I see it all the time and everywhere, especially from many of you who are just starting out to make money online, whatever form it is. People complaining that they don´t have time to do things and stuff like that.

So, I felt I had to make this post for you with my top 10 productivity tips that I am sure you can find great value in.

Don´t wait until the new year starts with your new routines, start today instead and you will have a head start into the comming year!

Be Super Productive

I understand if you cannot implement all 10 of them in your life, Everything is not for everyone and we all have different situations to adjust to… but you should at least be able to find at least 1 or a couple that you can get started with right away to skyrock your productivity.

Ok, here we go with the top 10 productivity list!

Tip 1 – The 4 Hour Rule

Everyday you should focus 4 hours on ONE thing. The thing you choose should be the one that is most important one for you.

Maybe your day don´t allow that much time and you cannot do this for 4 hours, maybe you can only do it for 2 hours or 1 hour? Then do it for the amount you can, but what is important here is that you should not let anything distract you, just focus on that one thing.

This tip alone will SKYROCK your result IMMEDIATELY.

(I got this tip from the book: The ONE Thing.)

Tip 2 – Create A List

Have a list for what you should do EVERY DAY. (This is SUPER IMPORTANT)

You need a list with “to do” tasks for every day, atcually you need one for the whole year, every month, every week and so on but that´s another story.

Important to mention here: You are not gonna finnish every single thing on your list each and everyday… it will just NOT happen, trust me… But don´t feel bad about this, it is normal, we Always over estimate what we can get done in one day. I do it all the time…

What you want to do is putting a star (or some other mark) besides the absolute most important task that day and start out with that one and DO NOT stop until you have knocked it out! Everything else that you accomplish on the list is just the “Cherry on top” and should be seen as a bonus.

Consider your day successful if you have done that one most important thing.

Do not think about that you can get A LOT thing done in one day, Think more of that you can get A LOT of things done in 1 year. We typically overestimate the stuff we can get done in one day but we also tend to underestimate how much we can get done in 1 year.

Tip 3 – Always Pay To Save Time

ALWAYS pay (if you can) to save time! This tip you will hear from all successful business people who are highly successful. Always pay if you can.

It will save you significant amount of time, even if it is (for example) only 30minutes per day you save, put that amount of time together for a week and you have saved 3,5 hours. One month is 14 hours, one year is 168 hours. Time that can be spent on other more important things.

Money you can always get back (make again) but time is LOST FOREVER.

Tip 4 – DO NOT Multitask!

Are you one of those who got 8 windows up at the same time on your computer screen? Me to am guilty to this sometimes and it is CRAZY wrong.

It absolutely kills productivity and it has been proven in many studies that multitasking is very bad for productivity, some studies even claims it shrinks your brain and completely destroy your ability to focus correctly.

Stop doing multi tasking! It is a myth!

Tip 5 – Turn Off Your Phone!

This is one of my favourite methods for getting things done, not my surroundings though 🙂 Your phone is a HUGE distraction! Everytime you get a message, a notification, a call, a social media event, etc, etc your brain gets distracted and it absolutely KILLS your focus and productivity.

The ones Close to me knows that I never answer the phone, they have learned now that the best way to get in contact with me is by texting me, I call back when I have time… and IF I want 🙂 I suggest you try the same technique, IF you can of course. I understand if not everyone can do this, you might have to be available for phone calls during the day for different reasons.

However, if you can, turn it off during the day and put it back on at the evening (or when you are done with your tasks).

Tip 6 – Talk Instead Of Write

I use a special software that turns what I speak into text on the computer screen, this post is actually not “writen” it is me speaking into a microphone and the software is converting my talk into text. It works very good.

This is a way to save time and something you should consider, especially if you talk faster than you type. If you type faster than you talk then don´t bother.

Very useful tool if you do a lot of Writing!

If you want to check out the software you can do that here

Tip 7 – Always Start With What You Hate

On your everyday (to do) list always start with the thing you hate the most. For example, if cleaning is something you hate start with that. If working out is on your list (and what you hate most) start with that.

Why? Because then it is out of the way for the rest of the day, if you save those things to last you will never do them.

Tip 8 – Take Breaks

If you are going to focus on a task for let´s say 4 hours in a row you will (most likely) benefit from a couple of breaks. Keep them short though.

For example, one technique I use is that I set the alarm on a 5 minute break every 30 minutes, this will help you to keep better focus and will also be benefitial if you need to go and take a piss on the toilet for example 🙂

The best benefit from this is probably that your focus mode will get stronger by these small breaks. I got this advice from the book: Deep Work

Tip 9 – No Meetings

Do not attend meetings, especially not the ones that are about planing or throwing around ideas. They are a BIG waste of time (at least in my opinion).

If I attend meetings I always make sure they are only about execution and how to get stuff done.

If you absolutely have to attend a meeting make sure that you know the start time and END time.

Make the one who holds the meeting know that you have to leave at a certain time so ask for them to make an agenda of their points in for example 30 minutes.

Tip 10 – Fuck Motivation!

You have to understand that motivation is something that come and go.

It can be the factor that get you started but keep in mind that it will not last. Something that will last is disipline, the good thing is that if you ain´t got it you can learn it pretty fast.

What you need is disipline…

If you got disipline: You do things when you are supposed to do them when they are supposed to get done, wheter you feel like doing them or not.

I wish you success in whatever you do!

John

Owner of: Start Make Stop Waste

[Video credit: Elliot Hulse]