Over the years I have gathered up more advice on productivity than I can shake a stick at. Though shaking a stick at advice is rarely a productive response! So, I thought I’d start off 2024 by giving you a top 10. The Top 10 – Basic advice to be more effective in 2024. Being productive isn’t really that difficult. What IS difficult is following through on what we KNOW is good advice. So, if you want to be more effective and more productive in 2024, the ten things below would be a great place to start.
The first two items on this list are probably the most important. The last one is my favourite.
1. Figure out what is most important.
Being ‘productive’ or just being busy can mean that you get a lot of stuff done. Being effective means that what you get done actually matters. I do not mean that everything you do ‘moves the needle in your industry’. Nor do I mean that everything is a big impact task. It can mean that, but not ONLY that. What I mean is that it is something that serves the people around you, that benefits them. Something that moves you forward towards your goals. Habits that maintain and serve things that are significant in your life. If you do not give time to figuring out what matters, then you will give your time, energy and focus to things that do not.
2. Write. It. Down.
If you don’t write it down then you will not remember it. If you do not write it down then you will not focus on it. Whether it is tasks or appointments. It might be big aims, values and goals. It might be a shopping list, or a quote to remember. It might a web address or the name of a book to read. Write it down.
3. Organise things so you will find them again – and quickly
Honestly, whilst I love the pen and paper approach, digital tools are so good at this, I would go so far as to say you are massively hindering yourself by not using them. How often have you spent hours trying to find a recipe on a piece of paper or a packing list that basically contains everything you need? When I have done regular food shopping in the past, I made a categorised digital list of everything I might buy and each time just removed the things I didn’t want or need. So much quicker than starting from scratch every single time.
Search functionality within your apps is getting a lot better, but the weakness is that you have to know something exists in order to find it. A simple organisational system (hierarchical is my recommendation) means we will often find relevant things in a folder, even if we had forgotten about them. By all means use search. But organise it as well to help you here.
4. Manage your energy, not just your time
Our energy and focus will ebb and flow throughout the day and week. Understanding this is key to making effective plans. If your plan does not reflect how your energy and focus changes, then you are setting yourself up for a bad time. Also, taking breaks, drinking water and doing a short burst of exercise can give us a short term energy boost. Improving energy for the medium term can be done by getting good sleep, ensuring a good balance of activity and rest through the week and by considering how what we eat and drink is going to impact us. Longer term, improving our overall health, fitness and mood can change the game when it comes to energy levels
5. Plan your work and work your plan
Critical to being effective is to have a good plan. I have published much content about this. But, if you do not follow your plan, then what’s the point? I’m a bit of a hypocrite right now – full disclosure! I’m supposed to be going out for run in 20 minutes but I am writing this post instead. That said, if your plan says at 3pm you will pause what you are doing to spend 30 minutes dealing with communication, and you don’t do that, then everything can get thrown out. Plan your work and then work your plan.
6. Your calendar is king.
That’s a small ‘k’ on purpose. Your calendar is not THE King, but it should be a significant tool in how you use your time. Therefore, if something matters to you, put it on your calendar. Often, the only things we put on here are meetings. But, how often do we look at some of things we have to do, or even areas of focus like fitness and exercise or relationships with family and think we never have time for them even though they are MORE important? Well, put them on your calendar! Then, as far as you can, don’t allow things to disrupt what is on your calendar.
7. Schedule focus time through the week. Every day if you can.
We are most productive when we focus. Context switching is a killer. I’ve read articles that suggest a 2 minute distraction can actually rob you of up to 20 minutes of focus. Multi-tasking is just context switching with a different name. Don’t do it! Normally, it takes me about 15 minutes to get into something when I start. Once I am into it, I can focus for about 90 minutes before I start to drift. Then I need about 10-15 minutes to tie things up so it’s easier to pick it up again. So, I schedule my focus time in 2 hour blocks. If I really need to focus, I leave my desk and go to the library round the corner or a cafe.
Recently, after 30 minutes of focus, without distraction, in a coffee shop, I solved a problem that had been bugging me for months and was able to implement a changed methodology for a regular task. This change made the task 3 times quicker and saved me about 4 hours a week. If focussed time matters – schedule it!
7. Know your limits!
I’ve said it before that most of us plan our time as if we are superman and will get green lights all the way. We think we can do far more than is possible and we plan as if nothing will go wrong. This is a bit stupid. A big thing I need to sort out in the next month is that I will routinely plan to do more than I actually achieve. This is inevitable. But, when I have 50 items on my list for the day and only routinely complete 25, I schedule them for tomorrow. Now I have 75 items for tomorrow. And it compounds. Know your limits and be guided by them.
8. Remember – Busy doesn’t mean productive
I’ve known plenty of people who were always busy. Some of them, I have no idea what they actually did with their time. And when it came to the core work for their actual role, it was obvious this did not get a lot of their attention. They were very busy, but not productive or effective in their role. So, remember this. Just because you complete 75 tasks today, doesn’t mean that you had a productive day. You might have just been busy.
9. Stay flexible
Unexpected events, new opportunities, remembering something you forgot, colleagues that need help. All of these things and more can present themselves to you at any moment. So, plan your time. Work your plan. But stay flexible. Be ready to respond to crisis. Be available to help colleagues in need. Make the most of an opportunity if it is worth it.
10. Never Stop Learning
Thomas Frank sells T-shirts with this on. It is his slogan. Honestly, you don’t become more productive or more effective by reading a blog post or watching a video and implementing its ideas. This does help. But, you become more productive by accumulating advice, tips, knowledge and crucially, wisdom over a longer period of time. Wisdom is knowledge owned and applied, not just known.
And, not just learning in the realms of productivity but across the board. Some of it will be more directly applicable than other stuff will be, but anything that serves to benefit your life, lifestyle, mindset and well-being will positively impact your effectiveness. Learning and gaining wisdom helps you understand what is important. It helps you perform better, bit by bit, in all the different areas that are important. It can help prepare you for when life implodes on you.
Never stop learning.
So that’s the top 10 – Basic advice to be more effective in 2024. I hope and pray that it helps you.
