The right metric for human performance is effectiveness, not efficiency.Intentionally decide on the task at hand; intentionally perfect the conditions for working on that task; intentionally treat your body the way it needs to be treated.

Be Intentional

If we act on autopilot, unaware of the time and our surroundings, we are likely to gravitate to tasks that are easy or urgent.Identify decision moments, and pause and reflect on your true priorities.

Recognize Your Decision Points

<div>For peak productivity, we must tackle our work when we have the mental energy for it. Identify your two best mental hours, and intentionally schedule your important work during that time.</div>

Manage Your Mental Energy

<div>Our attention systems are designed to regularly discover what is new in our environment. To help you refocus, allow your mind to wander or take a few minutes to stare out the window. </div>

Stop Fighting Distractions

Focus as much on your physical health as your mental health.Stay hydrated, eat smaller meals more often, moderate your caffeine intake, exercise.

Leverage Your Mind-Body Connection

Create a physical environment that is restorative rather than distracting.Choose a quiet area, with bright and cool lighting and keep your desk uncluttered.

Make Your Workspace Work For You

<div>
You're stressed. I'm stressed. We're all "crazy busy" and to deal with increasing demands we work longer hours; we multitask; we track, measure and optimize. All the while we sacrifice other values, such as sleep and exercise, healthy eating and family time.
Josh Davis, Ph.D., author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Two-Awesome-Hours-Science-Based-Strategies/dp/0062326112">Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done</a>, doesn't believe that life has to be this way. In his opinion, "the typical and misguided response--which tends to fail--has been to expect ourselves to work constantly and pack more into our already packed days."
Davis formed his opinions from neuroscience research. He points out that:
<blockquote>
Efficiency is a metric for machines and computers. But science is revealing that humans are not just computers on life support. We have brains and bodies, and we operate according to biological needs. The right metric for human performance is effectiveness, not efficiency. [emphasis added] 
</blockquote>
Davis guides the reader through a routine based on intentionality: intentionally deciding on the task at hand; intentionally perfecting the conditions for working on that task; intentionally treating our bodies the way they need to be treated in order to work at peak efficiency.
More than that, he teaches people to schedule their days around what their bodies need no matter what. Because cognitive, physical and emotional demands can be so devastating to your productivity when they go unmet, he advocates meeting them intelligently and within a timeframe that works, for your work. Specifically, Davis offers five strategies for peak productivity.
Strategy 1: Recognize Your Decision Points. When we finish one task it is an opportunity to be productive. If we act on autopilot, unaware of time and our surroundings, we are likely to gravitate to tasks that are easy or urgent. The next thing you know you've handled a bunch of emails, but an hour has ticked away and the big strategic initiative sits untended to. Davis suggests that we learn to identify decision moments, and to pause and reflect on our true priorities.
Strategy 2: Manage Your Mental Energy For peak productivity, we must tackle our work when we have the mental energy for it. Davis suggests that we identify our two best mental hours, and intentionally schedule our important work during that time.
Strategy 3: Stop Fighting Distractions This contrarian advice doesn't mean we can check social media updates endlessly, rather Davis says that our attention systems "are designed to regularly refresh--to be ready to discover what is new in our environment." Letting our mind wander or taking a few minutes to stare out the window may actually help us to refocus.
Strategy 4: Leverage Your Mind-Body Connection Our mind and our bodies are intertwined and Davis encourages us to focus as much on our physical health as our mental health. He recommends the usual: stay hydrated, eat smaller meals more often, moderate doses of caffeine and moderate exercise.
Strategy 5: Make Your Workspace Work For You In order to get at least two awesome hours of productivity, Davis' final recommendation is to create a physical environment that is restorative rather than distracting. Choose a quiet area, with bright and cool lighting (rather than warm and dim) and keep your desk uncluttered.
The key to breakthrough levels of productivity is tied to our biology. Davis doesn't actually think you should only work two hours a day. Rather, the premise is that by setting up ideal conditions, you can use your best two hours to knock out your most important work and find success, if only you set the scene.
What's your time management personality? Take the <a href="http://kevinkruse.com/time?utm_source=huffpo&amp;utm_medium=blogpost&amp;utm_campaign=Time%20Profile">Time Management Style Assessment</a> to improve your productivity. </div>

You're stressed. I'm stressed. We're all "crazy busy" and to deal with increasing demands we work longer hours; we multitask; we track, measure and optimize. All the while we sacrifice other values, such as sleep and exercise, healthy eating and family time.

Reach Peak Productivity With These 5 Strategies

Be Intentional

Recognize Your Decision Points

Manage Your Mental Energy

Stop Fighting Distractions

Leverage Your Mind-Body Connection

Make Your Workspace Work For You

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