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When I graduated University with a business degree last May, I received two incredible full-time job offers, both of which I declined because I had a plan.<\/strong><\/p>\n For exactly one year, from May 1, 2013, through May 1, 2014, I would devour everything I could get my hands on about productivity, and write every day about the lessons I learned on A Year of Productivity<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the last 12 months I have conducted countless productivity experiments<\/a><\/span> on myself, interviewed<\/a><\/span> some of the most productive people in the world, and read<\/a><\/span> a ton of books and academic literature on productivity, all to explore how I could become as productive as possible, and then write about the lessons I learned.<\/p>\n One year, 197 articles, and over one million hits later, I\u2019ve reached the end of my year-long journey, but not before going out with a bang.<\/p>\n To close out my year of productivity, I have assembled a collection of all of the biggest things I\u2019ve learned over the course of my year-long journey to become as productive as possible. Below are my 100 favorite effective time, energy, and attention hacks that will let you get more done on a daily basis, and I also put together an article on the top 10 lessons I learned about productivity<\/a><\/span> over the last year. I know you\u2019ll get a ton out of both articles.<\/p>\n This article\u2019s a long one, but it\u2019s pretty skimmable!<\/p>\n Without further ado, let\u2019s jump in.<\/p>\n Toward the end of my year of productivity, I realized that every single article I wrote for A Year of Productivity\u00a0could be classified into one (or more) of three categories<\/strong>: how to better manage your time<\/strong>, how to better manage your energy<\/strong>, and how to better manage your attention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n To kick things off, here\u00a0are a number of my favorite time hacks to both:<\/p>\n 1. Schedule less time for important tasks.<\/b> This seems counterintuitive, but it isn\u2019t in practice. When you limit how much time you give yourself to work on important tasks, you force yourself to expend more energy over less time so you can get the tasks done faster.<\/p>\n 2. Quit watching TV<\/a><\/span>.<\/b> If you\u2019re average, you\u2019ll spend 13.6 years of your life watching TV\u2014time you could spend doing much higher-leverage tasks.<\/p>\n 3. Keep a time diary.<\/b> When you track exactly how you spend your time, you can see how much time you\u2019re wasting, which helps you reclaim lost time, and reflect on how to better spend your time in the first place.<\/p>\n 4. Say no to commitments that zap you of your time, energy, and attention.<\/b> The best way to get more time is to not introduce unproductive activities into your life in the first place. Run more interference against taking on low-return B.S.<\/p>\n 5. Remember that \u201cperfect is the enemy of good.\u201d<\/b> Your house will never be exactly 100% clean\u2014something will always be out of place. Particularly with low-leverage activities, know when to stop.<\/p>\n 6. Start a <\/b>maintenance day<\/b><\/a><\/span>. <\/b>Group all of your \u201cmaintenance tasks\u201d (laundry, groceries, cleaning, watering plants, etc.) together on one day of the week so you have more time to focus on higher-level tasks the rest of the week.<\/p>\n 8. Keep all of your emails five sentences or less<\/a><\/span>, and make a note of it in your signature.<\/b> Using this hack I\u2019ve blown through my inbox like crazy, and most people don\u2019t mind when you keep your emails short and to the point.<\/p>\n 9. Tame your inbox with <\/b>The Email Game<\/a><\/b><\/span>\u00a0if you use Gmail<\/b>.<\/b> The Email Game is a completely free web app that hooks into your Gmail account and gamifies answering your email.<\/p>\n 11. Stop organizing your email into folders<\/span><\/a>.<\/b> Searching your email client for emails has been shown to be way faster than filing email into folders.<\/p>\n 12.\u00a0<\/b>Learn to touch type<\/a><\/b><\/span>.<\/b> The average typing speed is about 40 WPM, and touch typing can boost that to 60\u201380 WPM\u2014a 50% to 100% increase. The time you save will add up very quickly.<\/p>\n 13. Track how you spend your time on the computer<\/b> with RescueTime<\/a><\/span> (Mac, PC, Android; free). You may be surprised by how much time you waste.<\/p>\n 14. Save a higher proportion of your income<\/a><\/span>.<\/b> This allows you to cut decades off of your working life, because you prioritize working less and retiring early over living a fancier life.<\/p>\n 15.\u00a0<\/b>Determine your\u00a0highest-leverage activities<\/a><\/b><\/span>. Make a list of all of the activities you\u2019re responsible for in your work, then ask: if you could only do three of those activities all day long, which ones would you pick? These are the three activities you should invest 80\u201390% of your time into.