I'm often asked how I am able to juggle so many tasks at once, and get a lot of things done. Productivity is a skill that can be learned and while it may appear easy, it's much more difficult to practice than one might think. Below are some of the tips & tricks I use to prioritize my commitments and tasks.
As a general note, I still have days where I break down and realize I have too much to do and too many commitments to honor. Just because you practice productivity in your life doesn't mean everything will be rainbows and butterflies from day one. But practicing these tips will help you to maximize the quality of effort you put into your tasks and ultimately improve productivity.
Turn Off Notifications
Only 2% of humans can multitask effectively. So unless you're one of the 2%, it's probably a good idea to cut that bad habit.
We don't realize how damaging multitasking can be to our workflows, because it seems harmless but it can have adverse effects.
When you try to focus on more than one task at a time, you can lose about 40% of your productivity. That's a lot of wasted time and effort!
But we live in a day and age where multitasking is almost ingrained into our workflows; text notifications, Slack messages, new email alerts, you name it. We multitask and it's bad.
Before starting a task, I set my computer and phone to "Do Not Disturb" (DND) mode and quit Slack, iMessage, and WhatsApp. I have also permanently disabled real-time notifications to my phone (either turned off completely or in DND mode) which prevents context-switching.
My friend Jason has an excellent talk on "How I Cut My Working Hours In Half & Managed To Get More Done." I highly recommend you go watch it; he's extremely entertaining and the talk is filled with riveting information and tips!
Make A To Do List
This sounds like an obvious tip, yet to do lists are an invaluable tool for prioritizing work.
I have several to do lists: a long-term list, a short-term list, and a daily list. This way, I never lose track of items, but am focused on the tasks which are immediately relevant to me.
I personally like to handwrite my daily list, because there's nothing better than physically checking off a box. But there are many great tools out there to help you remember your tasks.
I have leaned towards the Mac Reminders app due to its convenience, but am now looking in to other fun tools for prioritizing my lists. Here are a couple I recommend.
Notion is one of my new favorite apps because of its incredible robustness. You can take notes, make to do lists, create calendars, and more! The power is incredible. There is a bit of overhead to learning all of the functionalities but from what I've seen so far, it's truly a winner.
Google Keep is another popular one. Although this is more of a note-taking app, you can definitely use it for a to do list. The interface is super clean and easy to use. Plus you can download the app to your smartphone for cross-device syncing.
Start With The Hardest/Most Important Task
We have a finite amount of willpower, and once it's gone, you probably won't get another rush of it until the next day. So it's important to leverage your willpower to focus on the hardest, or most important, task first.
If you spend all of your willpower answering emails and Slack messages, you're going to have a hard time being productive on your important tasks.
We forget that we use willpower in other areas of our lives as well such as avoiding that piece of cake for your colleague's birthday, so use it while you have it!
Take Care Of Yourself
If you're not healthy, mentally or physically, you'll have a hard time being (and staying) productive. It's important to make time to care for yourself.
I always try to take an hour or two at the end of the day away from my devices (which let's be real is a struggle) to focus on things that make me happy, like reading a book.
We forget that mental health greatly impacts our ability to function, and it's not something that should be taken for granted.
Find a hobby which brings you joy and allows you to decompress from all of the hard work you've completed during the day. Force yourself to disconnect. I promise, the time spent relaxing will have a positive effect on your productivity.
Keep An Agenda/Calendar
I love keeping an agenda, both physical and digital, this way I never forget about important tasks.
As soon as I make an appointment or commit to something, I write it down. This may seem trivial, but starting the week off knowing the commitments I have on certain days allows me to plan out my tasks better. For example, if I know I have a JavaScript meetup on Thursday, I'll probably go easier on myself during the day in terms of workload. Versus a day I don't have any plans I can push myself a bit harder.
Theme Your Days
I try to designate specific days of the week to specific projects. For example, I try to work on Coding Coach, my open source project, Monday Wednesday, and Friday. Then, maybe spend Tuesdays and Thursdays creating Egghead courses. I also enjoy using my lunch breaks on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays to take a German course.
By theming your days, you cut down on context-switching which boosts your concentration.
And while this method isn't feasible for every week, it's a good schedule to abide by.
