30 More Ways To Increase Productivity

Last week we shared 30 ways to increase productivity among our teams and with ourselves. The simple strategies that we shared were fairly easy to implement.

Believe it or not, there are myths and mistaken beliefs that could be preventing you from being more productive in both your personal and work life. Your beliefs about productivity and organization can often prevent you from doing exactly what you want to do and to be in life.

You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you think about these circumstances. Your thoughts, in turn, affect how you respond to your circumstances.

Being productive takes planning and time. We often want to find an extra hour or two a day to do certain tasks. But if you put into effect systems and get organized in your daily life you can get a lot more done each day.

1. To increase productivity, take the initial time to learn programs or apps you use completely. For example, explore your inbox capabilities. At my regular 9-5, we utilize Outlook and it’s a great program for time management.
2. Eliminate distractions.  Don’t run desktop apps that give alerts about non-productive stuff, such as the latest tweet  or email.
3. Use the power of systems and software you already have: For example, use Excel to create a time-tracking spreadsheet.
4. If you really want to increase productivity, do small or unpleasant tasks “right now” instead of assigning them to your To-Do list.
5. To simplify and streamline your Outlook Express inboxes, use a manager like Clear Context
6. To increase productivity, identify your best money-making activities and focus more time and priority to each one. (Retweet!)
7. To increase productivity, work smarter by delegating, discarding and outsourcing more tasks.
8. Don’t just identify money-making activities to increase productivity: Pay attention to each one’s ROI. (Retweet!)
9. Ruthlessly eliminate procrastination habits and activities if you want to create more productivity. Do it one habit at a time.
10. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work” ― Stephen King, on writing productivity.
11. “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all” – Peter Drucker, originator of “outsourcing”.
12. Follow through and follow up are as important in increasing productivity as planning. Have you found this to be true?
13. Keep a notebook or record your ideas via your smartphone and Evernote as they occur, to make the most of creative bursts.
14. To increase productivity, cross half the things off your To-Do list every day and highlight no more than 3 remaining ones as top priority.
15. “Taking action without thinking is the cause of every failure” – Peter Drucker, originator of the business “community” concept.
16. Adopt taking a “power period” every day – a chunk of time in which you work on something, allowing absolutely no distraction.
17. Schedule your “power period” for the daily time slot you notice you’re usually the most productive within.
18. If getting started is your nemesis, schedule your “power period” for first thing in the morning (when you would usually be on Facebook!)
19. If typing slows you down, either outsource written content or learn/brush up on your touch typing at (free) http://www.keybr.com/.
20. To increase productivity, look for external distractions and remove them. Face your desk away from the window, turn off the radio, etc.
21. Try playing classical or meditation music softly in the background. Are you one of those whose productivity increases when you do this?
22. Which Google app could help you increase productivity the most? http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/index.html
23. To increase productivity, take five minutes to print out Google keyboard shortcuts.
24. “When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket”
25. When trying to streamline family life create an Action Station in a central place where family can check schedules, post notes, etc.
26. Answer emails you look at either straight away – or not at all. Don’t promise yourself you’ll do it “later”. (You won’t.)
27. Track your time at least twice a year. Seeing where you waste it can help you be more productive. (Try https://www.toggl.com/.)
28. To increase productivity, give your mind a makeover. Spend a few sessions with a Lifestyle Coach to help find the leaks.
29. Productivity tip: Create routines – but make sure they work for all family members. If one isn’t working, change it (or change the time).
30. “Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before” – Franz Kafka