How do you improve your productivity?
Xavier Coiffard
25 replies
I'm working in the tech for 12+years, mostly remote and being productive has always been an issue.
From my experience what works the most is:
- Define precisely my tasks, and keep it as small as possible (1h max)
- Work with 100% on this tasks
- Take regular breaks - and stop working after 4/5hrs of deep focus
- Sleep and eat well
I keep all tasks in a bullet journal, it's not perfect but I haven't found a better way to do it.
(I'm building in public one product to solve this right now. Not sure how efficient it will be 🙂)
What about you? What worked for you?
How about
Replies
Joe Kneeland@omnidk
Pomodoro: 25 mins of work, 5 min break, repeat cycle. 15 mins break every few cycles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po...
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The Pomodoro Technique works best so far.
I modified a bit for myself, for example, 45 mins work 5-10mins break. It depends on what I'm working on. 45 mins I can complete an article and rest 5-10mins.
I just need silence and an empty house. I knock it down one by one, little by little, pausing when I complete some part of a task to let it sink in as an accomplishment, Then it goes on a Done list. Wanting to see the Done List grow has been a tremendous turn around for me. No more todos, only Done. I have a guideline of what I want to accomplish. 3 main goals for month, 3 for quarter, 3 for year. No more. Then everything moves along onto the Done list.
@mobilemediamania Do you use a tool to write down/manage your list?
@angezanetti Done list is growing as a table in a Google doc. It use to be in KEEP.
I'm going to try to import it into a Google table later in a workspace. I'd like to make it a Kanban board of started and progression, just to see if I can handle it. Sometimes for me the hangup is the first 5 mins of starting. Or not having quite.
Start early in the morning without notifications. Work 2-3 hours - the most productive hours during the day.
@maciej_cupial You work 3 hours straight? You're not exhausted after that?
Agree with defining tasks and keeping them small. Having deadlines also helps even if they're just ones set by me. Batching tags and theming days also helps. I'm also thinking to maybe incorporate some of the things mentioned in this article: https://www.scattered-thoughts.n...
First of all, turning off all the notifications is necessary for me. I also make arrangements with my friends for certain hours when we call up and everyone is working on their tasks. It really helps me to concentrate.
Using Alfred App and
1.
create friction free worflows to start working
Example:
"start" keyword opens Toggl Track app, React Native debugger, Jira, 2FA app
"live" keyword opens OBS, notion, Discord, SWB Audio app
2. keyboard snippets with text expander
Example:
!stw expand to https://gumroad.com/a/568587379
!mail expands to my Mozilla email z2qdm0yrm@mozmail.com
3. copy/paste history with search
Nice list.
True, defining tasks and being absorbed is the key.
I'm working on creating my system.
Best of luck with your new product :)
- I use pomodoro with activable tasks. I write my tasks like it should be done by something else.
- I set focus time in my agenda to avoid meetings.
- Zero notification (except for sysops).
- Zero inbox.
- Pair programming when it's possible.
Sleep is the most difficult in my case, I have 4-5h of sleep average and I target 7
@sebastienelet Oh Sébastien thanks for answering! When is your focus time?
Timeboxing is the technique that has worked best for me so far. It's quite similar to what you mentioned: I define my tasks, break them down into smaller pieces, then prioritise and fit as many of them as the time I have in a day; in order of priority + what I feel like doing at the moment.
@martina_hackbartt Do you use a tool for that?
@angezanetti Not any timeboxing specific tool; but notion is usually my go-to (google calendar also works for me some times)
Besides what you said I like to place the tasks on my google calendar, I usually don't move them from the timeslot I first assigned to it but if I have to I do it.
I started to use www.usewerk.com, it covers trello, slack, discord and also document management. Yes, it's an all-in-one toolkit for remote workers like me. I highly recommend it for developer teams, product owners and project managers. Bye the way it includes async conversation which will be the next big thing in team communication.
Productivity improvement depends on professional management tools. I'd suggest to consider such solutions as online timelines or roadmaps, Kanban boards, to-do lists or mind maps. They all affect productivity and improve team collaboration in any team. My favourite software that is based on online Gantt charts is GanttPRO (https://ganttpro.com/).
The tool looks really nice with its intuitive UX/UI design and a short learning curve. It offers a wide range of robust project management, project portfolio management, team collaboration, resource and cost management features.