Top 10 Productivity Hacks

Not only am I a procrastinator, but I'm also quite often very unproductive. They go hand in hand. If you're the same, and you'd like to be more productive but not really sure how to get started, then these tips will be useful for you. I know they're useful for me!

1. Do what you're passionate about. This usually goes without saying, of course. If you're not passionate about something, then you're just not going to have any interest in it. So if you want to start being more productive, find something that you love doing, whether that's with your work or at home.

2. Get off the internet as much as you can. The internet is a huge waste of time when you have things you want or need to do. Checking your email, browsing the latest news feeds, chatting with a friend on IM... these waste your time and prevent you from pulling your finger out and getting to work. Close down your email and IM programs if you have to work on the computer, otherwise just close the computer. You'll be amazed at how much work you get done without those distractions.

3. Get the tough things out of the way first. You know what they are, they're the ones you've been dreading, that you just can't bring yourself to do. But you know you have to do them eventually... so just do them now. Get them out of the way first thing in the morning and you don't have to worry about them later!

4. Avoid unnecessary work. You're only productive when you're working on things that move you towards a goal. Anything else is wasting your time. Get rid of the unimportant tasks from your to-do list, and start saying no to new requests that don't move you towards your goals.

5. Avoid ineffective meetings. Again, if a meeting isn't moving you forward on your goals, you don't need to be there. Read more about this here: 7 tips to avoid pointless meetings.

6. Get to work earlier. Getting there before everyone else starts allows you to get more work done before they all start providing you with distractions. In the peaceful quiet of the morning, you'll be amazed at how much you can get through before everyone else arrives.

7. Clean up your workplace. If you've got a clean and tidy workplace you can focus more on the tasks you need to work on, without worrying about finding something amidst the disorganised chaos of a messy desk. You can find more tips here: 4 tips to keep your desk clean.

8. Simplify the information that comes to you. Think about everything you read - email, blogs, newsletters, rss feeds, mailing lists, magazines, and more - and edit them brutally. How much is really necessary for you to achieve your goals? Keep them and get rid of the rest. You'll thank yourself for it later when you find yourself more productive than you've ever been!

9. Wake up early. Work out what you want to do in the morning before you head off to work, and build your morning routine around that. Exercise, eat breakfast, check email.... give yourself the time to do these things when you're without the distraction of phones and other people. If you can get the most important things done as early as you can, then the rest of the day's going to be a piece of cake.

10. Take care of the most important things first. These are the things that you HAVE to accomplish that day, which take priority over anything else. Do them first, so that 1) they're out of the way, and 2) you can get to the easier and less important things afterwards. If you leave them to the end of the day, you'll run out of time and not get them done. Change your habits, do them first!

Thanks to Zen Habits.