How To Increase Your Productivity (Not Your Hours)

                 50 Simple Ways

There are too many articles on productivity, this won't be another productivity hack, but a summary of all you need to know and do to get real work done daily and to be more productive personally today and tomorrow.

Your level of Productivity can be continuously improved at work and in your personal life with the right tools, resources and a change of habit. You can do more daily, weekly and monthly with new ways of doing things and new tools that can significantly improve how you work.

Here is a summary of what you can do to boost your level of productivity this year.

1. The end of procrastination is the art of letting go. (Stop procrastinate!)

2. Start each day understanding the difference and the luxury of your options.

3. Productivity is about that alone time! Remove all distractions.

4. Embrace small chunks of time. Work in small blocks.

5. Cross it off your list. Seeing progress can make you more productive.

6. Self-knowledge is the key to productivity.

7. Set yourself up for success in the morning when you are most energetic.

8. Take at least one day a month to think only about your long-term goal and how you can achieve it.

9. Turn yesterday's emails into today's to-do list.

10. The more you control the calendar, the easier it is to make room for the unexpected.

11. Set a time for each of your tasks and work to keep the schedule.

12. Effort is often wasted when people don't have a clear path to success.

13. Try a shorter, more realistic to-do list that leaves room for unexpected projects.

13. Switching gears can slow you down. Focus on one item at a time. Stop multitasking.

14. Explore only the most productive apps.

16. Just Say no. You simply can’t take on another assignment no matter how small.

17. Fight the impulse to immediately react when you hear the pinging sound of an incoming email.

18. There’s a time to work hard, and there should be a time to shut down. What time will you shut down today?

19. How long does it really take you to clean your inbox in the morning. Track how much time you spend on each and every task.

20. Don't let the need for perfection get in the way of getting it done.

21. Keep three and only three lists: a To-do List, a Watch List, and a Later List.

22. Only agree to new commitments when both your head and your heart say yes.

23. Don't force yourself to prioritize, instead, do the most appealing task first.

24. Don't schedule that 4 p.m meeting. Most employees mentally check out after 4 p.m!

25. Tuesdays consistently takes top honors for the most productive day of the week.

26. Start a meeting-free day ans stick to it. Make time to actually work!

27. Give in to the urge of not doing that task, instead, do some of those easier tasks on your list.

28. The mental trick is to regard other tasks as more important in order to make the Very Important Task an easier choice.

29. Working more is never the answer.

30. By overwhelming your brain with impossible tasks, similar to a muscle, it expands and gets activated.

31. Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.-Peter Drucker

32. Make a start on your work, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Start and keep starting.

33. There is no way you’ll complete all of your items. Don't micro-managing, just delegate if you can!

34. Focus on the outcomes, not the inputs.

35. Love what you do. Productivity is easy when your heart is in it.

36. Avoid interruptions by scheduling blocks of time where you turn off notifications.

37. Build a support network of people to help you get through problems when you get stuck.

38. Visualize success. Write the task in the past tense to describe what you'll have accomplished.

39. You will get distracted. Gently remind yourself that you’re trying to concentrate and it will be easier to return your focus to your work.

40. You should have only one capture tool for your to-do items. Eliminate the random sticky notes.

41. Take a step back. Back away from the browser and the phone, and give yourself a moment’s space to think.

42. Focus on effectiveness, not efficiency.

43. Make tasks fun. Take a minute to think how you could really enjoy doing a task.

44. A plan relieves you of the torment of choice (said novelist Saul Bellow). It restores focus and provides energy.

45. Write absolutely everything down so you don't forget what you need to do.

46. Allow yourself regular periods of rest and relaxation but be firm about getting back into the saddle as soon as possible.

47. Use only beautiful and intuitive apps with a small, well-conceived feature set.

48. Make a list of what’s most important to you (4-5 things) and decluttered the rest.

49. Every ruthless about saying no to new commitments. Guard your time.

50. Don't plan meetings that require more than thirty minutes to complete. Seriously, cut out all the unnecessary meetings. If you do have a crucial meeting in mind that requires a long time-span, it's better to split the meeting into two or more parts.