Nicholas Bate

Fifty Ways to Boost Your Productivity

1. Don’t hold stuff in your head.
2. Keep your head clear and use your head for thinking: decisive, critical, imaginative.
3. Use paper/screen for ‘holding’ your list of what needs attention.
4. Our greatest asset is where we place our attention.  Bear in mind we live in an exciting world where our attention is constantly ‘pulled’ to another place. 
5. To be productive is to maintain attention on what is important in the face of continuous distraction.
6. And what needs attention is not just urgent, but what is important and thus often apparently not urgent e.g. health.
7. Thus: ask what is important?
8. Firstly by referencing the compass points of your life….
9. Thus: your business/career
10. Thus: your health
11. Thus: your relationships
12. Thus: your finances
13. Capture these on you attention list.
14. Secondly by stretching your planning horizon…
15. Every day, ask what’s important tomorrow?
16. Every week, ask what’s important next week?
17. Every month, ask what’s important next month?
18. Every quarter, ask what’s important next quarter?
19. Every year, ask what’s important next year?
20. Capture these to on your attention list.
21. And finally anything which is burning and urgent; add these to your list.
22. But the more you do 8 and 14 above…
23. The fewer will be generated by  21.
24. Every end-of-the-working-day review your list and decide what does need attention: create your daily list.
25. Don’t try and do everything.
26. Do the high payoff stuff as measured against your personal goals and work objectives.
27. Still too much to do?
28. A system is weak.
29. E.g. 1 too much time chasing customer problems because it wasn’t done properly first time.
30. E.g. 2 too much splitting of work by multi-tasking: batch your work i.e. group similar activities.
31. E.g. 3 working late so concentration is  poor the next day.
32. Or
33. Ensure you are working ON yourself and investing to make things easier e.g. add these tips into the mix…
34. add one, drop one: if you add to your work-load, get rid of something.
35. the forward view: look ahead and anticipate problems and sort them while they are small.
36. deep time out: ensure you get proper rest and real time without the electrons.
37. open list vs. closed list: understand the difference between your attention list which is open (never completed and for reference) and your daily list which is closed (completed each day).
38. eliminate distractions: your greatest asset is attention.
39. look after your wellness so you remain creative. With creativity comes productivity breakthroughs.
40. break, break and date. Break large tasks into small ones and date-stamp them as to when they need to be done.
41. schedule ahead. Put into the diary any fixed event so that it can be seen in the landscape of planning
42. automate. Learn how to use filters on your e-mail. Automate anything you can.
43. zone. Personal time. Family time. Work can now leak into any time. Create clear zones.
44. use technology not the other way around. You use e-mail to help you not e-mail destroys your life.
45. But never forget: why are you trying to be productive? To get things done? No: anybody can do that. To get the right things done.
46. That’s efficient, getting things done vs. effective. getting the RIGHT things done.
47. If you become too efficient,  you’ll lose the plot.
48. Stay effective.
49. True productivity is simple.
50. It’s not a list of 'things to do', it’s life lived long, wide and deep.

Always more in You, Only Better and Meet Molly.

 

