There are a lot of productivity resources and there are tons of productivity tips. But what is the best productivity tip? If we must choose only one productivity tip, what would that be?
Of course, there is no single answer to this question. Different people have different perspectives, so they may have different answers which are equally valid. In fact, it’s this diversity that makes me interested to ask this question to you. While I can see from only one perspective, together we can see from multiple perspectives. That will enrich us all.
I spent some time to think about this question. The first answers I came up with didn’t feel right; somehow I felt that there was something missing there. Eventually, I found something I feel good about.
Here is my best productivity tip: follow your heart.
There are three reasons why I think follow your heart is the best productivity tip:
- To be productive, first of all we must do the right things. It won’t do you any good if you produce a lot of results only to find later that you have done the wrong things. Following your heart helps you find what matters to you. You can then be sure that whatever you do, you are doing the right things.
- If you follow your heart, you will feel good about yourself and enjoy the process. You will be willing to learn more and work harder since this is something that matters to you. At the end, you will produce more.
- Following your heart helps you overcome difficult times. You will have a burning fire within that help you go through them.
That is my answer. As I said above, different people have different perspectives. So I would like to ask you: what is your best productivity tip?
I like “follow your heart,” as advice for a life well lived. It is hard to imagine dedicating ones productivity to a worthless cause.
As a “tip” for making one day more productive than the next, I only have one. Create block time. Find a way to carve out at least less four hours with no phones, co-workers, no interruptions of any kind.
Four hours alone, with only one purpose, allows the ability to think, and from thought to create. Four hours also places the responsibility where it belongs, on me. When I realize that I am devoting a half day to a purpose, and I have no excuse, and no way to claim to have been working unless I produce something, then I buckle down.
The time, the thought, the responsibility- those work for me and on me.
Yes, ´Follow your heart´, that actually might be it.
Atleast it is something that can make me work in an inspiring way fully motivated to get things done. Recently I actually have been inspired to created 6 new Blogspots!!
For a few of them I already found ´Daily Items´ to make it especially interesting for my visitors to have a look at them frequently. Because those ´Daily Items´ are ´streamed´ on it by ´third parties´ it even is interesting for myself to see what´s on them Besides the frequent posts I put on them!
Also one motto that I have heared of is ´Focus on completion, instead of perfection´. Believe me if you have a zillion spelling errors people will tell you! Than you simply make little adjustments towards perfection anyway! It goes without saying that you have to have a certain ballance there, I am only saying that if you get stuck on perfection you might not be able to actually ´DO´ anything.
An interesting ebook about productivity that I like is titled ´Diary Profits´ by Michael Green and Pet Twist. They talk about several interesting ´Planning Tips´ like for example determining a realistic ´Time Scale´, in other words ´simply determine how much time a certain task could take´.
Can be very handy especially if, like me, you are inclined to cram a zillion tasks into a minute. Than I can easily can get frustrated hurting my motivation. Than it can be very useful to first realistically think ´O.K. this taskt takes atleast ….. minutes´ so for now I only focus on tasks A and B than I probably need about …. minutes to complete tasks C and D etc. etc.
Also working with an ´accountability partner´ somebody that can give you feedback can be very helpful. Talking about ´Feedback´, how do you like my 6 new ´Blogspots?´ 🙂
Feel free to give your comments.
All the Best,
HP
Bodies in motion is not necessarily progress. Productivity needs to be productive and I have found that having a game plan helps everything I do. Some are elaborate and some are simple but knowing where I am going is very important.
“Follow your heart”…rather like a personal mission statement, eh? But it is more than just “heart” for me. My drive toward my own mission involves mind and emotion and imagination. But yes, starting with a “mission” is the foundation of direction, which should help lead to productivity.
For myself, I have found my greatest productivity tip is to focus on doing only one or two projects at a time. Otherwise, I can go too many directions all at once, lol. I have found I need to record ideas, so that they won’t be lost, but I must also remember to keep on track with the current project.
Thanks for the tips everyone! I love to learn from all of you.
David,
Excellent tip, I love it. Creating block time seems to be the best tip to make our day productive.
HP,
Interesting thoughts. Planning, having accountability partners, yes, they can all increase our productivity.
Robert,
I agree with you. Just being active doesn’t mean we are productive, and game plan can help us ensure that we are indeed productive.
Beth,
Sometimes I’m guilty of going to too many directions myself 🙂 As you said, focus is what we need to stay on track.
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