Monday Morning Productivity Tips
It’s a sunny day today, and I woke up early, so I was inspired to write up a list of my productivity tips. I work as a freelance software developer, and also run several web applications, so I have to make the most of my time every day.
Working this way for 3 years has given me several insights into productivity, especially the motivational-side: it’s easy to get bogged down and depressed with too much work.
Identify Job Types
We’re all working on different types of jobs: as a programmer I cross into design territory regularly. We also have abstract notions of goals: we delay tasks because they’re “too big” or complex, and others seem less fun or interesting than others.
When planning work it’s important to be honest about what type of job it is: if it seems complex, break it up. Don’t write vague todo lists, it’s bad for motivation. If it’s a creative task, make a note. If you don’t feel like working on it, try to understand why.
Build Up to Long Term Goals
It’s incredibly important to identify long term goals and contribute to them every day. Spend at least 10-30 minutes working towards something big — over a few weeks the time will really mount up, and you’ll see progress towards what seemed like insurmountable goals.
Anything can be a long term goal. For me it’s the design and development of a new web or iPhone application, but it could equally be reading a technical book or planning your wedding.
Big goals can seem impossible to reach, but try 30 minutes a day for a week and see how you feel.
Set Aside Time for Skill Development
Constantly refining and improving skills will help you work more efficiently. I know many bosses out there don’t like it when their employees take a break to read a book, but I’ve found it pays dividends.
Partitioning and Me Time
To work effectively you need to focus. Try to notice when you’re most productive and turn this time into “me time”: set your phone to silent, quit your email client, turn off your RSS feed reader, stop visiting news and social web sites. Quit IM. Put headphones on with ambient music or natural sounds — “closed back” headphones are best for this because they help silence your environment.
Once you’re partitioned off from your environment you’ll naturally gain focus. It takes 10-20 minutes, but you’ll get into the zone and rattle through work at an almost unnatural pace.
Incidentally, this 10-20 minute ramp up time is why you need to ignore phone calls and email: every time you break away from work you need to spend another 10-20 minutes getting back up to speed.
