What Helps you be productive?

Interesting post.

One thing i've done lately which has been great at increasing my productivity, is timing how long I spend on work and having regular mini-breaks inbetween.

I set a timer for 50 minutes, for focused time spent on work and important activities.

Dis-engage for 10 minutes for a breather, and maybe water.

And then repeat that process again.

I think if you can eliminate any possible distraction, and give yourself a set time just to work on one important task at a time, with focus, it will go a long way in helping to have a productive day.

Also, If you do struggle to find the motivation to do what you know is an important task, I think this can help a lot.

Just sit down in front of whatever it is you have to do, lock off any distractions...(phone, email, facebook, IM, etc), and give yourself a set time (actually time it) for you to focus your efforts on that one very important task.

The act of timing it allows you to subconsciously relax any concern you might have of spending too long or too little time trying to figure it out.

Well...does the trick for me anyway... =)

I have found that you need to take small baby steps at a time. Do not make a list that is impossible to complete or you will feel like a failure if you do not complete it.

Start out with a reasonable list of things to accomplish. Once you get into the swing of things and are consistenly completeing those tasks increase your list of things.

If you make it a practice to do each day like brushing your teeth it will be easier to complete what is at hand.

depends:

if it's a matter of distraction, for me it's shutting myself into a hotel/motel for a day and having a "can't be reached (even by mobile)" productivity day. You get more done in those days than in a week with email/facebook/warrior-forum ;-) etc on

- if it's a matter of procrastinating because you're simply not passionate about the whole thing and need a "gun-to-the-head" moment, try this (I learned this the other day and love it!): imagine something horrible happening to a close relative/friend UNLESS you make $X in the next 90 days. Whenever you find yourself sitting down, eating chips and watching telly, ask yourself: if I had to make $X to save my friend's/relative's life, would I be doing it? In most cases the answer is no.

- if you're procrastinating because your suffering from overwhelm/not sure what to do next/not sure if this is the right thing to focus your energy on, maybe another 'magic bullet' might get you out of the sh*t faster, then it's time to have a good look in the mirror and look at those places where it *feels* uncomfortable. Uncover the BS-excuses you're giving yourself why you're not doing something and figure out what the emotion is behind it (and what the reason is behind that one). This is one of the biggest differences between the wanna-be entrepreneur and the true entrepreneurs: the true entrepreneur is looking where it feels uncomfortable and tries to figure out how to fix it. The wanna-be entrepreneur wants to protect the ego and always has a good (BS) excuse why they now stop doing project A and do project B instead.

hope this helps

Veit

I'd like to second the idea of finding a quiet place to focus. I find that where I work has a big influence on my productivity. If I want to be really productive, I end up going to the library (I live on a university campus.) Also I find putting on some mellow music through pandora helps me as well. It kills that deadly silence, it's like a minor distraction that wards off my ADD.

I agree with your post cpj231. I believe in planning because when you do plan, you control the use of your time and eliminate allowing others or things to spend your time for you and making you less productive. These are the distractions.

When we plan our day/life and utilize our time effectively, we get things done, we eliminates stress and increase our productivity, which helps us achieve our goals.

The purpose and value of planning and identifying our priorities upfront makes us more effective because we do what’s important and helps defeat time wasters or avoid the 2 Ps, procrastination and perfectionism.

What helps me be productive? A hug, and cuddle in bed with the love of my life. That's all I need. :-)

Oh, and coffee, and Red Bull. They help too. :-) I agree with you though. Always leave the biggest pains for the morning. They always seem much easier during the morning, then at night.