<\/p>\n 16.\u00a0<\/b>Shrink how long you\u2019ll do something until you no longer feel resistance to it<\/a><\/b><\/span>.<\/b> This is a great way to integrate new habits into your life. \u201cCould I meditate for 15 minutes? No, I feel resistance, I\u2019m not gonna do it. Okay, what about 10? Still too long. Okay, five? Huh, I don\u2019t feel resistance to that. I feel like I can sit for five.\u201d Boom.<\/p>\n 17. Work on tasks that are important, but not urgent<\/b>. Every day, do at least one task that is important but not urgent, so you can make sure you advance on your goals and not just put out fires all day.<\/p>\n 19.\u00a0<\/b>Make a procrastination list<\/a><\/b><\/span>.<\/b> Make a list of high-leverage activities you can do the next time you procrastinate. This will let you stay productive while your mind wants to push away the things you have to do.<\/p>\n 20. Live by the two-minute rule<\/a><\/span>.<\/b> The two-minute rule (from David Allen\u2019s Getting Things Done<\/a><\/span> system) says that when a task will take you less than two minutes, just do it\u2014don\u2019t add it to your to-do list or capture it for later.<\/p>\n 21. Schedule your free time<\/a><\/span>.<\/b> That might sound backward and something you don\u2019t want to do, but adding more structure to your free time has been shown to make you happier and more motivated.<\/p>\n 22.\u00a0<\/b>Determine the very next thing you need to do<\/a><\/b><\/span> by looking out for four things: the context you\u2019re in (work, home, cottage, etc.), how much time you have, how much energy you have, and what your highest-leverage tasks are.<\/p>\n 23. Be mindful<\/i> of how you spend your time.<\/b> Constantly check and reflect on how you spend your time (and energy and attention) throughout the day. I often do this by setting an hourly alarm on my phone.<\/p>\n 24. Schedule time when you completely disconnect from your work.<\/b> When you completely disconnect from your work, your mind continues to process your work, but in the background while you do other things.<\/p>\n 25. Spend more time planning.<\/b> For every minute you plan, you save five minutes in execution. When all you do is execute and you never step back from your work to plan, it\u2019s difficult to work smarter<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n 26. Know <\/b>what people are really saying<\/b><\/a><\/span> when they say, \u201cI don\u2019t have time for that.\u201d<\/b> When someone says they don\u2019t have time for something, it\u2019s not a statement about their quantity of time, but how important a task is to them.<\/p>\n 27. Wait a bit before sending important emails\/messages.<\/b> Give your mind time to collect and form thoughts, so you have time to make what you say more complete, valuable, and creative. The world won\u2019t fall apart, and you\u2019ll be able to get your point across much more strongly.<\/p>\n Energy is\u00a0the fuel you burn throughout the day to get things done. <\/b>There are a plethora of factors that influence how much energy you have on a daily basis, but every variable that effects your energy either affects\u00a0your body or your mind.<\/p>\n Here are several tactics to get more physical and mental energy\u2014both essential ingredients in how much you get done on a daily basis.<\/p>\n 28. Exercise.<\/b> In my opinion, working out is the single best way to get more energy. And it doesn\u2019t just energize you; exercise also combats disease, brightens your mood, and helps you sleep better. (Source<\/a><\/span>.)<\/p>\n 29.\u00a0<\/b>Eat better<\/a><\/b><\/span>.<\/b> What you eat has a huge effect on your energy levels. The worse you eat, the quicker you\u2019ll burn out, and the less energy you\u2019ll have to get stuff done. 30. Stop drinking caffeine habitually<\/a><\/span><\/b>. Caffeine begins to lose its effects when you drink it as part of your routine, but it\u2019s very effective when you drink it strategically (like when you need an energy boost or need to focus).<\/p>\n 32. Stop drinking caffeine four to six hours before you sleep<\/span><\/a>.<\/b> According to the FDA, caffeine \u201cusually reaches its peak level in your blood within one hour and stays there for four to six hours\u201d afterward.<\/p>\n 33.\u00a0<\/b>Drink more water<\/a><\/b><\/span>. Water boosts your energy, fires up your metabolism, helps you think, acts as an appetite suppressant, helps your body flush out toxins, reduces the risk of many diseases, clears up your complexion, and even saves you money! 34. Drink 16oz of water right after you wake up<\/span><\/a>.<\/b> Right after you wake up every morning, drink at least 16oz (500mL) of water. Your body just went eight hours without any fluids, and is likely dehydrated. 35. Keep <\/b>a food diary<\/b><\/a><\/span>.<\/b> People who keep a diary of the food they consume tend not to overeat, and \u201cusually eat up to a third less food than people who don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n 36.