Time Box Your Tasks
I'm the person who, when I don't time box my tasks, will spend hours going on and on without making progress. Thus, I always make an effort to time box my tasks to 30 or 45 minutes (depending on the task).
When I know I have a finite amount of time to work on something, the quality of my work is much more focused. Thus, by spending less time on a task, I actually produce better work.
Many people use the Pomodoro Technique which is great! Typically this involves breaking working sessions into about 25 minute intervals with short breaks between.
I personally find 25 minutes a bit too short, so I aim for 45 minutes. I find that after this time block my concentration starts to waver, so taking breaks is really valuable to reset your mind.
De-Clutter Your Workspace
This tip may not be for everyone, but I'm the type of person who can't concentrate if my physical and digital work spaces are cluttered. After each task, I try to close all browser tabs and reset my environment. This way I start each new task with a blank canvas.
If you're able to work with 120 browser tabs and a zillion folders on your desktop, all the power to you! But I personally like to have only the task-relevant information available.
Conclusion
I hope some of these tips were useful. Try them out and see how much your productivity increases! I guarantee there will be an improvement to the quality & quantity of your work!
Oldest comments (44)
Thank you for yours tips, Emma. 👍
I use notion too! it's pretty amazing isn't it. I also use Microsoft Project for project management (doesn't work on Linux ugh) and can't seem to find an alternative to it that's right for me though.
Interesting, I didn't know that only 2% of people could effectively multitask. I'll have to consider that when I evaluate people.
Nonetheless, as a multitasker, I still do everything on this list.
Thanks Emma, Enjoyed Reading it.
Sometimes I think I should start blogging too Lol
I think the same way. Sometimes my co-workers look at me weird when they see I only have 4 tabs open in my browser and they literally have 40 tabs opened from last week!!! Not only will this hamper my productivity in terms of mentally, it will also slow down my computer 🤔
I shut down my computer every night (work and personal) and there's no better feeling than starting fresh each day.
Yes!! This is something I recently started to do at work. I used to just let my computer sleep when I leave work and come back in the morning and resume (Weekends I would let it hibernate). It would usually be fine that is until a few days later the computer gets slow presumably because of memory build up. Even if it happens once or twice in the week it would kill productivity - my computer should NEVER be slow! So I decided "what the heck, I'll just create a scheduled task to restart my computer every morning BEFORE I come to work" (sorry folks I'm on Windows and using Vagrant Linux - and Docker if necessary, for development) and it's worked wonders!!!
I used to hate when I accidentally did that but these days, I enjoy it. I'm ok with the extra overhead of having to open all the apps, spin up docker, and whatever else. :)
...40? HOW? I start feeling stressed after 10! 😰
Great tips! I especially like the "theming" idea. That might help me organize some unpredictable bits of my schedule.
These tips are great. I would like to add that todo lists meet agendas in a bullet journal. Hobbies are great, and if you can find things that incorporate some hobby enjoyment into your ritual then it forces you to unwind in that ritual. I personally took up wetshaving over disposable/cartridge razors; podcasts during my commute, mechanical keyboard and upgraded mouse for work as well as a monitor stand to hole my two smaller monitors one over the other.
make your routine enjoyable.
Not always rainbows and butterflies??? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! ;o)
Great advice, thanks!
I personally still use a good old pen and paper planner for my daily todo lists. Nothing beats the satisfaction of checking off lists with a pen!
Wow thank you, this is great. I usually have a hard time but I'm going to follow this from now on.
The hardest part of productivity is something you don't even know when/where to start.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree with some of these. Shutting down your laptop won’t save you a lot of time. Hiring a person to do and manage your work? That’s not productivity that’s giving up your responsibilities. If something is loading on your screen and you start doing something else, that’s multitasking and will break your productivity.
Nice tips and one more tip which boosts my productivity
Drink a lot of water (liitle bit tea or coffee) while working, it refreshes your brain.
Careful, the caffeine in tea and especially coffee can have the reverse effect because it takes a long time to leave the body, disallowing your body to rest properly at night, which robs you of energy in the long term. If you're after hydration - which is certainly energy-giving, pure water is the best!
Yes I don't drink tea and rarely I will drink coffee usually I will drink a lot of water.
Modified the previous comment also😀
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