The most important part of the day is the morning. How you function in those first couple of hours sets the tone for the entire day. If you’re trying to be productive this is doubly important. Jumping out of bed, throwing on your suit and rushing out of the door with a slice of toast between your teeth isn’t going to set the best tone for your day. What I do instead is take five minutes to recap and apply my five favorite guidelines. What are your own guidelines for a productive day?
- Do the hardest work early
It’s important to get the hardest or the least enjoyable work done early. It gets it off your radar for the rest of the day, it means you’re not going to keep putting it off and it sets a productive tone for the rest of the day. If you do your hardest work first, everything else is easy by comparison. - Identify what really needs doing
We all have a lot of things we could do each day, but only a small percentage of that is stuff we absolutely have to do. It’s these tasks that need to take precedence as they’re the ones that are going to make the biggest difference in your life. If I’m struggling to identify what the important work is, I use the 80/20 rule. - Plan to do only as much as your can manage
Something incomplete represents a broken promise, which is why it’s very important that I complete my to-do list each day. It’s not such a problem if it happens occasionally but having a lot of unfinished tasks can throw off my productivity for the rest of the day and week. With that in mind I only plan to do as much as I know I can comfortably manage, determined by how much time and energy I have that day. It’s better to underestimate how much you can do rather than overestimate and have half your work still do by the end of the day. - Identify the next actions
I always try to only work on something if it’s a next action, or more broadly a single, small task with a clearly defined finishing point. This makes it so much easier to start (no procrastinating), do (the work is small, simple and uncomplicated) and complete without any loose ends. If I try and work on something with this clarity it’s too easy to get bogged down with it. - Do only one thing at a time
I find the number one reason work takes longer to do than it needs to is because I’m multi-tasking. I’m either trying to juggle between several different tasks at once, or I’m leaving myself open to distractions by having the TV on, music playing, Twitter open, etc.
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- Is It Better To Single-Task Or Multi-Task?
- 10 Minutes To A More Productive Day
July 29, 2009 at 11:22PM
Great post! I like the quick, concise ideas, especially that of the broken promise. I think over time by starting small we’re able to build our discipline to the point that we never break promises with one of the most important people we know – ourselves.
July 30, 2009 at 04:36AM
I seem to struggle with this everyday. It’s so easy to sit in my chair, review my many RSS feeds and waste the morning away. Before I know it, it’s 10am and I haven’t really accomplished anything. This tends to push my work day past 5pm and even 6pm, something I really try to avoid.
Conversely, if I leave the house relatively early, work from a cafe, in the office, etc. I find I get started much earlier. It’s not so much being in the office, as if I always work there I fall into the same rut, but it’s changing my environment to help me stay focused on my next actions.
I must say, in addition to planning next actions, doing one thing at a time has been a great move-it-forward productivity tool… even if I don’t always adhere to it.
July 30, 2009 at 02:15PM
I have to disagree with doing the hardest work early. For me I like to do smaller, easier tasks first to get me motivated and in full work mode ready to conquer bigger tasks. When I try to tackle harder tasks first the small problems and setbacks put a damper on my morning.
August 1, 2009 at 02:20PM
Interesting point Chris. I know several people who have make that same point about doing the hard work first.
August 19, 2009 at 07:07AM
Great! I’ve been GTD all this year, but these tips are from a veteran who has been in the valleys and the mountains. Sucking them up!
August 20, 2009 at 07:56AM
Thanks Scott, never been called a veteran before! Wish I could say these ideas were developed from working on the frontline of a major corporation, but much of it is just from experiences in my day-to-day life.
August 20, 2009 at 09:42AM
Mine is from wearing multiple hats – I’m involved in a lot of things. “GTD saved my future” is one of my sayings!
September 3, 2009 at 04:53AM
Regarding the singletasking tip, over the last few years I’ve seen one study after another trashing multitasking. Naked ape brains just aren’t designed to do it and productivity plummets every time. It’s tempting but unless you have an idiot boss, just don’t.