This link has been bookmarked by 240 people . It was first bookmarked on 06 Jun 2007, by gcanfield.
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One of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures is indulging in productivity porn. Productivity porn (or, for those really in the know, "productivity pr0n") consists of techniques, tactics, and tricks for maximizing personal productivity -- or, as they say,
productivity gtd pmarca habits procrastination timemanagement 43folders todo delicious
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Let's start with a bang: don't keep a schedule
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As a result, you can always work on whatever is most important or most interesting, at any time.
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This idea comes from a wonderful book called A Perfect Mess, which explains how not keeping a schedule has been key to Arnold Schwarzenegger's success as a movie star, politician, and businessman over the last 20 years.
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This also gives you the best odds of maximizing flow, which is a whole 'nother topic but highly related.
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Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
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Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3x5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.
And then, the next day, do those things.
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Structured Procrastination.
This is a great one
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Read his original description, by all means.
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Generally in the course of a day, there is something you have to do that you are not doing because you are procrastinating.
While you're procrastinating, just do lots of other stuff instead.
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The other key two-word tactic: Strategic Incompetence.
The best way to to make sure that you are never asked to do something again is to royally screw it up the first time you are asked to do it.
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Only agree to new commitments when both your head and your heart say yes.
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While I find GTD to be highly inspiring, in practice I think it's awfully complex.
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For me, an organization system that requires significant time to deal with in and of itself is not optimal.
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21 Dec 08
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06 Jun 08
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Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3x5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.
And then, the next day, do those things.
I sit down at my desk before I go to sleep, pull up my Todo List (which I keep in Microsoft Word's outline mode, due to long habit), and pick out the 3 to 5 things I am going to get done tomorrow. I write those things on a fresh 3x5 card, lay the card out with my card keys, and go to bed. Then, the next day, I try like hell to get just those things done. If I do, it was a successful day.
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Only doing email twice a day will make you far more productive for the rest of the day.
The problem with email is that getting an email triggers that same endorphin hit I mentioned above -- the one that a mouse gets when he bonks on the button in the cage and gets a food pellet.
Responding to an email triggers that same hit.
The pleasure chemical hits your neocortex and you go "ahhh" inside and feel like you've done something.
So you sit and work with your mail client open and you interrupt your work every time an email comes in and you answer it and you send another email and you feel great in the moment.
But what you're really doing is fracturing your time, interrupting your flow, and killing your ability to focus on anything long enough to get real high-quality work done.
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05 Jun 08
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31 May 08
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30 May 08
Xavier BadosaProductivity porn (or, for those really in the know, "productivity pr0n") consists of techniques, tactics, and tricks for maximizing personal productivity -- or, as they say, "getting things done".
productivity procrastination organization work tips lifehacks to-do andreessen
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Stephen BleakleyWrite down 3-5 things you need to do the next day....
article articles blog blogging blogs book calendar career communication email funny guide habits hacks humour imported interesting Jobs life lifehack tutorial resource Research reference programming Productivity procrastination planning organization organ
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16 Sep 07
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06 Sep 07
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08 Aug 07
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Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
The more into lists you are, the more important this is.
Into the Todo List goes all the stuff you "must" do -- commitments, obligations, things that have to be done. A single list, possibly subcategorized by timeframe (today, this week, next week, next month).
Into the Watch List goes all the stuff going on in your life that you have to follow up on, wait for someone else to get back to you on, remind yourself of in the future, or otherwise remember.
Into the Later List goes everything else -- everything you might want to do or will do when you have time or wish you could do.
If it doesn't go on one of those three lists, it goes away.
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Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3x5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.
And then, the next day, do those things.
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Then, throughout the rest of the day, use the back of the 3x5 card as your Anti-Todo List.
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Each time you do something, you get to write it down
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And then at the end of the day, before you prepare tomorrow's 3x5 card, take a look at today's card and its Anti-Todo list and marvel at all the things you actually got done that day.
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Structured Procrastination.
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The gist of Structured Procrastination is that you should never fight the tendency to procrastinate -- instead, you should use it to your advantage in order to get other things done.
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While you're procrastinating, just do lots of other stuff instead.
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Do email exactly twice a day -- say, once first thing in the morning, and once at the end of the workday.
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When you do process email, do it like this:
First, always finish each of your two daily email sessions with a completely empty inbox.
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Second, when doing email, either answer or file every single message until you get to that empty inbox state of grace.
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Third, emails relating to topics that are current working projects or pressing issues go into temporary subfolders of a folder called Action.
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Fourth, aside from those temporary Action subfolders, only keep three standing email folders: Pending, Review, and Vault.
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Don't answer the phone.
Let it go to voicemail, and then every few hours, screen your voicemails and batch the return calls.
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no matter what time you get up, start the day with a real, sit-down breakfast.
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Only agree to new commitments when both your head and your heart say yes.
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Do something you love.
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03 Aug 07
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Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
The more into lists you are, the more important this is.
Into the Todo List goes all the stuff you "must" do -- commitments, obligations, things that have to be done. A single list, possibly subcategorized by timeframe (today, this week, next week, next month).
Into the Watch List goes all the stuff going on in your life that you have to follow up on, wait for someone else to get back to you on, remind yourself of in the future, or otherwise remember.
Into the Later List goes everything else -- everything you might want to do or will do when you have time or wish you could do.
If it doesn't go on one of those three lists, it goes away.
-
Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3x5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.
And then, the next day, do those things.
