10 ways to be uncommonly productive

Common: Going through traditional daily motions and working from habit rather than effective strategy.

Uncommon: On New Years Day I chose a theme for 2011: Adventure over comfort and convenience.  This involved setting some rather challenging goals considering the limited time I have available. To my surprise, however, pursuing these additional goals boosted my productivity.  Now at the end of the first quarter of 2011, I’ll share some of the things I have learned that will hopefully help you do more of what you want as well.

To add some context, below are some highlights of things I have done in the past 60 days:

• Traveled to: San Francisco, Dominican Republic, Boston, New York, Beijing, and Singapore (working and sightseeing at each)
• Finalized a 10,000 word ebook (available soon)
• Processed over 3,000 emails
• Read 3 books
• Personally rebranded and designed TheUncommonLife.com
• Personally designed my next (3^rd) upcoming blog: 25tolifeblog.com
• Managed and given guest speeches for Cool Stuff Media Inc., my publishing company
• Managed The Lost Boys Project, LLC, my real estate company
• Posted several new articles to TheUncommonLife.com and MaximsForMavericks.com
• Written several guest articles for YoungEntrepreneurCouncil.com
• Exercised 4 days a week (on average)
• Taken 3 weekend trips to San Clemente to visit friends and family
• Taken a full load at USC (essays, speeches, and midterms) and maintained my position on the Dean’s List

…All while preserving my sanity (well, most of it) and planning my upcoming wedding. I’m certainly not telling you this to brag. I’m sharing this with you because we often underestimate what we can accomplish in a month or two – or even a year.  We all have our less-productive days, including me, but with the right strategies we can do more, see more, and enjoy more each year.

On that note, here are 10 uncommon methods to boosting productivity:

1. Say “no”: Many people don’t fully understand what prioritizing means. It’s not merely a matter of listing to-do’s in a specific order of importance, it’s deciding not to do certain things – at all. In other words, we must limit the number of tasks and projects we take on. Saying “no” to certain things is the only way we can give full attention to what is most important. I declined several meetings and speaking opportunities, multiple requests for coaching, various extra-credit opportunities at school, etc. As much as I’d like to do everything, I know it’s ultimately the path to mediocre work. Ask yourself, “If I didn’t do this at all, would it matter in a month’s time?” We often convince ourselves that things are more important than they really are.

2. Recognize and use your own energy patterns: I work best early morning and late afternoon so I schedule my most important creative work during those periods. Don’t force yourself to do really important tasks when you’re not at your best. It just takes more time and the result is often poor. Figure out how your brain/body works at different segments of the day so you can assign the right tasks to the right times.

3. Manage your time fanatically: Everyone has 24 hours in a day – no more, no less. When asked, however, most people cannot accurately identify where their time goes – especially segments of 5 to 10 minutes.  To put things into perspective, 10 minutes each day adds up to 7.6 days in one year. Mismanagement of minutes makes a BIG difference.  When you use your computer, for example, do you know how much of your time is spent in Word, Excel, Internet Browsers, or specific websites? It is eye-opening to find out. I use RescueTime.com for detailed reports that track this data and disable certain programs to avoid distractions.

4. Cultivate your energy: It takes energy to create more of it. In other words, exercising, cooking healthy meals, and shopping for the right food takes energy and time, but it often pays in disproportionate ways. Why? Because while time is fixed, energy is expandable. You can experience more alertness, passion, and creativity by taking care of yourself.  Think about it: If you’re low on energy, it takes longer to produce even a mediocre result. High levels of energy, alternatively, allow us to do an exceptional number of things in a much shorter time period while producing better quality work – a triple win.

5. Work in intense bursts with breaks in between: Although enjoyable, hi-energy periods are misleading. We tend to believe we can continue at the same pace indefinitely. Not true. There are many times I work 18 – 20 hour days, but this marathon schedule is not sustainable and if done too often I pay the price (exhaustion, sleepiness, grumpiness, sickness). The difficult part is planning ahead, because once we experience one of the previous states, it’s too late – we’re already riding a downturn followed by a negative rebound.  Balance is about prevention, not damage control. It’s the only long-term plan. Pay attention to signs your body is giving you. You need to be able to read when it’s time to push hard and when to pull back.

6. Always seek automation. The more things we juggle in our mind, the more we disrupt our focus. Think about a computer running numerous programs at the same time. It may still run, but at a much slower pace. Others times, it freezes or crashes. Our mind is much the same. We cannot juggle as much as we think. Always seek programs and systems that free “mental RAM” so you can give full attention to the task at hand. Some programs that help with automation: iCal & Google Calendar (pop-up reminders & phone syncing), tungle.me (scheduling), teuxdeux.com (to-do list management with auto flow-over for non-completed tasks), and followupthen.com (auto-email follow up reminders). Whether you are a business owner or not, make a habit of asking: “How can I do this once and only once?” Repetition of certain tasks is not compulsory, it’s stupid. Never miss an opportunity to automate or eliminate a task.

7. Schedule end times for all meetings and phone calls. Meetings give the illusion of productivity. In many cases they are not as valuable as the time we allot for them.  If an email can replace a meeting, send the email. If you must have a meeting, set an agenda, an end time, and do not allow flow-over. Nominate a time-keeper immediately so no one is judged for cutting people off or forcing a conclusion.

8. Time tasks. Parkinson’s law states, “Work expands to fill the time allotted.” If we set aside 1 hour, 2 hours, or 10 hours we often use every minute – and sometimes more. The more time we set for something the more time-abuse ensues. I know this is true from personal experience. This is why there must be a balance between being proactive/starting early and waiting until we don’t have the option of using more time. To combat this dilemma, I keep a timer on my desk with a loud, obnoxious alarm that I use to reverse-time my tasks. Looking at a countdown increases focus and eliminates distractions.

9. Keep email responses brief. We all have to deal with email and it can easily become a major time suck. But we have more control over the time spent on email than we may initially think. Most people feel a social obligation to elongate a message, but it’s a waste of everyone’s time. The use of brief, incomplete sentences is often okay for most occasions. Concerned about offending others? Use this URL in your email signature: http://three.sentenc.es/ (visit the site to learn more).

10. Schedule non-negotiable time for tasks and reviews. Another implication of Parkinson’s Law is that negotiable tasks always get replaced or rescheduled because “there just isn’t enough time available.” Some tasks, especially longer-term projects and creative work (such as writing), need to be scheduled because the mind tends to favor certain activities. I block out specific times for certain tasks and treat them like a meeting with the President. This is not a new concept but few people do it.

Secondly, I also schedule non-negotiable time for daily reviews (something that is often viewed by many as a B or C priority). This is something that offers significant long-term benefits because without review there is no way to recognize what is working and what is not.  Review sessions allow me to assess process, progress, and ROI. Some questions I ask in reviews (and just about every 10 mins habitually) are:

• Where is the most progress being made?
• Where is the least progress – why?
• How can I automate this? Is there a better way to do this?
• Is the task absolutely necessary?

—

It’s incredible how many opportunities there are to increase our productivity once we demand it of ourselves. And with the right strategies, doing more does not always need to be a compromise between work and fun.

Your thoughts?

Have you used any of these strategies in your own life? How did they work for you? What strategies do you use for productive living?

Stay uncommon,

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you in the comments section below. For new & different content, let's meet here:

Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram