Break often but briefly

Breaking often to get more done may seem counterintuitive. I mean, who would think that that taking additional breaks would help you be more productive? Especially when you’re so busy as it is, and your to-do list is packed with things that must get done.

But hear me out. Because even if you pride yourself in your work ethic and your ability to concentrate for prolonged periods, your brain, your mind and your to-do list will thank me.

There are many reasons that we should be taking regular work breaks. Here are some of them.

Quit Repeating Yourself!

One of the biggest time wasters occurs when we repeat work that can be easily automated or duplicated (think: copy and paste.) This is true in every industry and position. Amongst coders, work repetition was so prevalent that it inspired the creation of the “Don’t Repeat Yourself” technique (or DRY Principle,) which discouraged the recreation of reusable code. While DRY, was made famous by coders, it is easily applicable to non-programmers as well.

Many of the things that we do often – such as replying to emails, crafting correspondences, writing articles, briefs, or proposals – unnecessarily take up large chunks of our day. At its core, DRY is about saving time by reusing work that’s already been done and materials that’ve already been prepared so that you don’t have to continually repeat the same work time and again.

Focus on excellence, not perfection

As a teacher and, later, in my role of school administrator, I was often concerned with all my materials being “just right.” My worksheets needed to not only properly engage students in the content, but they had to be visually pleasing and properly formatted.

As head of school, I would carefully edit each newsletter and the student handbook, among other things. If my name was on it, it needed to be “perfect.” Of course, this approach took much of my time and limited my effectiveness in other ways.

Say "no" to unimportant meetings

So often, we get excited about a new process but lack the tools, commitment and/or mindset to see it to completion and long-term integration. This is particularly true when there are multiple elements to it and a number of people involved.

Just because we decided to become more productive and took initial action toward that end does not guarantee long-term success or maximal productivity.

The goal of this fourth step is to empower you to keep going in the face of expected setbacks and maintain the requisite level of well-being required for succeeding over the long haul.

4:30 am on a Sunday?

My alarm was set for 4:30 am yesterday.

Trust me, it was tough to get up early.

My entire family is on vacation and is sleeping in.

Most people in general get up later on Sundays.

But, after listening to James Clear and Atomic Habits, I was again reminded of the importance of daily rituals, daily disciplines, and consistency.

Why high energy levels start with your first meal

All our talk about productivity assumes that you ensure there to be enough energy in the tank needed to get all your stuff done. After all, you can only do as much as your energy levels permit. Sure, you can trick your system for a bit with caffeine and other stimulants, but that approach is neither healthy nor sustainable.

The strategies that I share to help you maintain high energy levels throughout the day will come as little surprise. We all know that what we eat and how we care for our bodies are central to being able to engage in our work at consistently high levels. Yet so many of us fail to practice what we know, which results in low energy and a sense of underperformance.

How to productively knock out those 2-minute tasks

Blocking out time on our calendar is great for diving deep into specific tasks. But you might be thinking, what about the many tasks on our plates each day? You know, the ones that require but a few minutes, that you can knock out in around two minutes? What should we do then?

Author and productivity consultant David Allen is famous for his “2-minute rule.” The rule is: "If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now." The reason for this is simple. For many of these tasks, like replying to an email or calling someone back, the effort needed to keep remembering them, or even to write them down in a way that you’ll actually remember later, exceeds just getting them out of the way.

Quit Repeating Yourself!

You’ll often hear productivity experts (this author included) preach the need to “work smarter, not harder.” But what does that mean, in practical terms?

Computer programmers have an answer with a concept they use to write more efficient code: Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY). In software engineering, DRY is the principle of reducing repetition in the code, referring to a single source—or "snippet"—of reusable code whenever you need it.

While the Don’t Repeat Yourself technique (or DRY Principle) was made famous by coders, it is easily applicable to non-programmers alike.

To conquer your day, wake up early

When I was growing up, there was one advertisement that would consistently grab your attention. In it, U.S. Army personnel were up super early, engaged in all sorts of high-energy training and action tasks. The tagline was, “we do more by 9 AM than most people do all day.”

While I never joined the Armed Forces, intuitively my little brain knew that they were on to something.

That’s because if you want to get more done, you need to start your day early.

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