Over the years, I’ve identified two big reasons people lose productivity:
1. getting stuck in time sucks (my time-wasters are email and Facebook)
2. underestimating how long something will take
Here are my 3 ways to be powerfully productive
1. Use timers
My favorites are:
• the alarm settings and stop watch function on smart phones
• the kitchen oven timer which forces you to get up to turn it off
• the datexx cube timer (mine sits on my desk)
2. Become a better estimator
Plotting projects on paper is my personal guard against under-estimating how long each part of a project will take. Planning every detail in 5-15 minute increments forces you to:
• break down every task into its smallest actionable parts
• see how long a project will take by mapping it out on paper
3. Work Backwards
Plan an entire day, or a tricky 3 hour stretch — so everything that needs to get done, gets done. This worksheet helps me plan how I can spend my time wisely.