22 Productivity Tricks and Tools You Love
Last week, in a giveaway sponsored by Manage Your Day-to-Day, we asked you to share your favorite tips and tools for getting things done. Tons of what we can only assume are super-organized, task-master Riot readers chimed in, and five lucky participants won copies of the book.
Here are 22 of the best productivity tricks and tools you love.
Tips
Use the Pomodoro Technique
Schedule tasks in 30-minute blocks on your calendar
Break large projects into smaller steps to prioritize, organize, and have the satisfaction of finishing things along the way.
Change locations to keep your brain awake and engaged
Do the worst item on your list first. Everything else is easier from there.
Write everything down, following the Getting Things Done method
Create and stick to a basic daily schedule to give yourself structure
Only check email at set times throughout the day
Turn off desktop email alerts so you’re not interrupted while completing other tasks
Delete or archive emails you don’t need immediately to keep your inbox clean
Turn off the wi-fi on your computer when you’re working on a task that doesn’t require connectivity
Take a deep breath and just do it!
Tools
A timer–on your phone, microwave, whatever–to keep track of how long tasks take to complete and plan accordingly in the future
A good old-fashioned list on paper–nothing more satisfying than crossing off completed items
Wunderlist–to keep to-do lists separate from email and other work programs
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Self-Restraint and Mac Freedom–programs to shut off social media
Evernote app for collecting lists, notes, reminder photos
Omnifocus task manager for Mac and iOS
Todoist–desktop and mobile task management, Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android
Use LastPass to keep all passwords in one place
Google Keep to save and access important info in one place
Did your favorite make the list? What else should we add?
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