15 Unique Productivity Tips from Highly Successful People

For a very busy person, nothing beats the high of getting more things done at the end of the day without feeling overwhelmed, pressured, and stressed-out.

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But chances are, that’s not the case.

Chances are, you went to bed with a pile of undone work sitting at your desk and wondering how in the world are you going to get them all done.

You’re not alone.

When it comes to being productive, we all face the same set of hurdles — managing time effectively, tuning out distractions, and avoiding procrastination. 

But why are some people excelling in this area where others are failing miserably?

What are they doing differently?

In 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management, Kevin Kruse was able to uncover the habits of successful and productive billionaires, athletes, students, and entrepreneurs.

Let’s have a look at their productivity tips, shall we?

Productivity Tip #1: Think of minutes, not hours
According to Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, she keeps a schedule that is “almost minute-by-minute.”  If you want to be productive for hours at a time, you need to be intentional on where you spend the minutes of those hours. Manage your time the way you would manage your money and see your productivity shoot up.

Productivity Tip #2: Use a notebook
Yes, it may be old school but it works. In fact, both Richard Branson and Aristotle Onassis swear by this tip. Carry a notebook wherever you go and jot everything (ideas, solutions, problems, etc) down.

Productivity Tip #3: Limit email checks
Make sure to schedule time for checking your email or social media. You don’t have to check nor respond to every notification. Resist the temptation to take a peek when you hear those pings. One tip would be to set an auto-responder and let people know that you only check your inbox twice or thrice a day only and won’t be able to respond right away.  

Productivity Tip #4: Focus only on one task at a time
According to Kevin, these highly- productive people know and work on their most important tasks during mornings without interruptions. Alternately, you can work on small tasks (those which take 10 minutes or less to work on) immediately to avoid them piling up.

Productivity Tip #5: Don’t use to-do lists.
While this may come as a shocker to some, these people don’t use to-do lists at all. Instead, they put everything on their calendar work from there.

Productivity Tip #6: Be at home in time for dinner
Andy Grove of Intel was right when he said, “There is always more to be done, more that should be done, always more than can be done.” You can never run out of things to do. Successful and productive people make time for the things that are valuable to them. Be it time for family, or friends, or enjoyable activities that are not related to work.

Productivity Tip #7: Invest in your future today
Be it eating right or enrolling in a gym, think of the things that you can do now that will help you be a better version of yourself in the future - and invest in those things. The more you take steps to secure your future, the better prepared you'll be when the future becomes the present.

Productivity Tip #8: Have weekly themes
Steve Jobs made use of this particular hack with gusto. He scheduled his Mondays for executive team meetings and Wednesdays for advertising and marketing. How can this apply to you? For starters, you can pick one day to be administration day. Block out this day for catching up with emails, filling out reports, scheduling posts on social media, etc.

Productivity Tip #9: Delegate
Highly productive people know the power of delegation. Based on Kruse’s observation, these people don’t have any control issues and are certainly not micro-managers. They offload and delegate as much as possible so they can focus on the more important tasks that only they can do.

Productivity Tip #10: Have a consistent morning routine
According to Kevin, many of the people he interviewed have morning rituals. Out of the 200 people he interviewed, most have healthy breakfasts and exercise. They also renew their minds by meditating, prayer, inspirational reading, and/or journaling.

Productivity Tip #11: Use the 80/20 rule
It’s called the Pareto Principle. Make sure to invest on things that require only 20% input and yet create 80% of the result. For example, if 20% of your customers contribute 80% of revenue, then focus on satisfying these customers.

Productivity Tip #12: Avoid meetings as much as possible
Meetings take up a lot of time. And since the goal is to save time, try to avoid meetings as much as you can. If you do need to set up a meeting, keep it short and sweet.

Productivity Tip #13: Say no
Highly successful people are particularly good at saying no. They say no to most things so they have time (and energy!) to spend on more important matters.

Productivity Tip #14: Touch things only once
Successful people “touch things only once.” They don’t just look at a certain task and put it on the back burner. They try to finish the task as quickly as possible just so they don’t have to go back to it at a later date.

Productivity Tip #15: Protect your energy
Energy is everything. And productive people protect their energy by having a balanced life. They eat and sleep right. They spend time outside of work. And they don’t push themselves by working nonstop.

Now over to you. What productivity tip works for you? We’d love to know.

 

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