire-aim. Plan your day, on how to do it. Don’t spend too much time, not more than a couple minutes. After you have planned, immediately start taking action. Planning doesn’t need to be perfect, you can adjust course along the way. Action is a must though.
Dilemma Minuteman
1. Ask yourself if this dilemma/decision is absolutely necessary to be figured out in the present moment. If it doesn’t support the goal you are on now, chances are you can delay it, and delaying it can get you a clearer stance on it.
2. What is the information required to make the decision?
3. With all the information at hand, take 60 seconds to make the decision, start a timer.
4. Stick to the decision when you come out of the 100 seconds, and take some action to put it into motion.
Agendas. Provide clear written agendas to meeting participants in advance. This greatly improves meeting focus and efficiency. You can use it for phone calls too.
Is the meeting absolutely necessary?
Does it support your current goal?
Absolutely no communication if it opposes any of your goal
Write the gist of what you want to discuss beforehand
Punctuality. Arrive early. ( apply it to schedule : start your day 10 minutes earlier, start every task 5 minutes earlier)
Gap productivity. Making breakfast, waiting in line, waiting for someone, driving a car, doing anything in which you can use your present time to do something constructive, for example listening to an audio course while driving, reading an article until something is getting cooked, or microwaved etc.
Continuum. At the end of your workday, identify the first task you’ll work on the next day, and set out the materials in advance. The next day begin working on that task immediately.
Slice and dice. Break complex projects into smaller, well-defined tasks. Focus on completing just one of those tasks.
Single-handling. Once you begin a task, stick with it until it’s 100% complete. Don’t switch tasks in the middle. When distractions come up, jot them down to be dealt with later. – Focus.
Randomize. Pick a totally random piece of a larger project, and complete it. Pay one random bill. Make one phone call. Write page 42 of your book.
Add-ons. Tack a task you want to habitualize onto one of your existing habits. Water the plants after you eat lunch. Send thank-you notes after you check email.
Denial. Just say no to non-critical requests for your time.
Recapture. Reclaim other people’s poor time usage for yourself. Visualize your goals during dull speeches. Write out your grocery list during pointless meetings.
Scotty. Estimate how long a task will take to complete. Then start a timer, and push yourself to complete it in half that time.
Pay it forward. When an undesirable task is delegated to you, re-delegate it to someone else.
Decaffeinate. Say no to drugs, suffer through the withdrawal period, and let your natural creative self re-emerge. See How to Give Up Coffee.
Conscious procrastination. Delay non-critical tasks as long as you possibly can. Many of them will die on you and won’t need to be done at all.
Troll hunt.(once a month) Banish the negative trolls from your life, and associate only with positive, happy, and successful people. Mindsets are contagious. Show loyalty to your potential, not to your pity posse.
Nuke it! The most efficient way to get through a task is to delete it. If it doesn’t need to be done, get it off your to do list.
