5 min read
Struggling with procrastination? Wished you could get your hands on a magical formula to productivity and get every pending task done? Well, it’s not going to happen if you just keep wishing and don’t get on your feet. Just observe the life of Elon Musk. He runs multiple companies without losing focus. How does he do that? He follows an insane strategy for that. Musk has designed his own work ethics and some productivity secrets to get more done in less time. I know, I know Elon Musk is a guy smarter than average people like us with enormous ambition and drive. But that’s too true that if we just incorporate some of his secrets into our daily lives, we can also change come up with a productive routine.
What makes us nonproductive?
Before I share the secrets to insane productivity followed by Elon Musk and other successful entrepreneurs, I would like to bring your attention to the reasons why most people aren’t productive. Understanding the true pitfalls of not getting things done is the first step to prepare yourself for being productive. So here some:
- They try doing too many things at one time.
- They overbook and under-allocate hours in the day.
- They easily get distracted.
If you have any of these symptoms in you, just read these top 5 secrets to insane productive:
1. Start your day by doing critical work
For a person like Elon Musk, there must be lots of things to do in a day, right? That is exactly why the man starts his day by doing the most critical work first. His workday starts at 7 am and the first thing he does is reply to the critical emails. He addresses them in an order that does not block the work and progress of his people.
Now you may have different responsibilities than Musk. You need to think smart and act smart by starting your day with the tasks that are most important. Find your MIT (Most Important Tasks) and hit them one by one.
2. Don’t just focus on managing time, manage your energy too
It’s extremely critical to align the work schedule with the fluctuations in your energy level. In short, you must schedule your workday in accordance to when you feel the most energetic or focused in the day. Some people are energetic between 9 am to 11 am. I suggest you track your energy level throughout the work day for a few days to make the most out of yourself.
3. Work less
This might sound counterproductive but it is what it is. CamMi Pham, a Quora user says that when was younger, she used to study and work for 20 hours a day. Sounds crazy, right? As she got older, she realized that working hard is not the right path to success, not always. You are simply killing yourself by working that hard and if you are not even there where you picture yourself, then you must stop this instant. You need to work smarter not harder. No wonder why the famous Henry Ford in 1926 cut the workweek to 40 hours. He understood that working for long hours could hurt the productivity of his workforce. The truth is we can barely tolerate working 40 hours a week. If the works go beyond this limit, our productivity falls, eventually. But that’s not the only problem, such a routine affects your overall wellbeing.
4. Get rid of your current to-do list
I am not judging, you must be very good at making your to-do list but if it’s brimming with items you didn’t do yesterday, last week or last month, you need to get rid of it.
To be honest, if that task is rolling over the next day and the next day for a long time, it is isn’t really important enough to be on the list anyway. So, get rid of your old list and make a new one. If you want your day to be productive, you must limit your list to 1 to 3 items only. Make a promise to yourself that you won’t move to the second task until you complete the first one. Never jump onto the easiest tasks first, start with the tough ones.
5. Use tech to fight tech
Social media and our smartphones are there all the time to distract us from doing what’s important. But hey, why not use technology to fight the distractions caused by technology? There are multiple apps, widgets, and plugins out there that can help us with productivity. For instance, look for an app that can filter your emails for you. In that way, you won’t have to spend extra minutes filtering your inbox trying to find the emails that are important and require an immediate response.
You might not be fully in control of your hectic workdays, but with these secrets to insane productivity, you can certainly control how to spend these days. Over the course of time, I am certain that you will see a boost in your day-to-day productivity.
