14 SIMPLE PRODUCTIVITY HACKS

1 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

Have you ever had an important piece of paper that you shuffle from one side of your desk to another instead of dealing with it in the present? Then, 2 days later, do you find yourself moving it back again?

Productivity guru and GTD founder David Allen suggests living by the 2-Minute Rule. Many of our immediate responses are to shuffle rather than to just act. Break that habit and make a new one — take 5 seconds to assess whether something will take you less than 2 minutes. If it passes that test, do it then and there.

Just file the paper. Just make the appointment with the dentist. Just respond with 3 sentences to your co-worker’s email. Just do it.

Being more productive isn’t always about completely re-engineering the way you work. In fact, what’s probably slowing you down isn’t a huge procedural issue, but a bunch of small, anti-productive habits that add up over the course of your day.

Fixing small challenges can have a big impact. Try a few of these daily productivity hacks, and see how much of a difference the little things can make.

GETTING MORE FROM YOUR DAY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE SO HARD.

What to do:

Look at emails that are still in your inbox from last week. Take 5 of them and, with each, determine whether you can act within 2 minutes. If you can, do it. If you cannot, wait until later. Remember, no one will ever fault you for a reply email that is too short.

1. Respect the Two Minute Rule

2 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

We’re not supporting emailing while driving, but we all have a few minutes here and there during our day when we’re waiting -- in the line at Starbucks, for the subway, etc. The underlying and most important thing about checking email on the go is that you make your “desk time” sacred. This is when you get real work done. Often, emails are not “real” work.

Reply, forward, archive, and delete from your phone. Send follow-ups from the Contactually app for iPhone and Android. If a message requires more, you can save it for “desk time.” Then, you’ll have a much smaller pile that actually requires your attention rather than your typical overwhelming unopened inbox.

People send us links to articles and videos they think we might enjoy all the time. Following those links, reading through articles and watching videos causes interruptions that disrupt our workflow and hinder productivity. Yet, completely ignoring them can appear unthoughtful and even rude.

That’s where Pocket and Reading List come in. Both tools allow you to save links for later, when you have time to enjoy them. Everything syncs with your smart-phone and articles are downloaded for offline access,so you can read through them on a plane or anywhere else that you don’t have an internet connection.

What to do:

If you have a Mac and use Safari, try the Reading List feature. Otherwise, sign up for a free Pocket account. It will take about three minutes, but will save you lots of time by helping you stay focused on the task at hand.

What to do:

• Don’tcheckyouremailfromyourcomputer today (yes, you will likely develop an anxious twitch by not ever pressing refresh).• Setasidetimetomorrowmorning to answer any emails from today that require more than what you could type or do on your phone.• DownloadContactuallyforyoursmartphone to manage your referral network on the go.

2.CheckYourEmailOn-the-Go

3.FreeYourselfFromInterruption

3 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

How many times have you tried to plan a meeting with someone and gotten the response, “I’ll have to check my calendar”? Or had to send several emails and follow-ups to figure out when everyone is available? Planning a meeting can be a time-consuming and frustrating process, but it doesn’t have to be.

Whenisgood is a user-friendly, customizable availability survey that tells you what time works best for everyone with minimal effort on your part. GoogleCalendar is a powerful scheduling tool with a convenient invitation feature. Combined, the two services offer a complete solution to the aforementioned problems, allowing you to determine mutual availability for several invitees and track invitations with ease.

On average, professionals spend over 13 hours a week on email alone. Unless we’re lucky enough to have 30” widescreen monitors already on our desks, most of us end up switching between numerous tabs whenever we compose an email (or any kind of document, for that matter) referencing something else.

This process is far more inefficient than you might initially think. In fact, studies have shown that using multiple displays can increase your efficiency by up to 50%. Affordable external monitors are widely available, and many integrate seamlessly* with your existing hardware.

(*Remember to check if your computer has an input port that will work with the monitor you choose. If not, adapters typically cost around $30.)

What to do:

Considerpurchasingasecondmonitorforyourcomputer. Doing so will save you hours every week, which will pay for the time and expense of your purchase many times over.

What to do:

TryusingWhenisgoodandGoogleCalendartoplanameeting. Creating a Whenisgood takes only five clicks (no account necessary), and inviting others to a Google Calendar event takes four. The applications work independently, so if you don’t like or use Google Calendar, still be sure to give Whenisgood a try.

