A little productivity lifehack, in case you're into analog stu | Markus said...

A little productivity lifehack, in case you're into analog stuff as much as I am:

- Set the timer on your phone (or watch, or ) to 15 minutes.
- Write today's tasks on a notepad/page (a .txt file also works, but it's much less fun than an actual piece of paper lying on the table next to you).
- Draw a dustbin (for wasting time on junk you weren't supposed to be doing) and a couch (for having a legitimate and relaxing break).
- Do stuff.
- Mark tasks with a check as you finish them.
- Whenever the timer ends: put some marks next to the stuff you've been doing in the last 15 minutes (I use a dot for ~5 minutes; 3 dots combine vertically into a line for 15 minutes; 4 lines are circled and make up a full hour)
- Set a new timer for 15 minutes, stand up, (take off your glasses if you're wearing any), move around a little, assume proper posture again.
- Ask yourself: what was I supposed to be doing?
- Do more stuff.

On second thought, this hack doesn't look so little when laid out like that. But it sure gives you some good stats to reflect upon at the end of the day.

OK, another hack: Most days, you don't have THAT many different kinds of stuff to do. For this reason, I usually make a new headline in my "Book of Work" once a week (e.g., "Week of June, 18") instead of having a separate list for each day.

- Add stuff under the headline as described above.
- At the end of the week, mark all unfinished stuff with an X.
- Write a short summary of the most important stuff you've done, not necessarily selected from the tasks on the page.
- (If this is important, also briefly mention the things you couldn't accomplish. I usually leave that info for the monthly summary; things you've been trying to do for a month and couldn't are worth noticing.)
- Start a new week.
- If you need to finish something from last week, write it again under the new headline.

This way you'll always have firm ground under your feet – and solid results to get back to and feel inspired (instead of feeling that an entire week went by, wasted on doing who knows what).

OK. This post took almost twice-15-minutes to write. Let's walk around the table and get back to the real stuff...