a woderfull thing has happened to me just the other day:
i have been tagged by paul enderson on the productivity meme. thanks paul! i really appreciate it!!
this is a long going meme all over the meme so i will try share things that work for me and haven’t already seen it around:
1. wake up! don’t just lay for 5 more minutes… it’s deadly for your mood during the day. eat well and drink a lot of coffe. morning exercises don’t work for me… but if you like it… do it 
2. early creativity: do the most creative design tasks earlier in the morning. when you’re not yet stressed up with yesterday’s deadlines and new tasks comming from everywhere.
3. don’t email: don’t read emails as they get into your inbox (except those from clients regarding the current design tasks). interruptions are productivity killers! try also to keep that im as low as possible as that is also a focus killer. i try to take hourly emails and communciation breaks so that when i do something i focus only on that. (hei! i know this is hard!!)
4. the law of the list: make the task list at the end of each day for the next day. this way you know what to think of when brushing your teeth in the evening .
complete the list during the current day as new design tasks arrive. after each break, give priority to short new tasks. BUT be sure that they are short. if they take more than 3 minutes then leave them be. schedule for later. don’t even start them.
5. google homepage: i’ve set up my google homepage in order to see the analytics panel, google reader, gmail, and… a “to do list ” plugin. so i have everything regarding to webee on that tab. keeping everything together helps me get all the information in a glance. so i don’t need to open more firefox tabs …
6. be happy… when you’ve completed a long going design tasks congratulate yourself! have a beer, or jus go out and relax!! you deserve it!
off course this is not all… but i hope it’s usefull and new. if you need more information on this, try to read:
- aaron’s 5 tips
- chris’s flow state
- tara’s productivity secrets
BUT until that, please share your experience: what was your worst productive day?
why was it so unproductive? how could you improve it? what are the greatest productivity tools?
and… to keep this going, i’m tagging robcubbon, adnan from blogtrepreneur, connor wilson and ahsan.
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comment “webee’s 5 productivity boosters for design tasks”
Wake up and drink a lot of coffee? Haha, I like it a lot!
i like my cofe early in the morning with lots of milk. after this treat… i’m up for an entire day.
I think don’t check your statistics every 15 minutes is something i have to learn to do… don’t email is another one.
The best part of your post to me is “interruptions are productivity killers” and “have a beer”.
I can imagine webee lining up a row of espresso’s in the morning.
It’s a good idea though, number one. I’m terrible in the mornings and I have to get up on a round number. If it’s 7.22 I wave to wait until 7.30 - if i miss that and it’s 7.33 I have to wait until 7.45… and so on.
It can take me an hour to get out of bed! And im not joking.
Really nice coincidence
It was a pleasure to tag you mate - you did a great job!
@moxy:
well… if it’s to be honest… i was doing it too at the beginning!
but it time… i got over it and now i get more work done this way
and yes, i really enjoy a good beer too.
@aaron:
hahaha! we’re in fact talking about a pot of coffee. and i’m not talking about a biig cup. i’m really talking about a pot!
PS: did you notice that you’ve posted your comments at the same time? (4:45 pm) isn’t that a nice coincidence…
@paul:
thanks paul, it’s been my pleasure. really. i can’t wait for the next
Hi webee, It’s the first time I’ve been tagged! I’m probably the last person in the world to talk to about productivity but I’ll give it a try.
I like the idea about putting everything on the Google homepage - I usually end the day with about 12 tabs on Firefox!
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Good point…
In the morning I tend to be lazy… and just the look of my bed will somehow pull me to it…
So I spend most of my time outdoors in libraries, starbucks or any offices I can access!
This literally boosted my productivity…
Cheers,
Frédéric Panek
Increased productivity means increased work amount. I prefer to go for creativity, not for productivity. In our* case, I don’t believe in the “industrial approach”.
*our = web professionals
great tips. I like the one about waking up early and not snoozing additional hours!