4.TryaSmarterSchedulingApp

5.UseaSecondDisplay

4 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

Dropbox’s user base consists of over 200 million people, including 4 million businesses and 97% of the Fortune 500. If you aren’t using Dropbox already, it’s time to start. By backing up your files in the cloud, Dropbox works like a virtual hard drive, ensuring that you never lose a file again. You can access your account from anywhere, so you won’t get caught emailing things to yourself or using other inefficient workarounds. Sharing files is as easy as sending a link, or inviting other Dropbox users to share a folder.

Bryan Guido Hassin, CEO of Smart Office Energy Solutions, realized that he was very productive on intercontinental flights, where he would turn off his cell phone and get work done faster than any day at the office. Now, he declares one day each week “Airplane Time,” where he keeps his schedule clear and works the same way as if he was in the air -- with no meetings, phone calls, or interruptions.

Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, does just the opposite on airplanes. He reads books, watches movies, plays Minecraft, and stares off into space, but he doesn’t work. He says that it recharges him for the travel andwork days ahead, and relieves stress that he otherwise might feel about airplane travel.

Both practices hold a valuable lesson for us as we strive to become more productive: blocking off substantial amounts of time for either focused work or uninterrupted play helps us to achieve more.

What to do:

• Scheduleafewhoursof“airplanetime”forthis week, whether it’s for work or play -- but not both! During that time, turn of your cell phone, only use WiFi if you’re desperate enough to pay fourteen dollars for it, and only use the bathroom if you’re desperate enough to risk turbulence.• Keep small quantities of peanuts on hand.

What to do:

SignupforDropbox. It’s time. If you already have Dropbox, download the Dropbox app for your smartphone. You’ll have your files at your fingertips, from anywhere.

6.GetDropbox

7.WorkLikeYou’reOnanAirplane

5 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

Collaboration on documents used to entail emailing files back and forth and trying to keep track of the most current version. This process was inefficient to say the least, especially when things were shared among more than two people. One document could suddenly split off into five different versions as different editors made overlapping changes.

GoogleDrive (formerly Google Docs) gives you the tools to overcome those frustrations. It allows multiple people to make changes to the same document, spreadsheet, or presentation simultaneously and see other editors’ changes in real-time. Changes are saved instantly and are accessible from anywhere with internet access. While it may not have the same robust formatting capabilities as Microsoft Office, it’s easy to export Google Drive files to disk and add the finishing touches in Word.

It’s becoming more and more popular to take pictures of things you want to remember —directions, receipts, parking spaces, business cards, confirmation numbers, the list goes on. The problem is, our phones and computers have no built-in search feature that allows us to conveniently organize and access that information quickly. As a result, we waste time manually sifting through camera rolls, emails, and desktops. Evernote solves that problem.

Evernote acts like a virtual bulletin board where you can save practically any kind of media or information — not just pictures. Files of any type are saved as “notes,” backed up in the cloud, and are instantly accessible from anywhere. Features like image search, offline access, and Evernote Hello give you powerful ways to access information and achieve Evernote’s trademark goal… to “remember everything”.

What to do:

GetEvernote for your computer, smartphone, and/or tablet. Time spent learning its basic features will be saved over and over when you can easily find things you previously had to spend time looking for.

What to do:

Use your existing Google account to start using Google Drive. Collaborate on drafts the way it should be done – in the cloud, and in real-time.

8.CollaborateOnline

9.RememberEverythingwithEvernote

6 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

Though email, texting, and social media are not universal evils, they can often drain a lot of your time, dilute your attention, and keep you from getting things done. The danger of these kinds of media lies in their capacity to keep your mind saturated and inhibit you from absorbing larger chunks of information, such as a brief or file you have to read through. That’s the reason why reading through your Facebook news feed is so easy, but closing the window and getting back to work can be so tough.

Distractions happen, but if you’re careful, you can build up your ability to get through longer and denser material by avoiding a constant stream of bite-sized media. Think of your mind like a sponge: if you stop pelting it with droplets of information that keep it saturated all the time, it will be able to absorb more. So try some basic anti-distraction techniques today, and see if it helps you devote more focused attention to the task at hand.

