Productivity Tips & Facts Curated by Overachievers from Trusted Sources
Cut through the clutter of workplace productivity advice with Deepstash. Here, you'll find a collection of ideas that showcase what worked for actual users and not just internet regular tips & tricks. Curated from real-world experiences and diverse sources like books, podcasts, videos, and articles. It’s a community-driven bite-sized knowledge sharing, packed with insights on increasing work and personal productivity.
Access Over 21,000 Unique User-Curated Productivity Tips & Facts
Deepstash’s idea cards distill complex productivity concepts into accessible insights which are a perfect form factor for sharing and flicking through productivity facts and tips. Users tap into a daily stream of insights like these, either to enhance productivity at work, school or just make the most out of their free time.
Get the best from factor for daily productivity tips and interesting facts with our idea cards!
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Create a schedule for your day and stick to it!
Chunk: Group like tasks together into blocks of time, then focus on those specifics.
RPM: Short for Results-oriented/Purpose-driven/Massive Action Plan: a system to uncover what you want and then reap the rewards.
Harness the power of habit and productivity will become second nature.
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If you become more productive and start finishing work earlier people may expect you to find more stuff to do to fill in the remaining hours. You can leverage that extra work into a promotion or raise – or convince your boss to adopt a telecommuting plan so you can work from home.
But productivity goes beyond work. Being more productive in your life means having more time to do the things you like.
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Polyphasic sleepers break up sleep into multiple short phases, which allows for less sleep overall and significant increases in productivity.
The amount of sleep in each phase can vary, with some people sleeping only in 20-minute naps and others grabbing larger chunks of sleep and then supplementing with naps.
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Working longer hours doesn’t necessarily increase productivity. It’s been proven to lower productivity, lead to errors and generate stress.
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When you spend hours at your desk every day, even the smallest features of your workspace – such as the position of your monitor or the height of your chair– can greatly affect your productivity and even your health.
With a few adjustments you can improve your working environment and keep your desk from killing you.
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It’s the constant nagging feeling that you should be doing more. And if you’re not doing everything, then you’re a lazy slacker who will never reach your goals. -- Scott H. Young
That’s simply not true. Even small efforts have a cumulative effect.
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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.
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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 off the task you were doing before checking.
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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.
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Those that do multitask the most are the worst at it.
Productivity is defined as, “having the power to produce.” By that definition, multitasking is the opposite of productivity because you are more prone to distractions and have less power to produce what you need to produce.
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Only around 17 % of people are able to accurately estimate the passage of time.
Using the right tool can help by letting you know exactly how much time you spend on daily tasks, including social media, email, word processing, and apps.
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Taking scheduled breaks can actually help improve concentration.
Some research has shown that taking short breaks during long tasks helps you to maintain a constant level of performance.
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If you see a task or action that you know can be done in two minutes or less, do it immediately.
Completing the task right away actually takes less time than having to get back to it later.
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The average office worker spends over 31 hours each month in unproductive meetings.
Before booking your next meeting, ask yourself whether you can accomplish the same goals or tasks via email, phone, or Web-based meeting.
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This goes for any unexpected "bonus" time you may find on your hands.
Instead of Candy-Crushing or Facebooking, use that time to pound out some emails, create your daily to-do list, or do some brainstorming.
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It's common for entrepreneurs to get hung up on attempting to perfect a task.
It's better to complete the task and move it off your plate; if need be, you can always come back and adjust or improve it later.
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Set aside time for responding to emails, but don't let them determine what your day is going to look like.
Have a plan of attack at the start of each day, and then do your best to stick to it.
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No one can be expected to resist the allure of an email, voicemail, or text notification.
During work hours, turn off your notifications, and instead, build in time to check email and messages.
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Researchers at Florida State University have found elite performers (athletes, chess players, musicians, etc.) who work in intervals of no more than 90 minutes are more productive than those who work 90 minutes-plus.
They also found that top-performing subjects tend to work no more than 4.5 hours per day.
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Outfitting an office with aesthetically pleasing elements --like plants-- can increase productivity by up to 15 percent.
Jazz up your office space with pictures, candles, flowers, or anything else that puts a smile on your face.
