Do More!

More effort!

Put in the hours!

Be more committed!

And we wonder why we finish the day exhausted but still haven't made progress on what's important.

We can easily lose two to three hours every day to distractions. Our work is full of interruptions competing for attention yet our inability to complete things makes us think we’re inefficient or even lazy.

Sometimes, all you need to change is your habits.

So I’ve come up with a quick 10 rules for productivity that can gradually give you time back without adding more hours to your week.

1. Working in Focused Sprints Improves Concentration

Working in focused sprints helps you concentrate on one task at a time rather than constantly switching between activities. If you haven’t already, check-out the Pomodoro technique. It’sa simple way to stay focused without working for long stretches.

• Choose one task.

• Work on it for 25 minutes without distractions.

• Take a 5-minute break.

• Repeat, and after four rounds, take a longer break of around 15–30 minutes.

It’s particularly handy when you’re procrastinating or have a task that feels a bit too big. The 25-minute commitment makes it feel more manageable.

Setting aside a dedicated block of focused time allows your brain to stay engaged with a task long enough to make meaningful progress. Even a 30-minute sprint can often achieve more than two hours of stop-start work.

The goal isn't working longer It's working with fewer distractions.

2. Shorter Deadlines Encourage Faster Action

The amount of time available often determines how long a task takes.

If you allow three days for a task that could be completed in three hours, chances are it will expand to fill the available time. Shorter deadlines encourage faster decisions, less overthinking and more momentum.

3. A Shorter To-Do List Creates Clarity

A long to-do list can be daunting. If you have a long list of 15 – 20 things to do and come lunch time you’ve barely made a dent, you lose motivation. It’s like standing at the base of a mountain looking at how far you still have to climb. Research shows that if we set small goals and achieve them quickly, we are far more motivated and therefor far more productive. A successful leader taught me many years ago to pick 3 -5 goals each morning. The reality is, your not likely to achieve any more than that. But hey; if you knock them off by lunch time; Go You! Pick another 3.

It’s hard to prioritise when every task feels urgent. Reducing your list forces tough decisions about what's important and what can wait. Three meaningful priorities achieved today are often more valuable than fifteen half-finished tasks.

4. Tackling the Hardest Task First Builds Momentum

Most of us know exactly which task we're avoiding. The difficult conversation. The report. The proposal.

The decision. Unfortunately, avoiding it doesn't make it disappear, it just hangs over us, taking mental energy throughout the day.

Completing the hardest task early creates relief, momentum and confidence for everything that comes afterwards. Brian Tracey wrote a whole book on this called “Eat That Frog”. The book is about overcoming procrastination by tackling your most important, difficult task first, rather than spending your time on easier, less valuable things. The “frog” is the task you’re most tempted to put off.

The title comes from a saying commonly attributed to Mark Twain: if you have to eat a live frog, do it first thing in the morning, and if you have to eat two, eat the biggest one first. The attribution to Twain is probably apocryphal, but Tracy uses the image as a memorable metaphor.

In short: identify what’s important, do the hardest high-value task first, then move on to the rest.

5. Templates Save Time and Mental Energy

Many people waste valuable energy recreating tasks they've completed dozens of times before. Templates remove unnecessary mental energy and unnecessary decisions.

They can be used for:

• Emails

• Meeting agendas

• Reports

• Project updates

• Proposals

Every template saves time. More importantly, it saves mental energy for work that genuinely requires your attention.

6. Automation Reduces Repetitive Work

Oooh, I love a good automation! I’m always looking for tools that do the work for me. In fact, my email mastery system typically saves people up to 2 hours per day simply by using some of the automation features in outlook that people don’t even know exist. Automation is no longer only for large organisations. For years I’ve been showing people free or low cost tools that can automate so much of your work, even before AI was a mainstream tool in our world.

Many everyday tasks can now be streamlined using readily available technology.