Computers give us virtually limitless access to media and distraction, so it’s easy to wonder “where did the time go?” at the end of an unproductive workday. If you want to be consistently productive, you have to be honest with yourself and face the answer to that question. Only then will you be able to tweak your practices and improve your own efficiency.

Remember, YOU are a work in progress. Small steps towards better work habits will go a long way, and there’s no better time to start than today!

What to do:

• At the end of the day, takefiveminutestoanalyze yourinternethistory from today and see how you spent your time. Count and write down how many times you checked your email and social networking accounts.• Setareminderso you don’t forget to do this.• Get a rough feel for when you are least productive during the day by identifying whenyouaremost susceptible to digital distraction.

What to do:

• Limityourselftothreelogins to email and social networking sites today. • Scheduleloginsonyourcalendar and uncheck “keep me logged in” on your accounts to help you stay disciplined.• Sendconcise,informationaltextmessages instead of engaging in conversational texting.

10.DodgeDistractions

11.TrackYourProgress

• Considertheconditionsthatarepresentduring thosetimes(i.e. team meetings in the morning, or tiredness after lunch).• Blockoffthirtyminutes in tomorrow’s schedule for two of those less-productive times. Group all of your email and social networking into those times.

7 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

Powerpoint is no longer the exciting leap forward in presentation technology that it once was. Today, people associate Powerpoint decks with bad lectures, one-sided communication, and even the opportunity for a good nap. It’s also very difficult to work audio and video into Powerpoints, or to design one that looks different from all the others.

Productive meetings demand a more engaging way to present material, like Prezi. Prezi’s Zooming User Interface allows the presenter to navigate through a 3D landscape, zoom in and out of presentation media, and construct a linear argument or storyline more powerfully than it was ever possible to do with a set of slides. Prezis can be edited by 10 people simultaneously and accessed from anywhere, so they can’t be left at home accidentally. It’s easy to work in audio and video, and you can even present on an iPad, making Prezi useful for one-on-one interviews as well.

Do you ever find yourself getting to the end of a workday only to realize that most of your to-do list hasn’t been crossed off? It’s unlikely that your work habits are the only culprit. In fact, most people make mistakes writing their to-do lists that make them impossible to complete in one day.

The first way to write a better to-do list is toseparateprojectsfromtasks. Projects are things like “learn Java” or “replace bookshelf,” which have no place on your daily to-do list. Writing a project list will help you keep track of your long and medium-term goals.

For your task list, only write things you are definitely going to do. Chances are, you are definitely going to deposit your paycheck, but you might not clean off your desk for a while. Don’t let the latter task become a roadblock item on your tasks list. Leave it on your projects list for now.

What to do:

• Write a separate projects list and tasks list.• Break down your ongoing projects into sequential tasks and write the next step for those projects on today’s to-do list.• Be realistic about what needs to get done and what can stay on the projects list for now.

What to do:

TrydraftingaPrezi, and make your next meeting more productive with a beautiful and unique presen-tation that will hold everyone’s attention like a Powerpoint never could.

12.TryPrezi

13.FixYourTo-DoList

8 14 Simple Productivity Hacks

The range of apps that make our lives easier can also make things needlessly complex. We find ourselves with six windows open and our smartphones out, switching between apps like desperate mediators trying to get everyone to work together.

Thankfully, there’s an app for that too. Zapier allows users with zero affinity for computer programming to automate information transfers between apps in virtually every way. Want to be notified every time someone fills out your Google form poll? Done, in 30 seconds or less. Wouldn’t it be convenient if your boss’s email came up on your to-do list app (or Google Calendar, or Evernote, etc.) all by itself? Easy. You can even have attachments from a specific sender saved straight to your Dropbox all by themselves.

What to do:

CreateaZapier account and create a “zap” to make sure one item on your to-do list does itself from now on.

14.AutomateEverything

Easy, right? With just a few changes to some common tasks, you’re more productive, less distracted, and probably a lot happier! And if you like hacking your life for increased productivity, we think you’re going to love Contactually — the easy, powerful CRM designed to help you get more from your network.

Try it today at http://www.contactually.com

YOU’REALREADYONYOURWAYTOGETTINGMOREDONE!