This is a short but great article listing 7 things that productive people do.

My experiences with them:

1. Work backwards from goals to milestones to tasks.

That’s pretty much the way you have to do things: figure out where you want to go, then figure out how you’re going to get there, and break it down into small, manageable chunks and even break those chunks into smaller chunks if needed. Not only does it make the work manageable but it also gives you positive feedback and motivation on progress as you whittle down the list.

2. Stop multi-tasking

As much as the world touts this, it’s terrible. We’re just not made for it (maybe you are, but most people aren’t). You get a lot more done if you focus, or at least can selectively multitask across as few a things as possible. But note if you do this, have some way to preserve state when you context switch (pardon my programmer lingo). For example, I might have a few things going at once because they are tasks that take time: need to talk to Fred but he has a lengthy turnaround time, I need to debug this problem and that could take a long time. Trying to do these serially wouldn’t be the best use of my time because they both take a long time. But since Fred could take a while, I’ll go ahead and contact him first thing in the morning, probably by email if I have the choice (see points further down). Then I’ll jot in my notes (I keep a running note log of my day, because I can’t remember it all) that I emailed Fred at 7:00 AM about the thing and awaiting his response. Then I’ll start debugging and let myself focus there because…

3. Be militant about eliminating distractions.

Amen to this. Ever been deep into something and something interrupts you and there you go, blows your train of thought and either you lose the idea or if you’re lucky you can get back into it but it takes you some time and the vibe is lost? That sucks, and is a big waste of time.

I wish some managers actually understood this and enabled it. My current managers are fine, but I had one in the past that was bothered and offended by what I did. I actually closed my door, and even put a note on the door to “knock first, and wait for a response”. I did this so I could manage distractions, but they had a problem with it. Silly me for understanding how I worked and had a desire to be productive. *sigh*

And then there are those that think open cubes and other such “open, collaborative workspaces” somehow lead to productivity… a decision typically made by managers and VP’s that have 6 walls and a door and all the privacy they want. *sigh*

Close your door, ignore the phone, ignore IM, ignore email, and generally turn things off. And yes, don’t check Facebook and Twitter every few minutes — the world goes on even if you don’t keep up with it, and you’ll love. You have to have the self-discipline to say no and deny things so you can get work done.

4. Schedule your email

This was one of the best things I did many years ago. It was all the rage to poll for email every few minutes. But I found it a constant distraction to hear the “ding” of new email, especially because I would feel a pull to check and respond — interrupting my work. So I stopped polling for email and have been very happy. Unfortunately some months ago the day job finally forced me off POP and onto Exchange so my email gets pushed to me the moment I get it. *sigh* What’s worse is culture is so strong around email and this immediate delivery that you’re expected to notice and handle email the second it arrives… or maybe 5 minutes before it actually was written. *sigh*  But I don’t care. Turn it off and people can deal with it if you didn’t get and handle the email the second it got there. Quit the email app, stop polling for mail. Handle email when YOU want to.

5. Use the phone

I will agree that sometimes the phone is the more productive way to get things done, but sometimes email remains better even for longer conversations. If there are a lot of people involved, it may be the best way for everyone to converse (you may have geographic and/or scheduling issues that prevent anything else). If there needs to be a paper trail or ease of recording. As I wrote above, sometimes the delay and control you have over email sending and response works more in your favor in terms of managing your time. What’s important is to not neglect the phone as a communication device (very easy to do these days), just learn when it’s time to use each method of communication.

6. Work on your own agenda.

Yup.

Not always 100% possible, but as much as possible, do so.

7. Work in 60-90 minute intervals

You gotta rest. You have to take breaks and recharge. And that doesn’t mean switch from email or the conference call to checking Facebook. No, you should get up, get a big glass of water, have a small snack, and walk around a bit. It helps, a lot.

In fact, big glasses of water throughout the day are really good for this. Not just because having a lot of water in a day is good for your body, but since it eventually works its way out of your system, the need to go to the bathroom helps force you out of your chair and to walk around. 🙂