What productivity tip did you find that genuinely worked?

I suggest you trying Ivly Lee Method. Plan your work days, write down 6 tasks that you need to focus on tommorow (6 is the maximum). Choose which one of the tasks that you wrote are the most important, 6 being the highest priority and 1 being th least important. When you start your work day, focus on the most important task and only when you're done with it, you can move to the another task.

Small breaks, it's simple but just taking a bunch of 5 minute breaks to talk to a friend, loved one, have a coffee, relax, it relaxes your mind and energises it I feel

That a productive day starts the day before... so the tips I've found that actually work are planning a time-boxed or forced function day that schedules my priorities, then getting a great sleep the night before

I have stoped with supernormal stimulus like caffeine or alcohol. I exercise a few times a day. I have stoped perfecting things by self talking: this is ok this way, go on solve the next problem. I am restarted making small code projects for the satisfaction of coding. No productivity tip or book will work if you have problems with bad habits or are stoped with acting on small things. Act on good stuff. Stop acting on bad habits.

To be honest, I have tried myself so many methods over the years... But what I had to realize is that only the power of habits and a real discipline that really fits to you is the best recipe to boost your productivity. This is exactly what Darren Hardy describes in his book "The Compound Effect" ^^ A well applied discipline + power of habits = success I tried to adopt methods from others like PARAGON, GTD, SCRUM or the simple 4D rule without really finding my way... With time I succeeded to find a universal method easy to use and based on a natural concept (I would even say instinctive) based on the power of habits and a simple framework that adjusts every situation (which I built over time based on my own experience) I am quite satisfied with it (I have been using it for 2 years now). I hope to share it soon. I even hope that others will find it easier to handle and will enjoy using it (as I do) on a daily basis. There is no guarantee, but the few friends around me who have used this method give me great feedback. So we will see :-)

trying to focus on one task for blocks of time is key. Not getting distracted and loosing built up context on a task.

For me, Pomodoro works well. I set a 20min focus time than 10 min break.

Pomodoro Timer 100%

I'd suggest the daily highlight - picking one task to complete for the day amongst others on the to do list Great positive reinforcement loop when that task is completed, and it spills over into completing other tasks Some great tips in this thread I'll also be trying out

The productivity tip's effectiveness depends a lot on your personality. I recommend testing many things and seeing what works for you. For me starting the day with 3 to 4 quick tasks works well to create moments. I'm then able to focus on a complex task.