18 Habits of Highly Productive People: What Efficient People Have in Common

• Procrastinating on tasks—both small, nagging ones and large, challenging ones
• Boring work that needs just to get done
• Responding to email and other messages while working
• Staying motivated and energized throughout the entire work day
• Focusing and finishing the most important projects on their plates

1. Focus on most important tasks first
2. Cultivate deep work
3. Keep a distraction list to stay focused
4. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to identify long-term priorities
5. Use the 80/20 rule
6. Break tasks into smaller pieces
7. Take breaks
8. Make fewer decisions
9. Eliminate inefficient communication
10. Find repeatable shortcuts
11. Learn from successes as well as mistakes
12. Plan for when things go wrong
13. Work before you get motivated or inspired
14. Don’t multitask
15. Fill the tank — recharge
16. Sharpen the axe
17. Manage your energy (not just time)
18. Get better at saying “no”

Laura Earnest of Whole Life Productivity  had this to say on the importance of prioritization as a productivity habit:

“Let me say that I distinguish between efficient and effective, but that both are needed for peak productivity. Efficient is doing things right and effective is doing the right things. So the most productive people work on the high value tasks, making sure that how they are doing those tasks is the best way.