What makes a productive person? What do they do, what habits do they follow?
The common notion of productivity is the ability to get a lot done in a short span of time. While it is true, it is not complete. True productivity is the ability to create high impact results in a short amount of time. This is the kind of productivity that matters, not busy work that creates no impact in the long term. For example, it’s better to send out one email that may double your sales, than reply to 100 emails that make no difference to your business.
As someone obsessed with productivity, I have identified 8 habits of highly productive people. These habits help me get the best out of my day. If you follow just one or two of these habits, you will see your productivity soar. :)
Habit #1: Remove the unimportant (and Focus on the important)
Before you start your work day,
- Write down what you are going to do.
- Identify the most important tasks, and rank them by importance.
- Ask yourself: “Are these the best use of my time? Do they bring me closer to my goals?”
You want to work on the most important things for the day. For the non-important tasks, push them to a later date or take them off the list. Learning to say no is very important here.
Many people tend to wrongly classify regular tasks as high-impact-tasks. The Time Management Matrix is a great tool to classify your tasks. Focus on Quadrant 2 tasks, which are tasks that contribute to your long-term goals such as having good health, building meaningful relationships, and pursuing your ideal career. Read more: Put First Things First
Habit #2: Work on the 80/20
Habit #2 is about being effective first, before being efficient.
Effective means being strategic in how you approach your goals by focusing on the biggest impact actions. Efficient means doing your tasks quickly and accurately.
While there are many things you can do to pursue your goal, focus your energy on the few tasks that create the biggest impact. By the 80/20 Principle, 20% of tasks create 80% of results in a goal. The other 80% of tasks create only 20% of the results. Being effective is about focusing on the 20% key tasks to create maximum results.
The difference between Habits #1 and #2 is that with Habit #1, you focus on tasks that lead you to your important goals. With Habit #2, you further strategize by identifying the methods that help you achieve your goals in the fastest way. This helps you get the most out of your time.
Read more: The 80/20 Principle: How To Achieve More With Less In Life
Habit #3: Take breaks
No matter how much you work, there are areas in your life that work can’t fulfill, such as social needs, love, and rest. Be sure to take breaks. You can take regular short breaks throughout the day, such as looking out of the window for 5 minutes every hour, going to the washroom to freshen up, or meditating for 5 minutes when you are tired. Take vacation breaks every once in a while. For example, a weekend trip every few months, or just time out from your usual routine. Doing so helps you maintain focus, take stock, and sharpen the saw.
Habit #4: Remove distractions
In our deeply networked world today, we face distractions everywhere. It’s easy to visit our social profiles when we lose focus. But each click wastes 10-15 minutes of our time. When we enter Facebook’s walled garden, we are sucked into the world of endless notifications and updates. When we go to YouTube, we are dowsed with tons of videos we “might be interested in.”
Such distractions add up, so do a productivity audit. Start your day, then track whenever you get sidetracked. What distracts you? How much time do you spend on each distraction? In total, how much time is wasted?
When I did this audit, I realized that Facebook sucked up a lot of my time. While I would use Facebook groups to look for a piece of information for my work, Facebook’s overall design is created to lock you in, so you find yourself sucked into its little walled garden. It also creates an addictive cycle because you are “rewarded” with a small sense of gratification each time you answer a message, not unlike pulling the slots of the casino slots machine. After realizing this, I stopped using Facebook, only logging in once in a while to get some information, then logging out right after.
What’s distracting you? How can you remove it? Note that using old or slow tools can be distracting as you combat technical difficulties. Upgrade your tools if they are slowing you down.
Habit #5: Set a timeline
Even though I enjoy the process of doing something without a deadline, there are certain tasks where it’s good to set a timeline. This is especially so for big goals, because you can end up working on them for ages. A timeline helps you stay focused and prioritize. It also helps you keep the end in sight.
The goal here isn’t perfection. The goal here is to get something out so that you can get something done and improve on it.
What do you want to finish by this month? Set your targets. Break down your goals for the month into weekly tasks, then daily tasks. Use this task list to guide your daily activity. This will help you make the best out of your days.
Habit #6: Be in a flow environment
In my course on overcoming procrastination, I teach my participants the importance of creating your flow environment. A flow environment is an environment that inspires you and helps you achieve peak productivity.
For example, I recently revamped my workroom and it has greatly improved my productivity. Even though my new workroom is small (maybe 4-5 square meters), it has everything I need. All my filming equipment is set up so I can film videos whenever I want to. I have a laptop stand which improves my posture. I have a nice view outside my window which inspires me. And I have decorated the room with different colored ornaments which keep it vibrant.
Even though it may not seem like it, your environment plays a big role in your productive output. A question to you: Does your work environment inspire you? Does it help you stay productive? If not, what changes can you make to stay productive?
