5 Steps to Being More Productive in 2010

As many of us are finding out, “OMG, ten days have gone by in the new year, and I’m already behind.” Before we hit the panic button, a lot of good folks out there have put out specific, simple and actionable lists of how we can be more productive in this new year. So here is our synthesis of the best that is out there.

1. Plan your day the night before Mom was right – we should get ready the night before. Yep, it is tough to make this a habit but it is time tested and works. Now is as good a time to get started. Draw up your to-do list for the day the night before and you will be already ahead. The list will give you a clear idea of what the next day will look like and you can be prepared for it.
2. Attend to the most important task first As Brian Tracy, author and inspirational speaker puts it “Eat That Frog.” Starting off your day by tackling and completing the most important, and often hardest, task in your to-do list, can work wonders. You stay motivated for the rest of the day and what remains to be done seems so much easier.
3. Check your email late in the morning Attending to your email the first thing in the morning is probably the biggest time waster in the modern  era. The trick is to postpone this task to a later part in the morning so that the most important task in your to-do list gets its due attention. It is also well worth limiting the frequency at which you check your email, so that your day is not chopped up into short unproductive bits between email sessions.
4. Bookmark sites that you want to revisit Scheduling a time slot for every activity is one smart way to improve productivity. In the course of working your to-dos or on specific projects, when you come across an interesting site, bookmark it, rather than be distracted by exploring it. Set aside a fixed time slot to do your internet browsing without an agenda and explore these bookmarks. Such bookmarking can also save you a lot of time in finding the right content when you actually need it.
5. Reduce the time you spend on social media Technology that allows us to stay in touch with our friends easily also makes it addictive. We can find it difficult to get out of chat sessions and status updates that seem to run all day. This year, measure and schedule the time you spend on social media and try to restrict your time spent on it during the work day.

Hope these tips from blog posts by Stephani Davis and Productivity 501 and others such as Zen Habits will help you plan for higher productivity in 2010.

Tags: productivity