What will be the productivity hack of 2026?
For me, productivity means getting (more) results faster in less time. My goals for 2026 are closely linked to the fact that I want to learn a lot of things, which will require a lot of concentration.
Therefore, I think that a large part of what I want to gain will be ensured by:
1) spending less time on the Internet (especially social networks) – the solution could be to pre-prepare content and set a max. time limit for the time I spend there per day
2) getting enough sleep so that my brain works optimally (this is a tip from @conduit_design )
3) help from AI to complete things faster
What productivity hacks do you have in reserve, and would you recommend that I also practice them in my life?
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IXORD
Distractions take up a lot of time, but more importantly, they divert the attention needed for work. When we are working, we focus our attention on tasks, but when that attention is scattered, productivity decreases. Unfortunately, there are many such distracting factors on the internet
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@ixord The whole internet is distracting, especially endless scrolling and managing communities, that's why I am trying to do things as quickly as possible.
IXORD
@busmark_w_nika That is the right approach 😊
vibecoder.date
One I'm gonna try: carry a paper notebook everywhere.
Also, to walk 5 minutes whenever I feel hungry, then eat. I think my brain perceives hunger signals wrong.
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@build_with_aj IMO, we should walk more due to oxygen for our brains. :D
vibecoder.date
@busmark_w_nika For real. It helps a lot.
I'm not gonna run any 5k or anything but I wanna get steps in every day.
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@build_with_aj Brisk walking is even more effective! Recommend it! :D
@build_with_aj I've been doing the paper notebook thing for a few years. I'm not sure if it's helped with productivity directly but it's definitely increased my mental and emotional clarity (and my stationery budget).
The only thing I wanna know is what notebook are you starting with?
vibecoder.date
@heyjdj One I got from walmart, It has square grid, 7mm I think.
I have another with no grid but that one is project specific.
@build_with_aj I rate this. I use a magnetic wipeable daily calendar for the month in my kitchen and it really forces me to reduce content detail in my daily tasks.
I also love the notepad app on Windows. It's the simplicity for me.
vibecoder.date
@rankdeck Windows notepad app is goated, The sticky notes are fine but they ruined them with one drive.
Simplicity often wins.
Whiteboards and erasable calendars are so good, I want to have a huge whiteboard again.
@build_with_aj The lowest tech and the most pleasure right :)
Productivity has started to mean less about doing things faster and more about protecting focus and reducing decision fatigue.Sleep and limiting noise create the foundation, but what’s helped me most is structuring work so I’m not constantly re-deciding how to approach the same problems. I’ve been building a small product around that idea keeping workflows intentional so mental energy goes toward learning and outcomes, not setup. Speed helps, but clarity compounds.
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@syed_hassan9 I think that my days have structure but not always the same problem takes the same amount of time, e.g. creating posts on LinkedIn – sometimes it is harder to create that idea and image for that.
@busmark_w_nika - That makes total sense. The structure can be there, but the cognitive load isn’t always predictable. Creating something like a LinkedIn post isn’t just “doing a task” it’s thinking, deciding, and synthesizing, and some days that just takes longer.I’ve noticed it helps to separate idea generation from execution even loosely. Some days are better for collecting rough thoughts or screenshots, other days for turning them into something shareable.
Sounds like you’re already doing the hard part right by not forcing the same pace on every kind of work.
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@syed_hassan9 True, now, I am trying to handle it so I can shrink the time and use it for other activities. It would be ideal to prepare the whole post in advance when the idea is "fresh.
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Catching the idea while it’s fresh is usually the hardest part once that moment passes, everything takes longer and feels heavier than it should.
Prepping the post end-to-end in advance feels like a good tradeoff here: you spend focused energy once, then buy back time later instead of context-switching every day. I’ve found even rough drafts or placeholders help the idea is captured, and polishing becomes much easier.
Sounds like you’re optimizing for energy, not just time, which is usually the right move.
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@bekjon_ibragimov I swear that since I have been active on PH, LinkedIn and other socials, my free time has shrunk and I am less concentrated.
MultiDrive
There’s a lot of noise everywhere: on the internet, in ads, all around us. I’m trying to set small, step-by-step goals and minimize that external noise.
@tetianai that's exacty what I thought. it's hard to see more and more people struggling with being one on one with their own thoughts, with no distractions
staying in peace with your inner self and getting to this mental wholeness to y'all!
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@tetianai How do you do that? By blocking the ads? (BTW, YouTube ads are so time-consuming, considering to pay YT premium) :D
One thing that's worked for me: batching context switches instead of eliminating them.
You mentioned pre-preparing content, which is smart. I'd add: batch all your communication windows. Check Slack/email/DMs at set times (say 10am, 2pm, 5pm) instead of staying reactive all day. Your brain doesn't have to keep that "did someone reply?" thread running in the background.
On the AI front: don't just use it to go faster, use it to handle the things that drain you. For me, that's first drafts of boring docs, summarizing long threads, or research rabbit holes. Saves energy for the hard thinking that actually matters.
The sleep thing is non-negotiable. I've tested this too many times, one night of 6 hours and my "productive" day is basically worthless compared to what I'd do well-rested.
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@iamsanjayofficial Batch checking is something I need to apply definitely, cause sometimes I feel that I am missing out. That's not good, and it is very time-consuming.
DiffSense
I think you can merge 2 and 3. If you stay high level with AI. Play the high level conductor role. Then your brain doesnt have to spend so much time on the millions of nitty gritty things to think about. And rather be calm and think in fewer and longer segments. Then sleep will also be more calm, not so much clean up todo. After all sleep is just biological defragmentation of the human harddrive. When will we get ssd upgrade Elon M? 😏
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@conduit_design We are not yet there (I need to force myself to do that) :D
DaysAround
My 2026 hack: ship fast, learn fast.
in my experience perfectionism kills more projects than bad ideas.
Planning to launch several products on PH this year with this exact approach. Build in weeks, see what resonates, double down or kill fast.
Love your point on AI, it compresses the feedback loop dramatically.
And this is my first post after a while, testing the waters to see how is the community these days,
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@vladstan How many product ideas do you have for 2026? :D
DaysAround
@busmark_w_nika I'll be the first customer for all of them. So everything i want automated in my life, will have an app others can use. But if something will take off, i will probably double down on that one. If not, i may launch one a week :P
It seems you're very active here, any advice how to approach this?
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@vladstan Oh sure, I would say that be active in terms of giving feedback on other products + do not hesitate hunt some of them. You need to show up every single day.
I'd rather have a digital twin which basically understands what I do, gets my KPIs and is 'agentic' and not 'generative' - meaning, it shouldn't need me to prompt for specific tasks.
Track my emails, campaigns, leads and send me the right notifications/signals in real-time while managing certain tasks by itself.
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@ramana_abhishek Is something like that possible? To have a digital twin? ATM? :)
@busmark_w_nika Absolutely. Think of GPT/Gemini etc - they are the first level of being our digital twins. The only nuance is these are generative - work only when you prompt them.
Agentic systems are deeper - they understand who you are, what your KPIs are, understand your most redundant tasks on the fly, and try and automate them. However, these should have guardrails and seek permissions as needed before acting.
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@ramana_abhishek Sometimes, it is scary that GPT knows us better then we :D That's why I think that more people will want to have local agents
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@luke_glover Schröninger dreams :D