Crazy Productivity Tips From Successful People
There are hundreds of productivity hacks on the Internet. If you’re a productivity fanatic, like me, you know most of them are the same old tips being churned over and over. But what about the things that we don’t know of — the experiments, weird discoveries, and those “Yay!” moments of successful people around the world who have found a goldmine when it comes to being productive and managing time.
Here are seven lesser-known productivity tips from successful people that might seem crazy at the start but are actually working for them (and might work for you too).
Here are seven lesser-known productivity tips from successful people that might seem crazy at the start but are actually working for them (and might work for you too).
Doing pull-ups
Juan Palacio, the CEO of Bloomsybox.com has come up with an innovative pull-up bar in their office in Miami. Whenever they feel things aren’t going well at work, they do pull-ups. Once during Mother’s Day season in 2019, they received 7000 orders with the date set in the wrong field. Their team had to change all these 7000 orders manually after a long day’s work. So, they divided themselves into teams. While one team was working, the other team would do rounds of pull-ups. This kept the teams energized and moving. This saved their organization from a loss of $45,000 to $50,000 on shipping.
Takeaway: Inculcate movement in your normal workday. Be it in the form of pull-ups, push-ups, or just going on a walk through a scenic route.
Imminent death of your laptop
Do you find yourself turning into a ninja when the deadline starts coming closer? There’s a scientific reason behind it. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, deadlines can help increase performance. The law states that the stress you experience from a deadline also known as “arousal level” will motivate you and improve your performance. But that does not mean you burden yourself with too many deadlines otherwise you’ll cross the point of diminishing returns and be too stressed to complete anything.
David Niu, the CEO of TINYpulse takes advantage of this law by grabbing his laptop and going to a cafe shop without the laptop’s charging cord. When he knows he only has a few hours before the battery runs out, he gets distracted less and goes faster into the flow state of work. He says, “I’d rather make the trip back with an achievement than a dead laptop.”
Takeaway: Gamify your productivity by imposing small challenges on yourself. Not only will you be able to work faster, but you’ll increase your concentration power as well.
Separate your thoughts by the brain side
Former Nike CEO, Mark Parker, used to carry around a notebook to jot down his thoughts. You’d ask yourself: “Why a notebook when he could easily jot down his thoughts on his laptop or mobile?” His purpose was a little different than ours. He used to brainstorm on the left side of his notebook (to work the left side of his brain) and doodle or sketch on the right side (to indulge the right side of his brain). Why? Because the left side of our brains is more focused on logical or analytical thinking while the right side is prone towards creative and intuitive thinking. He knew that being an entrepreneur, he needed both of these aspects to run a successful company.
Takeaway: Find out activities that can help sharpen both sides of your brain. You’ll end up performing better at work and coming up with innovative ideas often.
Adopt the 3X24 rule
Divya Parekh, a motivational speaker that has worked with many entrepreneurs, advocates a 3X24 rule that helps make faster decisions and save time, energy, and money in the process. She advocates that when you have to make simpler decisions like what to wear or what to order when you’re browsing through the Starbucks menu, give yourself just 24 seconds and evaluate your choice. On the other hand, if you have to make a complex decision, give yourself 24 minutes to think things through. Sit in peace during that time with a cup of coffee and reflect on things. If you’re faced with a life-altering decision, give yourself 24 hours.
She says that this approach not only helps you make decisions speedily but it helps avoid the stress and anxiety that typically accompany you when you delay making these decisions.
Takeaway: Assign relevant deadlines for your decisions and at the same time, give yourself a chance to reflect on several things and options.
Commute to work while working from home
While most of us are working remotely due to the pandemic, we are blessed not to go through those long commutes. But Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx, does something strange. She fakes her morning commute when she’s working from home. Why? Because she believes she gets her best thinking done in the car. She would often get in the car, drive around for a while, and come back home.
Takeaway: There must be activities you perform that gets your mind running and come up with creative ideas. It could be listening to music, going for a walk, or taking a shower. Strategize these activities so that you could get the best out of them.
Schedule “Do nothing” time
Jeff Weiner, the former CEO of LinkedIn, always made sure to leave gaps in his schedule in a normal workday. He feels it’s the single most important productivity tool that he uses. In these buffers, he makes sure he’s not attending any meetings, checking emails and no one disturbs him or calls him during this time. These slots help him do his job well by giving him enough time to think. He proves that being productive is not the same as being busy.
Takeaway: Most of the time, we are just reacting to things be it emails, deadlines, or even personal work. By scheduling buffers in our daily to-do list, we can get enough time to think through things and actually see where we are progressing.
So, what are you waiting for? Schedule your “Do Nothing” time on Brutask today and find if these crazy productivity tips work for you or not?