Watch:
- My Workroom Tour + Create Your Inspirational Workspace! [Video]
- Use Your Environment To Achieve Your Goals
Habit #7: Use time pockets
Time pockets are the pockets of time you have in between activities. You usually get time pockets when waiting for people, commuting, queuing, or waiting for the next event to happen.
Even though I work from home, I still commute a fair bit, say when meeting friends, attending events, and giving workshops. Rather than let the time go to waste, I use these time pockets for work. I type articles on the go. I bring a notebook to jot down ideas. If I’m walking or queuing, I listen to informational podcasts. Sometimes I meditate to clear my mind.
Amazingly, I’m highly productive during these time pockets. Because there’s nothing else I can do during these 15, 30, 45 minutes, I can fully concentrate on what I’m doing. When I was in college, I would do my homework while waiting for the professor to show up. Doing so helped me complete a lot of work, and I usually had no homework after school.
Look at your schedule. What are your time pockets, and how can you maximize them? Have ready things to do during these pockets, such as listening to podcasts, reading books, and planning. You will be amazed at how much can be done in a short amount of time!
Habit #8: Automate
With technology, it’s possible to automate a lot of things. Even when it’s impossible to fully automate the task, we can still automate part of it.
Some things I automate:
- Email. I have email filters to file my emails into specific folders. That way, my job is to read emails and respond to mail, not sort. Read: How To Manage Your Emails Effectively and 3 Tips To Achieve Inbox Zero Using Email Filters [Video]
- 1-1 Coaching. My 1-1 coaching calls are automated, in that clients book appointments on my 1-1 coaching page, make payment, and the appointments are added to my work calendar. I get a notification and work on preparing for the call, rather than the administrative hassle like figuring out time zone, arranging for a time, etc.
- Social media. Whenever I have a new blog post, it is automatically posted on my social media profiles.
- Product sales. My product sales are automated. Whenever someone makes a purchase, my payment vendor will automatically generate an invoice, generate a download link, and send a confirmation email to the buyer. The payment is automatically sent to my account.
- Bill payment. All my bill payments are automated, from insurance to phone bills to taxes to cleaning fees.
What are the things you do regularly? Can you automate them instead? For example:
- Organizing your mail
- Deleting spam
- Paying bills
- Paying taxes
- Scheduling appointments
- Any repetitive, low-level task
When you automate recurring tasks, you can use your time for the most important things.
Get the manifesto version of this article: 8 Habits of Highly Productive People [Manifesto]
Read as well:
![Room Tour + Create Your Inspirational Workspace [Video]](https://personalexcellence.co/files/video-inspirational-workspace-400x267.jpg)
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Nice.. :) ….Thanks ;)
great tips
I know this post is 100% focused in productivity, but some ot these tips, when applied and practised, may make you work like a robot.
Distractions are somewhat acceptable, as far as you keep track of them, and know when you may or may not be ‘allowed’ to be distracted.
I’m not a machine, I like to be 100% reachable, and I have enough self control to not attend to any kind of call/invitation when It’s not suitable.
Regardless of some disagreements of mine, I’ve find this to be a great post!
Nice article!!! I just love it!!! Congratulations. This will help me a lot…
Great article! EXACTLY what I need in my life right now…
~Jazz
Your second point about taking breaks is paramount for me. I work from home and will sit at the computer upwards of 16 straight hours sometimes. I found that I’d get mentally distracted and thus would spend long periods not producing anything. Once I started scheduling breaks I notice I get things done, plus I try to set aside time in the evening so I can watch TV or a movie without guilt.
That’s great Mitch! Your statement about being distracted and spending long periods not producing anything sounds like what I was experiencing before. Slotting in breaks has really been a very helpful action for me.
“8 Habits of Highly Productive Machines”… to follow this list is to give up being human. No thanks.
Great article. Time pockets are one of the best things you can do. Making sure to take breaks along the way.
Thanks JD!
Hi Celes, I just managed to read this last night before going to bed. A great article as always!
I actually do a lot of this already. Sometimes when I’m working on something I will switch my phone of. One time not so long ago, I left it turned off for 4 days.
Time pockets, a great idea there too! Normally I use that time to check Facebook etc. Although a lot of the time I leave my phone at home and just take a camera. Which kind of forces me to be creative. Either take a few photos or shoot some video that I can use at a later date.
With the productivity pit stops, I actually have a program running on my computer called IM lock. I set it to block all my internet browser at set times of the day. Although it’s off at the moment, as I needed to post my 30DLBL update.
