Trust us – you need to read this article about being productive! It’s one of the best we’ve read, and love that the author, Eric Barker of Barking Up The Wrong Tree, referenced a great book that would change anyone’s way of thinking and working. Take a look!
6 Things the Most Productive People Do Everyday
Ever feel like you’re just not getting enough done? Know how many days per week you’re actually productive? People work an average of 45 hours a week; they consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive (U.S.: 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive).
We could all be accomplishing a lot more — but then again, none of us wants to be a workaholic either.
It’d be great to get tons done and have work/life balance. But how do we do that? I decided to get some answers. And who better to ask than Tim Ferriss, author of the international bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek?
Below are six tips Tim offered, the science behind why they work, and insight from the most productive people around.
1) Manage Your Mood
Most productivity systems act like we’re robots — they forget the enormous power of feelings. If you start the day calm it’s easy to get the right things done and focus. But when we wake up and the fray is already upon us — phone ringing, emails coming in, fire alarms going off — you spend the whole day reacting. This means you’re not in the driver’s seat working on your priorities, you’re responding to what gets thrown at you, important or not.
Tim says: “I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible. I think that a routine is necessary to feel in control and non-reactive, which reduces anxiety. It therefore also makes you more productive.”
Research shows how you start the day has an enormous effect on productivity and you procrastinate more when you’re in a bad mood. Studies demonstrate happiness increases productivity and makes you more successful.
So think a little less about managing the work and a little more about managing your moods. So what’s the first step to managing your mood after you wake up?
2) Don’t Check Email In The Morning
To some people this is utter heresy. Many can’t imagine not waking up and immediately checking email or social media feeds. I’ve interviewed a number of very productive people and nobody said, “Spend more time with email.”
Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin? You’re setting yourself up to react. An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours to someone else’s goals, not yours. You’re not planning your day and prioritizing, you’re letting your objectives be hijacked by whoever randomly decides to enter your inbox.
Here’s Tim: “…whenever possible, do not check email for the first hour or two of the day. It’s difficult for some people to imagine. “How can I do that? I need to check email to get the information I need to work on my most important one or two to-dos? You would be surprised how often that is not the case. You might need to get into your email to finish 100% of your most important to-dos. But can you get 80 or 90% done before you go into Gmail and have your rat brain explode with freak-out, dopamine excitement and cortisol panic? Yes.”
Research shows email:
1.Stresses you out.
2.Can turn you into a jerk.
3.Can be more addictive than alcohol and tobacco.
4.And checking email frequently is the equivalent of dropping your IQ 10 points.4
Is this really how you want to start your day? Great, so you know what not to do. But a bigger question looms: what should you be doing?
3) Before You Try To Do It Faster, Ask Whether It Should Be Done At All
Everyone asks, “Why is it so impossible to get everything done?” But the answer is stunningly easy: You’re doing too many things. Want to be more productive? Don’t ask how to make something more efficient until after you’ve asked “Do I need to do this at all?”
Here’s Tim: “Doing something well does not make it important. I think this is one of the most common problems with a lot of time-management or productivity advice; they focus on how to do things quickly. The vast majority of things that people do quickly should not be done at all.”
It’s funny that we complain we have so little time and then we prioritize like time is endless. Instead, do what is important… and not much else.
Okay, you’ve cleared the decks. Your head is serene, you’ve gotten the email monkey off your back and you know what you need to do. Now we have to face one of the biggest problems of the modern era: how do you sit still and focus?
4) Focus Is Nothing More Than Eliminating Distractions
Ed Hallowell, former professor at Harvard Medical School and bestselling author of Driven to Distraction, says we have “culturally generated ADD.”
Has modern life permanently damaged our attention spans? No. What you do have is more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to you 24/7 than any human being has ever had.
The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the flashing, buzzing distractions go away.
Here’s Tim: “Focus is a function, first and foremost, of limiting the number of options you give yourself for procrastinating… I think that focus is thought of as this magical ability. It’s not a magical ability. It’s put yourself in a padded room, with the problem that you need to work on, and shut the door. That’s it. The degree to which you can replicate that, and systematize it, is the extent to which you will have focus.”
5) Have A Personal System
I’ve spoken to a lot of insanely productive people. You know what none of them said? “I don’t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.” Not one. Your routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic — but either way, productive people have a routine.
Here’s Tim: “Defining routines and systems is more effective than relying on self-discipline. I think self-discipline is overrated. Allowing yourself the option to do what you have not decided to do is disempowering and asking for failure. I encourage people to develop routines so that their decision-making is only applied to the most creative aspects of their work, or wherever their unique talent happens to lie.”
6) Define Your Goals The Night Before
Wake up knowing what is important before the day’s pseudo-emergencies come barging into your life and your inbox screams new commands.
Here’s Tim: “Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before.”
Research says you’re more likely to follow through if you’re specific and if you write your goals down.
Studies show this has a secondary benefit: writing down what you need to do tomorrow relieves anxiety and helps you enjoy your evening.
So how does this all come together?
Here are Tim’s 6 tips:
1.Manage Your Mood
2.Don’t Check Email in The Morning
3.Before You Try To Do It Faster, Ask Whether It Should Be Done At All
4.Focus Is Nothing More Than Eliminating Distractions
5.Have A Personal System
6.Define Your Goals The Night Before6
The word “productivity” sounds like we’re talking about machines. But the irony is that much of being truly good with time is about feelings. How should you strive to feel when working? Busy, but not rushed. Research shows this is when people are happiest.
