Comments on: 6 Productivity Tips to a Stress-Free Life

By: Just Seven Things

Just Seven Things — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:19:46 +0000

How to Improve Time Management: The Blockers to Focus…

Focus by CraigPJ
Contrary to popular opinion about multi-tasking being a higher form of skill than the individual who just does one thing at a time, the key to Productivity+Efficiency=Time Management is focus.
Now this is no great revelation: most good…

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:06:53 +0000

This has been very enlightening article. Thanks for all the useful information. Though I would say it will be more useful if implemented in all totality, organizing yourself is bit tricky. The part on “done it once” mentality was great!
Thanks.

By: Cape Number Plates

Cape Number Plates — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:44:50 +0000

The bit about dealing with emails is something I’ve been meaning to get round to. I’m guilty of leaving emails in my inbox and I have to admit that I’ve been a bit lazy recently about dealing with minor things. Organising yourself is easier than it sounds…

By: Luciano Passuello

Luciano Passuello — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:06:14 +0000

Hi Rob,

I’ve read once about someone declaring ‘e-mail bankrupcy’. From the original Wired Magazine article:

Copyright wonk (and Wired columnist) Lawrence Lessig hit upon a novel tactic after spending 80 hours trying to clear out his backlogged inbox: surrender. “Bankruptcy is now my only option,” he wrote in a mass message to his correspondence creditors. Here’s how Lessig erased his debts and turned over a new leaf.
1) Collect the email addresses of everyone you haven’t replied to. Paste them into the BCC field of a new message you’ll send to yourself.
2) Write a polite note explaining your predicament. Apologize profusely – Lessig managed five mea culpas in as many paragraphs – and promise to keep up with your email in the future. Try to sound credible.
3) Ask for a resend of anything particularly pressing, and offer to give such messages special attention.

I never needed to take such a radical approach with my e-mail, but I sometimes do it with my “to-read” list of web articles…

By: Rob Moshe

Rob Moshe — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:31:43 +0000

These are great ideas. Sometimes we get sidetracked and things really build up. One of the craziest but most freeing acts I’ve done in the past is deleting my entire in-box, regardless of what is in it. Yes I might delete something important, but if it is really important it will come back around. See you email as more of an in-person conversation, we don’t write down everything that the other person says, we listen, mentally file the pertinent and clear the rest.

By: eugene

eugene — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:04:30 +0000

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By: Steve Olson

Steve Olson — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:14:01 +0000

One of the things I’ve done about productivity is implement the plan in GTD by David Allen. It one of the best books ever on GTD. I highly recommend it.

By: Luciano Passuello

Luciano Passuello — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:10:55 +0000

Nick: Thanks for the comment and for the link.
I agree with all your ideas about batch processing; avoiding context switches during the tasks does indeed help you doing them much faster and with high higher quality. My favorite way of performing batches is by combining it with the use of time boxes.
I also agree that we should be careful with the “Done it once” item. We should never forget that it does not replace setting priorities by any means: you still need to decide what deserves to be done in the first place. But once you decide to do something, the “done it once” mentality does indeed help a lot alleviating unnecessary mental clutter.

By: Nick Pagan

Nick Pagan — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:02:54 +0000

I totally agree with Item number 6 – Focus on one task at a time and in order to make that work particularly well it is important to prepare for batch working. In fact preparing to work in batches takes up a good amount of time but it’s a worthy sacrifice because the batch working goes so much faster, with higher quality output and with higher productivity overall.

I’m not so convinced with the “Do It Once” approach. I think that the 80/20 rule should dictate priorities. Otherwise, submitting to the discipline of “Do It Once” could push out important issues whilst you end up devoting too much time to trivialities.

http://www.nickpagan.com/blog/.....rocessing/

By: Jay, writer MemberSpeed.com

Jay, writer MemberSpeed.com — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:39:50 +0000

It is also counter productive to work in a messy environment. When you go to work with a desk filled with clutter, your performance level is bound to decrease. Besides, being organized both physically and mentally looks good on your record.