Anyway, this is something I’ll definitely be referring back to. Hopefully it will be included in the updated Personal Excellence ebook? :)
Hey Glenn! Yes it surely will be :D I’m trying to squeeze in a few high content/value articles on the blog (this article included) before I release PEBook v2 toward the end of the year. That’ll be a nice wrap up for the year and as a second anniversary event (Personal Excellence was launched on Dec 14) :D
On top of the release of PEBook v2, I’m planning for something exciting for the second anniversary which I’m sharing in a few days’ time. Stay tuned :dance:
Great post! Thx for sharing…I especially like # 8. What email management tool do you use?
Hi Jackie, thanks! I use gmail and it’s great! I wrote more about it here: https://personalexcellence.co/blog/email-management/
Great post. Just the thing I needed! Thanks again.
What uuuuuup Celes?
I just came across your blog, and im so glad I did. What a great post.
I found the Create Barriers to Entry tip very useful, The only thing is, I feel very strongly about interaction and engaging with my audience, and I fear that If I distance myself by establishing gates I will lose touch with this personal interaction and it will become apparent to my audience.
Have you found this to be the case?
bLAZE yOUR tRAIL
Ryan
Hey Ryan! I think it’s about setting in place the appropriate channels for audience interaction. I believe a lot in engagement too, and I do that via the activities in the blog, the comments section, and Twitter/FB. Many of my readers know they can reach me easily via Twitter @ replies and FB wall posts/comment replies. If you are clear on which channels to use for interaction and you stick to them, that’ll be easy for you to both manage engagement aspect while protecting your workspace.
Great post, although by its own virtue it became a bit of a distraction to me this afternoon :). Jokes aside, let me make a shameless plug closely related to your first point. I collaborate in the development of Priority Matrix , a tool for the iPad/iPhone/Mac that lets you organize your tasks following the 4 quadrant method also known as the Eisenhower method. We think it’s a pretty neat tool, and it’s been useful for us personally, as well as quite a few high profile executives that have contacted us with feedback.
Great tips, Celes!
Setting a time limit is an excellent idea and I am reminded of the principle of “timeboxing”.
For example, “I will spend 20 minutes processing my email each day”. I use a “red disk timer”
application from this company http://www.timetimer.com/products/software.php
An egg timer (inspired by the Pomodoro technique) could also be used here.
Hi Celes,
Congrats on your successful launch o 30 DLBL!
There is another key to productivity and it is execution. When I find that I am procrastinating in taking action, I just set a timer for 10 minutes and get to work. It helps me to start moving. The momentum then helps me to get more things done (I usually end up doing more than 10 minutes).
Cheers,
Vincent
Great tips, especially for self-employed persons !
I would add a ninth tip : read your post every week during 4 weeks to check the progress !
I’m so grateful I found your blog today. This is an area of my life that I struggle with constantly. I’m an MBA student, and am working on a team to complete a business plan over the holiday break. I find that in general I’m always chasing the next “bright shiny cutting edge piece of information”, and not getting the really important things done in a timely manner the way I would like. The way you describe Habit 1 gave me insight I haven’t previously received when reading about time management systems and/or tips. I found that to be true throughout the entire article. Thanks so much! I’m off to work now!
Highly agree with your post. It’s over 400 thousands word article, thanks for your hardwork Celes. :D
Highly agree especially on the last 2, which is set timeline, and also automate everything possible.
Wasting time is always my weakness, especially always get distract by other things easily, and workload keep dragging.
Keep improving, keep it up. :D
*4000 words, sorry. Typo Error. ;)
Last time I tried to be productive, I got depressed after a month :rolleyes:
I like it… as my classmates call me efficiency machine :)))) Habit #4 is exactly about me… I even wrote a poem about Operations Management :-)
Like a lot of people who have already commented, taking breaks is huge. It’s important to go easy on yourself, even when trying to be uber-productive. Once you get to a point where you are pushing yourself too hard, like you said, your productivity takes a nosedive.
I also like that you don’t eliminate the “always-connected” atmosphere, but you encourage people to use it wisely – control it instead of it controlling you. That’s an important distinction to make. Like it!
Have you looked into Islam as a way of Life? It is specifically meant for people like you…who want to be productive and not waste a single moment of their lives…may God guide you to His way. Amen
By the Time. Verily man is in loss. Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to truth and recommend one another to patience. Quran, 103:1-3
Yes ISLAM does offer a great lifestyle to live by, and it surely will guide you to peace and contentment and productivity.
ALL THINGS DEPENDS ON TAKING ACTION !
Thank you celes for those tips..
Quite an interesting, usefully thought provoking extract of
the essence of life, to fit into every context, not necessarily confined to
accomplishing productivity in material terms overbearing / overbalancing the
minds of we, the modern sapiens. Worth sharing amongst and imbibing by at least
those limited few around aspiring to make a mark as a leader in any field of
human activity.
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