Top 3 Productivity Hacks - That Actually Work!

No magic. Just results.

Ever feel like you’re running around all day between meetings, appointments, emails, answering questions, fielding calls, only to find yourself in the evening not really being able to cross anything off of your to-do list?

I have!

And despite much trial and error and experimentation, those days still happen.

But the success is that they are now very few and far between.

Below are three ‘hacks’ which have been absolutely brilliant in helping me take control of my day:

1. Time-boxing

   This is a GAME CHANGER. Once I realized how powerful this is, my self-management mantra became “if it' isn’t in outlook, it doesn’t exist.”

   That’s not to say I turned into a scheduling robot, but there is something magical about first holding myself capable to allocate my time responsibly, and secondly to then hold myself accountable to executing to plan. This helped me see critical tasks to completion and was the start of a virtuous cycle of self-management and efficacy.

   It does not have to be a brutal and unforgiving system for it to work, but there is an implicit agreement you must make with yourself to use your powers to change and delete time blocks responsibly.

   My key ‘rules of engagement’ are as follows:

   1. No deletions! I can defer a task I scheduled time for to accomplish so long as I do not delete it and find another home for it on my schedule.

   2. Everything is fair game - work tasks, exercise, personal commitments. If I choose to sacrifice time I had previously allocated to a workout or hobby, ‘rule 1’ comes into play.

   The wonderful unintended consequence I enjoyed as a result of committing to time-boxing is I also learned how to be much more realistic with my assessment of how much time a task will actually take.

   After I found myself completely jammed and overbooked days in a row, I adjusted, rinsed and repeated until I got it close to right.

2. Movement

   Have I sacrificed lunch for days in a row to return a bunch of emails, get ready for that afternoon meeting, or try to get a little bit ahead on the to-do list? Have I ‘pushed through’ when I clearly wasn’t operating at my best?

   Guilty on both counts.

   As counterintuitive as it may seem, taking a break actually helps my productivity AND my creativity.

   Every time. Without fail.

   But not just any break - a movement break. This is as simple as a walk around the block, to the coffee shop across the street instead of to the coffee machine, or if time is really of the essence, I would go get a coffee from the machine furthest from my office (down a couple of floors and on the opposite end of the building).

   Over the last year, I was meticulous in keeping a commitment to myself to not skip a day without at least a half hour walk at some point during the day and the results were transformative enough to convince me to make this a part of my daily commitment to myself, no matter what.

   Is there some science to this? I am sure there must be. But as a results-oriented business person all I can attest to is that it works. Every time.

3. The Power of No

   People-pleasers, this one’s for you! It’s scary, it’s uncomfortable, but do give it a chance and try it on for size, will you?

   I absolutely love Tim Ferris’ writing and published content. In one of his posts he noted “what you don’t do determines what you can do.”

   My take on that is productivity requires focus; focus requires clarity; and clarity is fed by the ability to promptly say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to commitments in relation to how they serve your goals/intentions/purpose.

   Will sitting in on that meeting actually make a difference to you or the attendees? Can a more junior colleague be given the chance to shine while you take back time in your day? Can you take on another project which is easy-peasy for you but adds additional hours to your week?

   Think about it. And be honest with yourself. If you can say no, try it. It just may work for you as it does for me.

There’s no magic combination that will work every time; but in over a decade of managing large teams, concurrent projects, and broad geographies while pursuing passion projects which include teaching, art, writing, and volunteering, these three simple-but-not-always-easy strategies have been absolutely transformative for me.

And if you give them a try, I think they will be for you too.