Please tell me you read the goal-setting section. Otherwise, productive just means busy, and there’s no value in that. To what end do you care about productivity?
My own goals for productivity include things like having a positive impact and making money. But they also include goals like being able to say on Saturday, “I didn’t work on productivity all week just to have to work on the weekend.”
Productivity Tactics
Hacks, tips, assessments — there’s a ton you can do to maximize your productivity.
Systems:
- Implement the Marc Andreessen Productivity System in Trello ~Bryan Ye
- This Weekly Planning Routine Puts You In Control ~Rafael Sarandeses
Skills & Habits:
- Eight Health Habits You Can Use to Build Energy and Get More Done Every Day ~John Zeratsky
- Four Strategies to Reduce Interruptions at Work ~Patrick Ewers
- How to Consistently Start with Your Most Important Task First ~George Halachev
Counterintuitively, productivity doesn’t mean working all the time:
Delegation:
A case study in tracking your time:
Cure Technology Distraction
This section has a lot of articles because technology distraction is so pervasive. You basically have to go device-by-device and service-by-service until they’re set up to allow you time to focus.
The most important rule is that technology should be your tool, not your boss. I’m partial to my own article as a starting point. It’s a 75-minute read, which should signal that it’s thorough. But I also hope readers see the length and clue into how much work they have ahead of them to reclaim their lives.
For Android owners, try this article:
Given that my iPhone-specific tutorial is so long and extreme, you should also consider the following shorter tactics:
- Beautility, My Ultimate iPhone Setup ~Jason Stirman
- Five Steps to Breaking Phone Addiction ~Megan E. Holstein
- How to Make Your iPhone Black & White ~Megan E. Holstein
- A Phone Setup That Will Make You More Mindful ~Niklas Göke
A lot of tech distraction comes down to social media apps. The articles below have you either change their settings or give them up entirely.
- Is Twitter Better Without Vanity Metrics? ~Niklas Göke
- How to Go on a Social Media Hiatus ~Alec Zaffiro
- How to Stop Wasting Time on WhatsApp ~Niklas Göke
- How to Stop Being Addicted to Facebook ~Niklas Göke
Our computers have the same distractions as our phones. But so far, we just have this one article:
Sometimes the technology distraction has a real human being behind it:
Cure Procrastination
The roots of procrastination start in the emotional centers of our brain. Normally, we won’t even notice the subconscious emotions that trigger it. Thankfully, there are a number of tested tactics to reduce and maybe even cure procrastination.
This series starts with the world’s leading researcher in procrastination, followed by applied tactics from top coaches, and then ends with a science fiction piece about what would happen if we could design a device that would apply these tactics for us.
- How to Use Psychology to Solve the Procrastination Puzzle ~Tim Pychyl
- How To Conquer Procrastination With Three Self-Awareness Techniques~Niklas Goeke
- How To Use Software and Apps to Beat Procrastination, Pt 1 ~George Halachev
- How To Use Software and Apps to Beat Procrastination, Pt 2 ~George Halachev
- How Artists and Creatives Can Beat Procrastination ~Bjorgvin Benediktsson
- The Complete Guide to Being On Time ~Robert Bateman
- Science Fiction: The Mood Repair Device ~K. D. McAdams
Use Your Tech Tools More Productively
The following are skills to help you use your tools more productively.
If you’re on a Mac:
If you’re on Windows:
Different ways to use your web browser:
- How to Set Up Firefox for Productivity ~Niklas Göke
- How to Save 10 Minutes Per Day While Browsing The Web ~Niklas Göke
- A Complete Guide to Being Faster in Chrome ~eorge Halachev
Even more tools:
- How to Think Clearly with Evernote ~Niklas Göke
- How to Get the Most Out of Your Calendar ~Niklas Göke
- How to Implement a Killer GTD System in Google Sheets ~Mike Sturm
For your phone:
- Battery Life Hacks ~Niklas Göke
- Configuring Your iPhone for Maximum Privacy and Security: Web Browsing ~David Koff
Office Design for Productivity & Creativity
A four-part series from an architect who specializes in applying scientific research on productivity, creativity, and flow. All by Donald M. Rattner, AIA