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Brief interruptions appear to produce a change in work pattern and a corresponding drop in productivity.
Minimizing interruptions may mean setting office hours, keeping your door closed, or working from home for time-sensitive projects.
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You have 2-2.5 hours of peak productivity every day. You may actually be 30% more effective at that time. For most of us, this happens in the morning.
Those are the hours when you should be working on your main goals. Why would you want to waste that on a conference call or a staff meeting?
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If you know you can’t do that scary thing right now, do not turn to social media or video games.
Tell yourself it’s okay to avoid it — as long as you’re doing the #2 thing on your to-do list.
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Many people stay busy because that's the norm for them, and they cannot imagine themselves sitting idly. To avoid the busyness trap:
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Highly productive professionals share the same clusters of habits:
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Age and seniority highly correlate with personal productivity.
Habits of seniors include:
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To be more productive in a way that won't burn you out over time, you have to understand how to be more efficient. Productivity often leads to working harder, while efficiency focuses on working smarter.
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Set goals that go beyond simple quantity measures. Find other ways to work smarter that could lead to significant productivity increases.
It is better to do less and accomplish more than to do more and accomplish less. Consider how you do every task during the day, regardless of the size.
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Fixing employee productivity in the industrial age, when most workers were handling machinery and it’s parts, was a tedious but doable process. The managers had to fix the people who were making mistakes or were inefficient through systematic management.
Today, in the age of software and intellectual property, when half of the workforce is made up of knowledge workers, the old practices are of no use.
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The basic productivity formula(productivity= output divided by input) worked well in the industrial age as the output and input were clearly defined and measurable.
Today’s leaders need innovative solutions to measure and improve productivity in a knowledge-based workplace, as the measurement of output and input is not what it was.
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When most people want to improve their productivity, they make small changes, like creating a daily schedule or waking up early. However, you can also increase your productivity by moving abroad.
Moving to a country with a less expensive cost of living can enable you to work less, thereby devoting your spare time to other projects.
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The first hour is the most important part of your day. It impacts your mindset by setting the tone for the rest of the day. A routine designed around your goals will always trump one that is based on habits you haven't thought about.
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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.
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If you had a unproductive day then you probably procrastinate the next day so any hacks to have a productive day without distraction, here are 10 hacks for a productive day
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There is nothing better than the good ol’ “minimise distractions, maximise productivity” rule. Put your phone on airplane mode and turn off your email notifications on your laptop when you’re studying. The constant buzzing of social media and news pulls us out of our concentration, making it harder to be efficient.
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They say always tackle the most difficult task first, and while that statement makes plenty of sense, it might at times hinder your productivity. Remember that time you spent an entire day on that one killer tutorial when you could have tackled three simpler ones? Yup, we’ve all been there. Beyond allocating your tasks to do, why not allocate the amount of time you have instead? This way, you can tackle more tasks in a reasonable time, without feeing burnt out.
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And while we’re on the subject of making lists, there is a whole plethora of productivity apps and project trackers in the market today to help us allocate our time better. Use them wisely. Where apps such as Evernote keep everything from shopping lists to lecture notes, others such as Asana are perfect for group work with their prompts on due dates, colour coded projects and lists of subtasks. Not to mention the highly underrated joy of checking numerous items off your task list.
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Some of us prefer to start our days bright and early, others prefer to burn the midnight oil. These times where your motivation is at its highest is called the “golden hours”. Find your “golden hours” and use it to get the most work done. This “golden hour” rule also applies to the workforce. While we may not get to choose what time we come in and leave office, we can make use of our most ideal surroundings to recalibrate our “golden hours”. It could be the calm of the morning before your coworkers arrive, or midday when everyone is in the thick of the momentum.
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Saying “no” may sometimes make one appear selfish, but what you’re actually doing instead is saying “yes” to yourself. Helping others is great, but not when you end up causing more stress for yourself. If your plate is already full, learn to say “no” when your groupmate asks you to pull more than your allotted weight in a project. It’s better to do one job well, than to do multiple jobs badly.
