Best practices for productivity/time management?

Anonymous

July 24th, 2015

I’m always looking for ways to be more productive/save time. I saw there were a few discussions about specific types of productivity hacks (email, physical products, etc.), but nothing in terms of overall productivity improvements for daily time management. What have you all learned about being more productive on a daily basis? What tools (apps, software, processes, etc.) have helped you the most? Might be helpful to hear about certain processes you go through, as well.

Mike Muhney CEO & Co-Founder VIPorbit Software & Vipor (also Co-Founder & Co-Inventor of ACT!)

July 24th, 2015

Hi Natalie. There are two parts of what you'll need. One is pretty easy, the other the more crucial. The easy part is selecting an app that enables you to manage all of your relationships in both your business and personal lives (people can be and often are in both practically speaking) that also acts as your activity manager overall in one solution. The harder part is whatever you do decide the more crucial part is your attitude and commitment towards establishing new habits and methods to optimally use the app tool itself. Disclosure - my career has been spent developing these types of tools, first with ACT! and now with Vipor for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Rahul D'Silva Writer • Consultant • Advisor • Fulbright Fellow, Ireland • TCD + Swarthmore alum

July 24th, 2015

I find it helps to make a list of things to prioritize for each day (top 3-4 areas) which can be done by yourself or brainstorming with friend/mentor. Then break down by time, and actually create a schedule in the calendar. It's not always easy to stick to it while in the office or meetings changing schedule, etc. But the more you can do it, the more you are forced to focus on the important things and leave the other things (checking out a new app, reading articles, clearing inbox) to later in the day. In my case, I start my mornings at 6:30am with 1hr meditation/yoga/exercise, breakfast, 2 hrs of writing, and 2 hrs of work on

Rosalind Nelson Maui BnB I Founding Broker real estate malibu PARTNERS 35 yrs I Hospitality I Bed & Breakfast I 18,600+ connections

July 24th, 2015

Distractions are the worst waste of time - ignore them, stay focussed and you will complete your tasks much faster. Ever question why an attorney will charge you 20 minutes when you call to make an appointment? It's because you have distracted him/her from their thought process.

The 80/20 rule is a definitive, proven, concept. Therefore, when faced with 500 or a 1,000 emails daily - scan through them quickly to see what is going to produce money RIGHT NOW - respond to these and leave the rest until you have time to wend your way through.

L. Marshall-Smith

July 24th, 2015

There is also the Pomodoro method. You set a timer to 25 minute slots. And you assign tasks to those time periods. When the timer goes off, you take break, like maybe 5 minutes. Get up. Stretch your legs. Make a cup of coffee or tea, etc. After you've completed four pomotoros, you get a 15 to 20 minute break. You return to the task with a fresh perspective that enables you to get tasks completed more efficiently. I know many top level entrepreneurs in the Silicon Beach area who swear by Pomodoro. Here's what Wikipedia says about this time management method: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique The official website: pomodorotechnique.com

Matthew Mellor EVP of Innovation at Zelis Healthcare

July 24th, 2015

My key is eliminating distractions. I refer to it as 'intentional ignorance'--tuning out those things that MIGHT impact your business so you can focus on those things are WILL impact your business. Being able to focus on one task at a time is a lost art--and increasingly difficult. Block off your calendar for work time. Shut off all alerts on your phone except for incoming calls. Politely explain that you are no longer going to participate in any form of instant messaging. Part of reigning in your productivity is to eliminate opportunities for other people to dictate your priorities. When you get an instant message, it might as well be prefaced with "I have no idea what you're working on right now, but my needs are more important than yours."

Rich Goidel Business strategist, group facilitator, agile practitioner and corporate muse

July 26th, 2015

You might have a go at David Allen's GTD system ("Getting Things Done"). This is a serious practice that you can apply to your entire life. It's not software, but has been embodied by a few different apps (OmniFocus being the biggest).

Read the book first, then figure out how you might apply it with tech.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WH7PKY

John Seiffer Business Advisor to growing companies

July 24th, 2015

The best I know of is the Parteo principle - also called the 80/20 rule. It's the idea that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your activities. The actual numbers, of course are wrong, but you get the idea. So stop doing everything but those activities that are most productive, profitable or fun.

Maria Alejandra di Fonzo Social and Digital Marketing Professional

May 17th, 2017

Hope you find this article useful: https://www.tonyrobbins.com/importance-time-management/time-management-tips/

Ryan Conway Digital Strategist

July 24th, 2015

Hi Natalie, while I can't comment on specific apps or software, although I'd love to hear about what people are using, I have recently starting practicing the art of time-blocking.

Every night before I go to bed I schedule out my day. Hour by hour and try to stick to it. I haven't gotten it to work 100% the way I'd like yet, but I have noticed that I have been getting more done than I have before.

Peter Voogd, Jay Papasan, Cal Newport and many others swear by it.

Patty DeDominic Chief Catalyst, Managing Partner at DeDominic & Associates (Also Chief Catalyst for Maui Mastermind and Exec Coach)

July 25th, 2015

Somehow it became popular to become "BUSY-Slammed", overbooked. This is not sustainable and makes for a rotten family life. You can learn to get more done, doing fewer, better things. Maui Mastermind community for business owners has a special course on Time Mastery. You can get tools to help you and if you private message me I can sent you a time value matrix. Use Big Rocks and Covey 7 Habits to help you. Focus and leveraging your genius zones is a key to getting the most important but not everything done. 50% of your results will come from less than 5% of your actions. so using time mastery techniques also outlines in the book SCALE you can cut out 70% of your activities. Tim Ferris sounded crazy when he introduced the 4 hour work week..... but the reality is that you probably do accomplish more from your golden 8 hours each week than your 50 hour work weeks. I wrote a blog post at www.mauimastermind.com on Time Mastery

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