5 Things You Can Do Right Now To Be More Productive

Re-write your to-do list with easier steps. If your project is to launch a website [for example], don’t write “launch website”. It’s vague and it won’t be meaningful to you later. And the “bigness” of an item like that will deter you from taking the first step. Instead, write the literal first step as the to-do. I.e. “write outline” or “make a list of 5 sites to benchmark”.

Stop responding immediately. Give it 5 minutes or more if you can. You need to give yourself time to digest the information and think it through from multiple angles. Not always is your first thought the best reaction. Give it time—this investment of time into your response will save time later.

Keep emails to 5 sentences or less. If you have more then 5 sentences to say, it probably needs to be a phone call—which will save you hours of time vs. sending and receiving emails over time. Either that, or the information should be put in a document and attached. This will allow you to be as detailed as you need to be, without trying to self-edit it into an email that you know they aren’t going to read anyway.

Close your email after you check it.  Don’t work in your inbox all day—It’s not your job. Nowhere in your job description does it say send and receive email. If it does please send it to me, that’s hilarious. I’m not saying don’t check it, I’m saying check it, close it, and do work. Then come back to it. It’s okay to tell someone, “I haven’t read it yet. I’ve been focused on xyz.” You sound productive.

Take a break every 90 minutes. It’s generally agreed upon that we begin to lose attention and ability to perform beyond 90 minutes. Google it. I wouldn’t say schedule 15-minute breaks every 90 minutes; no one needs to be that rigid. But I would say: each time you find yourself head-down in work that could take hours, try to grab a break every 90 minutes. Clear your head and come back to it.

I’m always interested to learn new ways of thinking about productivity. If you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments!