Putting off hard tasks - Deepstash
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Productivity Hacks

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Putting off hard tasks

Saving the hard jobs for later in the day can mean they don’t actually get finished at all.

The best time to do the hard work is first thing, as that is when you have the most willpower. Getting your least favorite job out of the way is likely to put you in a great mood for the rest of the day!

295

576 reads

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Multitasking

Research has discovered that most people become less efficient while attempting to multitask.

Try concentrating on one task at a time for great, productive results.

231

775 reads

Thinking about the big picture

Thinking about the big picture while you’re working can leave you feeling worried and overwhelmed.

Save the life planning for when you aren’t working, and while you are working, try to focus on the immediate task you are doing. 

274

767 reads

Browsing the web

It can be easy to get side-tracked and find yourself online. Many people plan on briefly checking social media or checking the answer to a question, but end up staying online for much longer than intended. 

Write down what you wanted to look at online, put it to the side, and then finish...

286

822 reads

Treating cheating as a reward

If someone treats themselves to a dress after a week of saving, this undermines the achievement they have made. 

Try to view the act of you achieving your goals as the treat. 

291

1.18K reads

Over-planning

Planning every hour of the day in advance to fit everything in can make you stressed out if you start running behind schedule.
Try to plan about five hours of important work to do, and leave the rest of the day to deal with any other issues. This means you get both e...

300

663 reads

Planning unnecessary meetings

Unnecessary meetings can severely deplete productivity out of someone’s working day. 

Instead of arranging a meeting, see if you can speak with the person in another way. Skype, texting, emailing and phone calls are all efficient ways to communicate on...

188

587 reads

Hitting the snooze button

When you first wake up, your body starts releasing alertness hormones to get you up and ready for the day. Every time you go hit snooze, you slow down this process.

279

733 reads

CURATED FROM

IDEAS CURATED BY

ethho

I wish I knew about the 80/20 rule much earlier.

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Other curated ideas on this topic:

Hard tasks require a task set

Hard tasks require a task set

The brain needs ready access to the information, plans, and procedures it will be using to solve complex problems. This collective task knowledge is known as a task set. But the task set is not always immediately available.

Returning to a hard task...

Set the tone of the day by “Eating the frog”

Once you’ve prioritized your most important work, it’s time to actually choose how to attack the day.

How you start the day sets the tone for the rest of it. And often, getting a large, hairy, yet important task out of the way first thing gives you momentum, inspiration, and energy to keep ...

Test whether your assumptions are valid.

The best way to determine that their product is useful is to put it in front of the people most likely to use it. This can mean market testing, or it can mean asking people on your own team--ideally, those in roles it's designed for--to give it a go.

Treat your prototypes not as

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