Translator’s note : The translation of the first article from the blog “A Year of Productivity” was favorably received by the Habra community, and I was asked to translate a few more articles from this blog. The article below is the largest and closest to the practice, its translation was delayed for several months. Like last time, I recommend reading in comfortable portions, writing down (or copying somewhere) tips that you want to try to put into practice.

"Khaki" time

Toward the end of the year of studying productivity, I realized that each article I wrote could be assigned to one of three categories: how best to manage time, energy, or attention.

Time management is a good source of your productivity, but all three ingredients are absolutely essential if you want to be more productive on a daily basis. That is why in the article you will find a set of techniques from all three areas.
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To begin with, here are a few of my favorite tricks on how:
- get more time;
- spend time on the right things.

How to get more time?

1. Plan less time for more important tasks. This seems illogical, but in reality it is not. When you limit the amount of time you can spend on a task, you force yourself to spend more energy on a task for a shorter amount of time, which allows you to achieve results faster.

2. Stop watching TV. On average, a person spends 13.6 years of his life on watching TV — you can spend this time on more meaningful tasks.

3. Keep a "diary of time." If you track how you spend your time, you can see how much time is wasted. This will help you cope with wasted time and understand how you can spend more time more efficiently.

4. Say no to commitments that destroy your resources of time, energy, and attention. The best way to have more time is not to start doing unproductive things. Resist taking up the unproductive r ** o.

5. Remember that "the best is the enemy of the good." Your apartment will never be 100% cleaned - something will always be out of place. Know where to stay - especially for not-too-useful tasks.

6. Assign a “business day”. Group all your chores (washing, shopping, cleaning, watering flowers, etc.) together on one of the days of the week - then you will have more time for important tasks on other days.

7. Do not work more than 35 hours a week. Studies show that for greater productivity and creativity, you should not work more than 35 hours a week. Recycling can lead to greater productivity, but only in a very short term.

8. Do not write emails longer than five sentences, and mention it in the signature. Using this hack, I go through my "inbox" like crazy, and most people absolutely do not mind when you write short and to the point.

9. Tame your inbox with “The email game” if you use Gmail. “The email game” is an absolutely free web application that is embedded in your Gmail account and gamifies the process of answering emails.

10. Register with unroll.me if you are using Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook.com mail . Unroll.me collects all your regular subscriptions into one convenient, daily letter. I highly recommend this service ( Translator's Note: I tried and unsubscribed from 80 mailings in five minutes. Cool! )

11. Stop sorting your letters into folders. It is proved that the search for letters in your email client is much faster than searching by ordered folders.

12. Learn to blind print. The average print speed of about 40 words per minute; blind printing can increase it to 60-80 words per minute, and this increase by 50-100%. You will very quickly notice the time saved. ( Translator’s note: I fully support and recommend the online or offline version of Solo on the Keyboard , there are both online and offline versions )

13. Track what you spend time working on your computer using the free RescueTime application (for Mac, PC or Android). You may be surprised when you find out how much time you are wasting.

14. Save a larger portion of your income. This will save you several decades of working life if you decide to work less and retire earlier by doing more useful things.

How to spend time on more useful things?

15. Determine the most significant tasks for yourself. Make a list of all the tasks you are responsible for at work, then ask yourself: “If I could only do three of them throughout the day, what would I choose?” You should invest 80-90% of your time in these three tasks .

16. Reduce the amount of time you spend on something until you feel you are doing it without tension. This is a great way to bring new habits into your life. “Will I be able to meditate for 15 minutes? No, too hard, I will not do that. Ok, what about ten? Still too long. Maybe five? Yes, I can do it without stress. I can sit for five minutes. ” Boom.

( Translator’s note: the author has in mind the things that you need to force yourself to perform to form good habits. The idea is that you don’t have to force yourself to do a lot at once - regularity is much more important ).

17. Work on important, but not urgent tasks. Every day do at least one important and not urgent task - then you will be sure that you are moving forward, and not just putting out fires every day.

18. Work on the "method of tomato." The Tomato Method is a time management technique in which you work on one task for exactly 25 minutes, after which you take a five-minute break. She is extremely effective.

19. Make a to-do list for procrastination. Make a list of useful things you can do when you prokrastriniruete. This will allow you to remain productive, even when your brain rejects the things you need to do. ( Translator’s note: the author suggests dividing “constructive” and “destructive” procrastination. As “constructive”, he cites such examples as dismantling the table or attending an aerobics lesson, as “destructive” - toys for mobile phones and looking at photos of girls on Facebook. For interested in the topic he offers site “Structured Procrastination” ).

20. Live according to the “two minutes rule”. The rule of two minutes (from David Allen ’s book “How to put things in order” ) says that if a task takes you less than two minutes, instead of storing it in your to-do list, you just need to do it.