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Trying to achieve multiple tasks at one time may feel like we’re accomplishing plenty when we’re busy, like trying to read your lecture notes while catching up with the news on TV. But what we’re actually doing is switch-tasking instead—going from one task to another in rapid succession. You often realise you have ended the day having accomplished and retained nothing at all.
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There’s something more powerful than a cup of coffee and that’s a good night’s rest. While young people may be known to stay up till unearthly hours of the morning, getting a good night’s rest goes a long way to ensuring you’re more productive throughout the entire day. If you’re already clocking enough hours of shut eye yet still wake up groggy and tired, check your sleep area. Is the light from the street shining into your room? Are your neighbours too noisy? Take measures to ensure that you don’t just clock enough hours of sleep but also have a comfortable sleeping environment.
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Many people try to find the perfect productivity system, hoping that it will help them better manage their work and mental health. However, there is no universal productivity system. For example, a remote worker may need a different approach to someone commuting to work.
Everyone should intentionally design a system based on their needs by using existing systems and adding personal touches.
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GTD was created by David Allen and is about taking your ideas, tasks and to-dos and organise them into manageable tasks.
How to deal with tasks:
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Time blocking helps to set aside chunks of time for specific goals. It can be used with other productivity systems.
To use it, just block off time in your existing calendar.
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Sometimes, we are unsure how to handle a lengthy task list.
The Eisenhower Matrix help you prioritise your tasks based on the following:
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In the Moscow Method, you list all your tasks, then categorise them as follows:
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Projects can be managed with a Kanban board. Make three columns, To Do, Doing, and Done. Then split your tasks between them.
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This method was popularised by Jerry Seinfeld, who would write a joke every day. This method is about marking an X in your calendar over each day that you achieved your goal.
This method works well to create new habits.
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Go through the list of tasks and ask yourself:
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Let's define productivity. Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. We often assume that productivity means getting more things done each day. Wrong. Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important.
Being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything.
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If you take a moment to think about it, you’ll probably realize that you are better at doing certain tasks at certain times. What type of energy do you have in the morning? Afternoon? Evening? Determine what tasks each energy level and time of day are best suited for.
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Or on your colleague's desk. Or at the very least, put it somewhere that is out of sight. This eliminates the urge to check text messages, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This simple strategy eliminates the likelihood of slipping into half–work where you waste time dividing your attention among meaningless tasks.
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Have you ever noticed how you feel groggy and sluggish in a hot room? Turning the temperature down or moving to a cooler place is an easy way to focus your mind and body. (Hat tip to Michael Hyatt for this one.)
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The ultimate productivity hack is saying no.
Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. This statement reminds me of the old computer programming saying, “Remember that there is no code faster than no code.”
The same philosophy applies in other areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.
This is not to say you should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say yes to many things we don't actually want to do. There are many meetings held that don't need to be held.
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Below is a list of the major productivity hacks and their effectiveness as per the Productivity Youtuber Ali Abdaal.
Life Changing
Essential
Useful
Nice to have
Works for others, Not for me
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One of the simplest but most effective habits to increase your productivity is to identify your top 3 targets for the day. When you clearly identify your priorities, your entire day will be much more focused and purposeful.
So, before the workday begins, take one minute and ask yourself the following question:
Which 3 things, if achieved today, get me a big step closer to reaching my long-term goals?
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One of my most productive rules is that the morning is for making, and the afternoon is for managing . In the morning, I do my writing, work on my courses, and perform other ‘making-type’ tasks that require my maximum performance.
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Productivity experts like Brian Tracy advise that you do your most demanding task first thing in the morning (eat a frog).
Ignore emails, eat breakfast, meditate… Whatever you decide to do, ensure you have a solid morning routine which sets you up for a productive day.
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Our brains aren’t built for multitasking so stop doing it — it’s counterproductive and a productivity killer.
You can start increasing your productivity today simply by focusing on one task at a time and giving it your all before moving onto the next task.
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Surprisingly, scheduling regular breaks can improve your productivity.
Studies show that if you’re working on a long task without taking a break then your performance will suffer.
A study by DeskTime found that the top 10% of productive workers worked an average of 52 minutes before taking a 17-minute break.
So, try taking short breaks and you should see an improvement in your concentration levels.
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