One Simple Tip to Make You More Productive NOW

Everyone is looking for a quick fix, and for the most part they don’t exist. There are no silver bullets, no one-stop shopping to get more productive. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t small tips that are easy to implement and make a big difference.

One of the best is David Allen’s simple suggestion — if something takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately. Forming this small habit can have a huge payoff.

Some tasks really are that small. Shoot a reply email. Confirm an appointment. Move laundry from the washer to the dryer. Send a quick text message. Do your lunch dishes.

If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it and do it right now. You can be sure it will get done instead of forgotten on a to-do list (or worse, a mental list), and you never have to think about it again.

Energy Management

Productivity is about energy management, not time management.

Doing an easy task immediately boosts our efficiency in two directions. Obviously it removes the task from those we still need to do. But it also gets the task out of our brain and off our to-do list. Do not underestimate the mental energy required to look at that item on a list two, three, four times before you actually do it. Doing easy, brief tasks immediately eliminates mental energy that can really add up and drain you.

Productivity is about energy management, not time management.

I apply this to email in “You’re Doing Email Wrong.” If you’re looking at any email more than once, maybe twice, you’re doing email wrong and it’s draining more mental energy than you know.

We all have the same number of hours in a day, but our energy rises and falls throughout the day. The secret to productivity is not somehow creating more time, but using our energy as efficiently as possible. The 2-minute rule is excellent for energy management by clearing away small things instead of putting them off.

There ya go — the closest to a true quick fix I’ve found. The next time something comes across your plate that will take less than 2 minutes, do it and do it right now.

Jacob blogs about productivity and rest at https://jacobzoller.com