Examples include:

• Appointment scheduling

• Data entry

• Follow-up emails

• Calendar management

• Reminder notifications

A useful question to ask is: "What tasks do I complete every week that a system could complete for me?"

Those small efficiencies will quickly add up.

7. Repurposing Content Maximises the Value of Your Ideas

Many professionals create from scratch far too often. One strong idea can become:

• A blog article

• A LinkedIn article

• A LinkedIn post

• An email

• A presentation

• A carousel

• An infographic

The effort required to generate the idea is often bigger than the effort to reshape it. Repurposing allows you to maximise the value of your thinking.

8. Planning Tomorrow Today Reduces Decision Fatigue

Tomorrow feels easier when you already know where to start. Set a time before the end of the work day. Don’t rush out the office on knock off time; instead, commit to ending the day when the work day has actually ended. You’re not going to finish that report, so make some notes on ready for you to review in the morning. Clean your desk, flag the 3 priorities for the next day and shut down the computer, rather than rushing that last paragraph and racing out the door.

Many people begin their day by deciding what to do. Highly productive people often make those decisions the day before. Doing this at the end of the day, reduces your decision fatigue for tomorrow.

9. Working Offline Protects Your Focus

For many people, yes. Every open tab represents a potential distraction. Every notification is an invitation to switch focus. Working offline whenever possible reduces interruptions and creates space for deeper concentration. I’m not saying you need a complete digital detox, however, sometimes simply closing unnecessary tabs can create an improvement that you might just notice.

10. A Weekly Time Audit Reveals Where Time Is Lost

This may be the most overlooked productivity habit of all. I often recommend to my clients that they utilise a free time tracking tool called toggl.com. Most people focus on tracking outcomes. However, not so many people actually track where their time goes. We track where our money goes, comparing it to our budget. Well what if we had a time budget an we actually looked where we spent our time? You’d be surprised.

A weekly audit helps identify:

• Time leaks

• Unnecessary interruptions

• Recurring distractions

• Activities that could be automated

• Habits that no longer serve you

Without regular reflection, small inefficiencies gradually become normal. A bit like that take away coffee you’re partial too. If I asked you how much you spent each month on a take-away coffee, you’d reply “Oh not much, they’re only $6”. However, if we added up, it would probably be around $160 per month, minimum! That might shock you. It’s the accumulative cost.

Try tracking your time for just a week or two, you might be surprised.

Which productivity rule creates the biggest impact?

The truth is that no single rule changes everything. The power comes from combining them.

Working in sprints might save thirty minutes. Templates might save another fifteen.

Planning tomorrow today could save twenty.

A weekly audit could reveal even more opportunities.

Individually, these improvements seem small.

Together, they can return hours every week.

And unlike many productivity strategies, they don't require more effort.

They simply help you protect your attention.

FAQ

What is the fastest productivity improvement to implement?

Planning tomorrow before finishing today is often one of the easiest habits to start immediately and can improve focus from the very next morning.

How long should a productivity sprint be?

The ideal length varies, but many people find 25 to 40 minutes of focused work effective before taking a short break.

What should be automated first?

Start with simple, repetitive administrative tasks that occur regularly and follow predictable steps.

Why do people struggle to focus?

Constant notifications, competing priorities and task switching make sustained concentration really difficult.

How often should you review your productivity habits?

A weekly review is usually enough to identify patterns and make small improvements before distractions become habits.

Source: 10 Rules To Double Your Output, Jen Blados, LinkedIn

What's Next?

• If you are leader wanting to improve your leadership capabilities or a HR professional wanting to improve capabilities of you leadership team, I can provide you a free strategy session to find solutions that work for you or your team. Book Your Call Here

• Check out our upcoming free masterclasses that focus on how to Feel Good at Work, how to work Better Together, Talk Smart (communication techniques), Mission Control (leadership techniques), Essential Human Skills, and how to Tame Your Time.

Want more like this?

We send the odd useful email with content like this. If you'd like more like useful tools, tips and advice, subscribe here.