I sit down at my desk before I go to sleep, pull up my Todo List (which I keep in Microsoft Word's outline mode, due to long habit), and pick out the 3 to 5 things I am going to get done tomorrow. I write those things on a fresh 3x5 card, lay the card out with my card keys, and go to bed. Then, the next day, I try like hell to get just those things done. If I do, it was a successful day.
People who have tried lots of productivity porn techniques will tell you that this is one of the most successful techniques they have ever tried.
Once you get into the habit, you start to realize how many days you used to have when you wouldn't get 3 to 5 important/significant/meaningful things done during a day.
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Then, throughout the rest of the day, use the back of the 3x5 card as your Anti-Todo List.
This isn't a real list. And the name is tongue firmly in cheek.
What you do is this: every time you do something -- anything -- useful during the day, write it down in your Anti-Todo List on the card.
Each time you do something, you get to write it down and you get that little rush of endorphins that the mouse gets every time he presses the button in his cage and gets a food pellet.
And then at the end of the day, before you prepare tomorrow's 3x5 card, take a look at today's card and its Anti-Todo list and marvel at all the things you actually got done that day.
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Structured Procrastination.
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The gist of Structured Procrastination is that you should never fight the tendency to procrastinate -- instead, you should use it to your advantage in order to get other things done.
Generally in the course of a day, there is something you have to do that you are not doing because you are procrastinating.
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start the day with a real, sit-down breakfast.
This serves two purposes.
First, it fuels you up. Study after study have shown that breakfast is, yes, the most important meal of the day. It's critical to properly fuel the body for the day's activities and it's also critical to staying lean or losing weight. (People who don't have breakfast tend to eat more, and worse, at lunch.)
Second, it gives you a chance to calmly, peacefully collect your thoughts and prepare mentally and emotionally for the day ahead.
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27 Jul 07
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25 Jul 07
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29 Jun 07
Thomas MarottaThe Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity One of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures is indulging in productivity porn. Productivity porn (or, for those really in the know, "productivity pr0n") consists of techniques, tactics, and tricks for maximizing
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26 Jun 07
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25 Jun 07
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Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
The more into lists you are, the more important this is.
Into the Todo List goes all the stuff you "must" do -- commitments, obligations, things that have to be done. A single list, possibly subcategorized by timeframe (today, this week, next week, next month).
Into the Watch List goes all the stuff going on in your life that you have to follow up on, wait for someone else to get back to you on, remind yourself of in the future, or otherwise remember.
Into the Later List goes everything else -- everything you might want to do or will do when you have time or wish you could do.
If it doesn't go on one of those three lists, it goes away.
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24 Jun 07
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- Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
The more into lists you are, the more important this is.
Into the Todo List goes all the stuff you "must" do -- commitments, obligations, things that have to be done. A single list, possibly subcategorized by timeframe (today, this week, next week, next month).
Into the Watch List goes all the stuff going on in your life that you have to follow up on, wait for someone else to get back to you on, remind yourself of in the future, or otherwise remember.
Into the Later List goes everything else -- everything you might want to do or will do when you have time or wish you could do.
If it doesn't go on one of those three lists, it goes away.
- Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3x5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.
And then, the next day, do those things.
I sit down at my desk before I go to sleep, pull up my Todo List (which I keep in Microsoft Word's outline mode, due to long habit), and pick out the 3 to 5 things I am going to get done tomorrow. I write those things on a fresh 3x5 card, lay the card out with my card keys, and go to bed. Then, the next day, I try like hell to get just those things done. If I do, it was a successful day.
- Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.
-
Structured Procrastination
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every time you do something -- anything -- useful during the day, write it down in your Anti-Todo List on the card.
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While you're procrastinating, just do lots of other stuff instead.
As John says, "The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done."
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23 Jun 07
Alfonso Piñate LópezThe techniques that follow work together as an integrated set for me, but they probably won't for you. Maybe you'll get one or two ideas -- probably out of the ideas I stole from other people. If so, I have succeeded.
productivity gtd lifehacks organization tips procrastination work blog for:lifehacker
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22 Jun 07
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alfredoabambresThe Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity
One of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures is indulging in productivity porn.
Productivity porn (or, for those really in the know, "productivity pr0n") consists of techniques, tactics, and tricks for maximizin -
21 Jun 07
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Christophe DucampUn Guide de Productivité Personnelle - Marc Andreessen
productivity gtd lifehacks organization tips toread work procrastination business email communication fun importdelicious
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richard sambrookMarc Andreessen on productivity porn. Actually, it sounds really useful! (HT Loic Le Meur)
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12 Jun 07
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Joaquim RendeiroI am actually checking email twice in the work day -- right before lunch and at the end of the work day -- and I think it works!
In the future, I might try some of the techniques described here.pmarca productivity gtd lifehacks work procrastination organization for:banaslee for:ricardocruz for:telmocouto for:cesiumkgea for:cmtcosta for:obliteratus for:jpcosta imported-delicious
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Bruce LewinHaving enjoyed such fine purveyors of prodporn as Merlin Mann, Danny O'Brien, Gina Trapani, David Allen, and Tim Ferriss, I'd like to return the favor with the following: the Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity. The techniques that follow work together
productivity lifehacks organization procrastination efficiency communication commitment lifestyle work_life_balance
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Paul HenmanMarc Andreessen's guide includes "refuse to commit to meetings, appointments, or activities at any set time in any future day"
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11 Jun 07
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