\u00a0<\/b>Get enough sleep<\/a><\/b><\/span>, even if that means sleeping in<\/b>. Sleep boosts your concentration, attention, decision-making skills, creativity, social skills, and health, and decreases mood fluctuations, stress, anger, and impulsiveness. There\u2019s also \u201cno difference in socioeconomic standing\u201d between early risers and night owls. 37. Say no to that nightcap<\/a><\/span>. <\/b>Drinking alcohol before bed lowers your sleep quality, which provides you with less energy the next day. Drink something else, or consume alcohol earlier in the evening.<\/p>\n 38.\u00a0<\/b>Set your office thermostat between 70\u00ba\u201372\u00baF (21\u201322\u00baC)<\/a><\/b><\/span>. This is the temperature that will make you the most productive.<\/p>\n 39.\u00a0<\/b>Set your thermostat to 65\u00baF (18.5\u00baC) overnight<\/a><\/b><\/span>.<\/b> Most studies recommend you set your thermostat to about 65\u00baF (18.5\u00baC) while you sleep, and think of your bedroom as a cave: cool, dark, and quiet. 40. Nap<\/span><\/a><\/b>. If you find your energy waning, or that it naturally dips at a certain time every day, take a short nap. Napping improves your memory, makes you more attentive and alert, prevents burnout, and boosts your creativity. 41. Constantly reflect on how much energy you have, and act accordingly.<\/b> When you constantly ask yourself how much energy you have, you can make adjustments to either recharge when you\u2019re low on energy, or take on bigger, badder tasks when you have a lot of energy. You\u2019ll also start to notice trends after a while. 42. Calculate your \u201c<\/b>Biological Prime Time<\/b><\/a><\/span>\u201d<\/b> (the time of the day you\u2019re the most productive) by charting your energy levels every day for a week.<\/p>\n 43.\u00a0Smile<\/span>!<\/a><\/b> Smiling boosts your immunity, makes you happier, helps you deal with stress and focus on the bigger picture, makes others trust you more, and of course, feels great. 44. Paint your office the right color<\/span><\/a>.<\/b> Science says you should paint a room blue to stimulate your mind, yellow to stimulate your emotions, red to stimulate your body, and green to stimulate a sense of balance.<\/p>\n 45.\u00a0<\/b>Limit your exposure to blue light<\/a><\/b><\/span> before bed.<\/b> Exposing yourself to too much blue light (from your smartphone, tablet, or computer) before bed is detrimental to your sleep.\n\t\t\t\t\tMoving forward, I\u2019m going to continue to run productivity experiments on myself and research the heck out of productivity, albeit at a smaller scale as I tackle other projects at the same time. To continue to follow along with my journey, visit my new little corner of the Internet at A Life of Productivity<\/a><\/span>.<\/div><\/div>\n![\"tea.001](\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tea.001-copy.png\")
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How you manage your time is a huge contributor to how productive you are, but all\u00a0three ingredients are absolutely essential if you want to be productive on a daily basis. That’s why there are a bunch of tactics that cover all three areas in this article.\u00a0You absolutely need all three ingredients to be productive.<\/p>\n\n
Hacks to get\u00a0more time<\/b><\/h2>\n
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7. Work no more\u00a0than 35 hours a week<\/a><\/span>.<\/b> Studies show that to be the most productive and creative, you should work 35 hours a week. Working longer hours can make you more productive, but only in the short run.<\/p>\n10. Register for <\/b>Unroll.me<\/b><\/a><\/span> <\/b>if you have a Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook.com account. Unroll.me rolls up all of your subscription emails into one convenient, daily email. I highly recommend it.<\/del> (After a large privacy violation, where\u00a0Unroll.me was caught selling users\u00a0email data<\/a> to companies like Uber, I can no longer recommend this\u00a0service.)<\/p>\nHacks to spend\u00a0time on the right things<\/b><\/h2>\n
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18. Work on Pomodoro time<\/span><\/a><\/b>. The \u201cPomodoro Technique\u201d is a time-management technique where you work on just one activity for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. It\u2019s incredibly effective.<\/p>\n![\"teahack.002-2\"](\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/teahack.002-2.png\")
<\/p>\nBody hacks<\/b><\/h2>\n
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31.\u00a0<\/b>Consume caffeine intelligently.<\/a><\/b><\/span> Drink caffeine over a longer period of time, drink water alongside caffeine, stay away from sugary energy drinks, eat very well when you consume caffeine, don\u2019t drink caffeine on an empty stomach, and wait before consuming a second coffee\/tea.
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