1. Don’t hold stuff in your head.
2. Keep your head clear and use your head for thinking: decisive, critical, imaginative.
3. Use paper/screen for ‘holding’ your list of what needs attention.
4. Our greatest asset is where we place our attention.  Bear in mind we live in an exciting world where our attention is constantly ‘pulled’ to another place. 
5. To be productive is to maintain attention on what is important in the face of continuous distraction.
6. And what needs attention is not just urgent, but what is important and thus often apparently not urgent e.g. health.
7. Thus: ask what is important?
8. Firstly by referencing the compass points of your life….
9. Thus: your business/career
10. Thus: your health
11. Thus: your relationships
12. Thus: your finances
13. Capture these on you attention list.
14. Secondly by stretching your planning horizon…
15. Every day, ask what’s important tomorrow?
16. Every week, ask what’s important next week?
17. Every month, ask what’s important next month?
18. Every quarter, ask what’s important next quarter?
19. Every year, ask what’s important next year?
20. Capture these to on your attention list.
21. And finally anything which is burning and urgent; add these to your list.
22. But the more you do 8 and 14 above…
23. The fewer will be generated by  21.
24. Every end-of-the-working-day review your list and decide what does need attention: create your daily list.
25. Don’t try and do everything.
26. Do the high payoff stuff as measured against your personal goals and work objectives.
27. Still too much to do?
28. A system is weak.
29. E.g. 1 too much time chasing customer problems because it wasn’t done properly first time.
30. E.g. 2 too much splitting of work by multi-tasking: batch your work i.e. group similar activities.
31. E.g. 3 working late so concentration is  poor the next day.
32. Or
33. Ensure you are working ON yourself and investing to make things easier e.g. add these tips into the mix…
34. add one, drop one: if you add to your work-load, get rid of something.
35. the forward view: look ahead and anticipate problems and sort them while they are small.
36. deep time out: ensure you get proper rest and real time without the electrons.
37. open list vs. closed list: understand the difference between your attention list which is open (never completed and for reference) and your daily list which is closed (completed each day).
38. eliminate distractions: your greatest asset is attention.
39. look after your wellness so you remain creative. With creativity comes productivity breakthroughs.
40. break, break and date. Break large tasks into small ones and date-stamp them as to when they need to be done.
41. schedule ahead. Put into the diary any fixed event so that it can be seen in the landscape of planning
42. automate. Learn how to use filters on your e-mail. Automate anything you can.
43. zone. Personal time. Family time. Work can now leak into any time. Create clear zones.
44. use technology not the other way around. You use e-mail to help you not e-mail destroys your life.
45. But never forget: why are you trying to be productive? To get things done? No: anybody can do that. To get the right things done.
46. That’s efficient, getting things done vs. effective. getting the RIGHT things done.
47. If you become too efficient,  you’ll lose the plot.
48. Stay effective.
49. True productivity is simple.
50. It’s not a list of 'things to do', it’s life lived long, wide and deep.

Always more in You, Only Better and Meet Molly.

 

1. Don’t hold stuff in your head.
2. Keep your head clear and use your head for thinking: decisive, critical, imaginative.
3. Use paper/screen for ‘holding’ your list of what needs attention.
4. Our greatest asset is where we place our attention.  Bear in mind we live in an exciting world where our attention is constantly ‘pulled’ to another place. 
5. To be productive is to maintain attention on what is important in the face of continuous distraction.
6. And what needs attention is not just urgent, but what is important and thus often apparently not urgent e.g. health.
7. Thus: ask what is important?
8. Firstly by referencing the compass points of your life….
9. Thus: your business/career
10. Thus: your health
11. Thus: your relationships
12. Thus: your finances
13. Capture these on you attention list.
14. Secondly by stretching your planning horizon…
15. Every day, ask what’s important tomorrow?
16. Every week, ask what’s important next week?
17. Every month, ask what’s important next month?
18. Every quarter, ask what’s important next quarter?
19. Every year, ask what’s important next year?
20. Capture these to on your attention list.
21. And finally anything which is burning and urgent; add these to your list.
22. But the more you do 8 and 14 above…
23. The fewer will be generated by  21.
24. Every end-of-the-working-day review your list and decide what does need attention: create your daily list.
25. Don’t try and do everything.
26. Do the high payoff stuff as measured against your personal goals and work objectives.
27. Still too much to do?
28. A system is weak.
29. E.g. 1 too much time chasing customer problems because it wasn’t done properly first time.
30. E.g. 2 too much splitting of work by multi-tasking: batch your work i.e. group similar activities.
31. E.g. 3 working late so concentration is  poor the next day.
32. Or
33. Ensure you are working ON yourself and investing to make things easier e.g. add these tips into the mix…
34. add one, drop one: if you add to your work-load, get rid of something.
35. the forward view: look ahead and anticipate problems and sort them while they are small.
36. deep time out: ensure you get proper rest and real time without the electrons.
37. open list vs. closed list: understand the difference between your attention list which is open (never completed and for reference) and your daily list which is closed (completed each day).
38. eliminate distractions: your greatest asset is attention.
39. look after your wellness so you remain creative. With creativity comes productivity breakthroughs.
40. break, break and date. Break large tasks into small ones and date-stamp them as to when they need to be done.
41. schedule ahead. Put into the diary any fixed event so that it can be seen in the landscape of planning
42. automate. Learn how to use filters on your e-mail. Automate anything you can.
43. zone. Personal time. Family time. Work can now leak into any time. Create clear zones.
44. use technology not the other way around. You use e-mail to help you not e-mail destroys your life.
45. But never forget: why are you trying to be productive? To get things done? No: anybody can do that. To get the right things done.
46. That’s efficient, getting things done vs. effective. getting the RIGHT things done.
47. If you become too efficient,  you’ll lose the plot.
48. Stay effective.
49. True productivity is simple.
50. It’s not a list of 'things to do', it’s life lived long, wide and deep.

Always more in You, Only Better and Meet Molly.