21. Plan your free time. It may sound wrong, like something you don’t want to do, but it has been proven that adding structure in your free time makes you happier and more motivated.

22. Choose the following task , focusing on four things: the context in which you are (work, home, cottage, etc.), the amount of free time, energy level and what important tasks are now facing you.

23. Spend your time consciously . Constantly track and think about how you spend your time (as well as energy and attention) throughout the day. I usually do this by setting the alarm on my phone once an hour.

24. Plan your time, completely disconnected from work. When you are completely disconnected from work, your brain continues to work on work tasks, but in the background - and you can do other things.

25. Spend more time planning. Each planning minute spends five minutes on execution. If you only do , without looking back to work with the plan, it will be difficult for you to work smarter.

26. Understand what people mean when they say “I don't have time for this.” If someone says that he does not have time for something, then in fact they say that the task is not very important for them.

27. Wait a bit before sending letters or SMS. Give your brain time to complete and shape your thoughts. Then you will make what you write more complete, meaningful and creative. The world will not fall apart, and you will be able to convey your thoughts more strongly.  

"Khaki" energy

Energy is the fuel that you burn during the day in order to do something. There are a large number of factors that affect the amount of your daily energy, but any factor that affects energy either affects your body or your brain.

Here are a few tactics for gaining more physical and mental energy.

Body khaki

28. Exercise. From my point of view, exercise is the best way to get more energy. In addition, they only give you energy - they help fight disease, improve mood and help you sleep better.

29. Eat right. The way you eat has a big effect on your energy levels. The worse you eat, the faster you burn out, and the less energy you have left to work.

30. Stop drinking coffee out of habit. Caffeine begins to lose its effect when you drink it out of habit, but it is extremely effective when you drink it strategically (for example, when you need a powerful influx of energy or attention to focus).

31. Consume caffeine intelligently. Drink coffee longer; drink coffee with water; avoid energy drinks with sugar; eat well when you use caffeine; do not drink coffee on an empty stomach; wait before drinking a second coffee or tea.

32. Stop using caffeine 4-6 hours before bedtime. According to the FDA, caffeine typically reaches its peak of action within an hour and lasts four to six hours after that. ( Translator's note : remember that caffeine is not only coffee, but also tea. )

33. Drink more water. Water boosts your energy, accelerates metabolism, helps you think, suppresses appetite, helps your body flush out toxins, reduces the risk of many diseases, improves the complexion and even saves you money!

34. Drink half a liter of water immediately after waking up. Immediately after you wake up, drink at least 500 ml. water. Your body has just spent 8 hours without food, and most likely it is dehydrated.

35. Keep a “food diary.” People who write down what they eat usually do not overeat, and usually eat up to 30% less than those who do not keep such a diary.

36. Sleep enough, even if you need to sleep a little longer. Sleep improves your concentration, attention, decision-making skills, creativity, social skills and health; reduces mood swings, stress, anger and impulsivity. There is also no difference in the socio-economic situation between the “larks” and “owls”.

37. Say no to a glass for the night. Alcohol before bedtime affects the quality of sleep, so the next morning you will have less energy. Drink something else or drink alcohol earlier in the evening.

38. Install air conditioning in your office at 21-22ºC. This is the temperature that makes you the most productive.

39. Set the air conditioner to 18.5ºC overnight. Most studies recommend setting the thermostat to 18.5ºC while you sleep. Imagine your bedroom a cave - cold, dark and quiet.

40. Take a nap. If you feel that your energy is dying out, or that it regularly goes down at the same time of the day, sleep a bit. Short sleep improves your memory, makes you more alert and alert, prevents burnout and improves your creativity.

41. Keep an eye on how much energy you have and act accordingly. If you constantly ask yourself how much energy you have, you can make corrections — either recharge when energy is low, or engage in more ambitious, complex tasks when you have a lot of energy. After a while, you will also begin to notice patterns.

42. Determine your "biologically best time" (the time of the day when you are most productive), keeping a schedule of your energy levels during the week.

43. Smile! A smile enhances your immunity, makes you happier, helps you cope with stress and focus on the bigger picture, increases the level of trust of others, and generally you feel better.

44. Paint your office in the right colors. Science says you have to paint a room blue to stimulate your brain, yellow to stimulate emotions and green to stimulate a sense of balance.

45. Do not expose yourself to "blue radiation" before bedtime. Too much "blue radiation" (from a smartphone, tablet or computer) before bedtime is harmful.

46. ​​Get more natural light. Natural light helps you sleep better, reduces stress levels, increases energy levels and allows you to focus better.

47. Download f.lux . f.lux shifts the colors of your computer to the red spectrum after the sun sets where you live. This allows your body to secrete more melatonin, improving the quality of your sleep. ( Translator's note: it turned out to be quite hard for me to read from the reddish screen, so I rather quickly turned off this application)

Khaki of Reason

48. Bring changes to automatism through habits. I believe that the automatism of new behaviors is the key to preserving them. Here is my interview with Chalz Dahigg, author of The Power of Habit , on how to form new habits.

