Productivity Tips

[Chris.C]

I was just wondering what sorts of things people do from day to day to stay productive and make sure you are not wasting too much time.

I'm always trying to get more done and I'm always open to better ways of doing things.

So have you found any strategies that work really well?

 

[johno69]

I try to take the weekends off. Seems to keep me going through the week.

 

[Honan]

I was just wondering what sorts of things people do from day to day to stay productive and make sure you are not wasting too much time.

I'm always trying to get more done and I'm always open to better ways of doing things.

So have you found any strategies that work really well?

Sleep , drink beer, eat, sleep , drink beer, eat, repeat cycle
Is there something wrong with wasting time?
Time wasting seems to be very popular nowadays

 

[Chris.C]

Is there something wrong with wasting time?

There is if you are looking to get things done.

 

[soj]

If you want to get something done, pay someone else to do it

Otherwise best to not have movies/tv eps playing all day, I seem to do that and it definitely doesn't help productivity

 

[FirstPageResults]

Personally, most mornings I write a list of what I want/need to achieve for the day and then set out to make it happen best I can. Can't remember the last time I had nothing to do - but I always want to clear the list

I also think having the right tools help..

As a developer (and ex proj manger), some project management software I love is FogBugz for it's evidence based scheduling feature: http://www.fogcreek.com/fogbugz/worldtour2010-tour.html

Good coffee and music also help

 

[Chris.C]

If you want to get something done, pay someone else to do it

That's pure gold!

And in my experience I certainly agree.

Otherwise best to not have movies/tv eps playing all day, I seem to do that and it definitely doesn't help productivity

LOL yeah I hear you on that one. It took a couple of years of working at home to become disciplined enough not to have the television on.

To this day I fight my urges as hard as possible to never turn the TV on, even while eating lunch. "Just 5 minutes of TV with lunch won't hurt" has turned into "2 hours+" on many occasions.

I also try and avoid news sites as well. For some reason despite knowing that the latest breaking news doesn't substantially influence my life I still find it captivating and once I start reading I find it hard to stop.

Personally, most mornings I write a list of what I want/need to achieve for the day and then set out to make it happen best I can. Can't remember the last time I had nothing to do - but I always want to clear the list

I write a list most mornings as well - but I can't tell you the last time I cleared it...

I also think having the right tools help..

Do you have any other tools you use to keep your productive and on track?

One I know I like is LeechBlock as a firefox addon - it blocks sites at certain times of the day. Whilst you guys probably wouldn't know it I even block myself from DN Trade for most of the day. I just give myself small windows throughout the day to get on here and post.

Good coffee and music also help

I'm a tea man, and I can't do music unless it's classical. I have found through trial and error that even lyrics in music distract me enough that it slows me and increases the likelihood I'll make errors.

 

[sp@rky13]

I use something similar to leech block when I'm studying, though it's for mac and blocks all connections to the specific website. It's called SelfControl. I've used something similar to Leech Block for chrome but I have multiple browsers so I find I'll just use a different one and log in. There is a way around SelfControl but I normally am not that desperate

 

[FirstPageResults]

Do you have any other tools you use to keep your productive and on track?

Mostly developer specific tools that are DRY friendly. Some everyday favourites are:

Webistrano - coupled with version control, allows 1 click deployment of files to server
Navicat - database admin made easy
Eclipse - A good IDE
Ant - a tool for automating software build processes

 

[neddy]

This is a handy online "To Do" tool. Simple and easy to use. Watch the short video.

http://teuxdeux.com/

And it's free.

 

[seolyka2]

Good coffee and music also help

Agree. Drinking a cup of coffee while listening to my favorite songs helps me become more productive. It really keeps my drowsiness away.

 

[James]

We have a wall at work and we put post it notes on our section for tasks which need to be completed that day.

Writing stuff down is also a good way to get things done. Personally I prefer to be a lil bit busy the day goes quickly.

 

[aggs]

Working as a one person IT Admin for a company I always try and get things done but most days have to deal with Staff issues. My printer does not want to print, How do I send an email etc... Spending time doing things I enjoy (domaining) and trying to complete projects is very difficult. I use Toodled to keep track of all my projects,work etc..

A powerful, online to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive

http://www.toodledo.com/index.php

And of course it's free

 

[johno69]

This is a handy online "To Do" tool. Simple and easy to use. Watch the short video.

http://teuxdeux.com/

And it's free.

Very nice thanks.

 

[neddy]

A powerful, online to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive

http://www.toodledo.com/index.php

And of course it's free

That looks pretty good too! Thanks for sharing.

 

[DavidL]

Having two screens helps me heaps. Especially in domaining type activities where you have spreddies open here, web pages there etc and there's lots of interaction between them.