49. Invest in stress reduction strategies that really work , such as exercise, reading, listening to music, time spent with friends and family, massage, nature walks, meditation, and time spent on a creative hobby.

50. Take more breaks. Breaks allow you to escape from work, recharge, come up with new ideas; stop, think about your work, and ultimately make you more productive.

51 . Start small. I think one of the keys to greater productivity is to make one small change at a time. The less change you try to bring into your life, the higher the likelihood that you will actually make it.

52. Understand when you are senselessly cruel to yourself. David Allen, who wrote “How to put things in order,” says that 80% of what you think of yourself is negative. Try to understand when your cruelty to yourself is meaningless, to make your journey to greater productivity more joyful.

53. Make more friends in the office. Friendship in the office increases your job satisfaction by an average of 50%, increases your involvement 7 times, and also increases your chance to get a promotion by 40% ( link in English ).

54. View your calendar for the last couple of months to see who you’ve met with. Which of these meetings gave you the most amount of happiness, energy and drive? Arrange more meetings with these people.

55. Lower your expectations. This may sound a bit strange, but lowering your expectations gives you more confidence, allows you to relax, have more fun and not worry about proving something to others.

56. Realize that others do not care. When you realize that most people do not care about your success, money, clothes, house and car, you will find that you are much freer than you thought before. You can take more risks, because your life is not predetermined, and you can be much freer to do what you like.

57. Eat consciously. Conscious nutrition gives the brain to understand that you will soon be full and satisfied, and prevents overeating, depleting your energy resource.

58. Use imaging techniques. My favorite visualization - imagine that you have just received an urgent message, and tomorrow you will have to leave the city for a month. What will allow you to make sure that you have done everything you need before you leave? No matter how you answer - start working on this task.

59. Aim for conflict, not avoid it. You are most productive when you have an average level of conflict and stress - not too little, and not too much.

60. Download Coffitivity (online, Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac). It was proved that the background noise of a coffee house increases your productivity and creativity. Coffitivity simulates the same atmosphere on your computer.

61. Every day, remember three things for which you are grateful. It trains your brain to look primarily positive, not negative in this world, which makes you more energetic, happy and productive.

62. Every day, write down one of the most successful experiences. Writing a positive experience that you have had in the last 24 hours allows your brain to relive it anew - this makes you more positive and happier.

63. Sometimes let yourself relax. Nobody is a robot, and you should not take the task of increasing productivity too seriously. You will probably even realize that when you relax, you behave more productively.

"Khaki" attention

The final part of our puzzle is managing our attention. This is one of my favorite ways to increase productivity, which consists of two parts:
1. Quality control your attention
2. What do you really spend your attention on?

Here are a few tactics that will help you with this and that:

Manage your attention

64. Meditate. Meditation is the art of constantly returning your attention to a single object, which in my opinion pumps your attention muscles better than anything else. Meditation also relaxes your mind, increases blood flow to the brain, increases the amount of gray matter in the brain, makes it easier to enter the “flow state”, fights with procrastination, and even (proven!) Improves exam results. Here I wrote instructions on how to start meditating.

65. Stop working in multitasking mode. Multitasking is detrimental to focus and productivity, it also increases the likelihood of errors, affects your memory and increases the amount of stress.

66. Write down everything you need to remember : the things you need to do, the things you are waiting for, as well as other ideas and promises that burden you. This will give you more mental space to think about bigger and better things.

67. Keep a list of everything you are waiting for - this will give you confidence that nothing will be forgotten, and you will worry much less about the things that you need to control.

68. Use the "brain recording ritual." Turn off all devices, set the timer for 15 minutes, and lie down with an empty notebook and pen. Record all unrecorded cases to alleviate your mental clutter.

69. Consume foods that help improve concentration. Nine of my favorites: blueberries, green tea, avocado, green salad, oily fish, water, dark chocolate, flax seeds and nuts.

70. Do the "cleaning to the original state." When you finish doing something, do the cleaning to reduce resistance to start the same thing next time. For example: clean the kitchen after cooking or gently fold the jogging supplies you will need tomorrow morning.

71. Slow down. It's pretty easy to switch your brain to autopilot, and rush from one stimulus to another. Suspend and do things consciously in order to better manage your attention and become more productive.

72. Turn off the Internet completely when you need to do something. 47% of the time on the Internet accounted for procrastination. If you need to do something big - disconnect from the Internet.

73. Fight temptation, rehearsing your actions in advance. To focus on long-term things instead of short-term temptations, rehearse this situation in your head in advance (for example, “not to call in at Mac Donalds on the way home”).

74. Use your smartphone less. Your smartphone drains attention and distracts you much more than you think. It also impairs your communication, and is a low-impact activity. I conducted a three-month experiment on using a smartphone for one hour a day , and since then my life has changed.

75. Put your smartphone in "offline mode" (flight mode) between 8 pm and 8 am . This ritual will help you become more conscious, fall asleep faster, reduce the amount of harmful, blocking melatonin, blue light before bedtime and focus you on tasks of greater value before and after you wake up.

76. To enter the state of flow (the magical state in which you are completely absorbed in what you are doing), do things that set tasks more or less relevant to your level of ability.

77. Do less. When you distribute your attention, energy and time to fewer things, you add more to each thing you do and generally achieve more.

78. Look at the pictures of cute young animals. It has been proven that viewing pictures of animals increases your cognitive and physical activity, because they focus more on your attention.

Focus on the right things.

79. At the beginning of each day, identify three things you want to achieve (not tasks, but real achievements). When you limit yourself to three achievements per day, you force yourself to prioritize and focus only on what is really important.

80. Instead of focusing on doing more, focus on doing the right things. Find tasks that correspond to what is important to you, so that you know why you want to do them.

81. Develop a “growth mindset . ”According to research, the main quality that separates successful people from unsuccessful ones is whether they think their intelligence and abilities are limited.

82. Communicate with “future self” . People usually think of themselves as the present and themselves of the future as two completely different people. Fight this trap by creating a “memory of the future,” sending messages to the future and presenting yourself to the future.

83. Create a "list that does not require the brain." Collect a list of things that do not load your brain (cleaning, washing, etc.) and do them all together, while listening to something productive (audiobook, TED lecture, etc.).

84. Ask for advice from yourself. Tips cost a little, but usually tips that are worth listening to are those that you give to yourself.

85. Make your goals smarter ( SMART-er ) . If you want to set goals better, make sure they are specific (Specific), measurable (Measurable), achievable (Attainable / Achievable), realistic (Realistic) and time limited (Time-Bound). This will make it easier for you to identify and reach them.

86. Stop tracking the progress of your goals. Tracking progress reduces the likelihood of achieving the goal. Instead: see if your actions serve as proof that you are committed to the goal; besides, remind yourself what is the reason why you want to achieve this goal.

87. Do not set traditional goals, set "process goals". The goals of the process are what you really are.must do in order to achieve a greater goal (for example: not “lose 10 kg of weight”, but “eat no more than 1500 calories daily”).

88. Stop mindlessly surfing the internet. The Internet can suck up much attention. Practice more conscious walking on the Internet, taking more breaks, slowing down and focusing on what you need to accomplish.

89. Turn off meaningless messages about the arrival of e-mail. Email notifications do not take you much time, but they take a lot of attention away — every time you receive a letter, you are distracted from what you are working on now.

90. Announce "day off from mail".If you need to go into the shadows in order to work on the project for a day or two, set yourself an answering machine (indicating the mobile number for an emergency call there), and then vigorously take on what you need to do.

91. Answer letters in large chunks. Schedule work with mail several times a day, instead of processing letters as they arrive. This will allow to turn work with mail into several blocks of time in your schedule.

92. When you meet with someone in person, completely turn off your phone. This is a great way to show a person that he is important to you, and that you are ready to give him 100% attention.

93. Define your "corner habits."“Corner habits” change and reorganize other habits when you integrate them into your life. Some examples: cooking, working on relationships with your partner and friends, early awakening.

94. Make your bad habits more expensive by agreeing with someone about fines for habits that are bad for both of you. This allows you to focus on the cost of bad habits instead of their benefits.

95. Reward yourself. Introducing new behavior and habits is difficult, but it has been proven that rewarding oneself with following new habits helps strengthen them.

96. Anticipate the obstacles to new habits.When you introduce new habits into your life, make sure that you think carefully about what obstacles or obligations may stand in your way.

97. Make the access time to stimuli more than 20 seconds. In this case, you need more effort to get to the stimulus, and this desire is easier to overcome.

98. Practice active listening. Fully concentrating on what someone is telling you, you create stronger relationships, evaluate people better, avoid misunderstandings, and lead more meaningful conversations.

99. Consider your life as a set of "zones".Every day you invest your time, energy and attention in 7 zones: mind, body, emotions, career, finances, relationships and pleasure. Treat these zones as your portfolio to ensure that you do not reinvest in some zones and underinvest in others.

100. Always work with a goal in your head. The goal behind your actions is the shaft at the tip of the arrow. When you constantly wonder why you are doing what you are doing, you can make sure that your actions are directed towards a meaningful goal for you.

Books recommended by the author:

1. Charles Dahigg “The power of habit. Why we live and work this way, and not otherwise. ”

2. David Allen“ How to put things in order. The art of productivity without stress "

3. Mihai Ciksikentmihaii" Flow. Psychology of optimal experience