When you're first learning how to be productive, remember that slow and steady wins the race. It takes time to develop productivity skills, so go easy on yourself. Thankfully, there is a lot of expert advice out there about how to boost your productivity level and exercise your time management skills.
Some of the most successful people in our generation learned how to make the most of their work hours and boost their productivity. Many of them have shared their secrets with us so we can take the same steps to meet our productivity goals.
Steve Jobs, the infamous founder of Apple, was a big proponent of minimizing distractions to obtain greater focus and make the most of the limited number of hours in a workday. He recommended improving focus by "saying no to the hundred other good ideas that are there." His top strategy was to focus on the one or two most important things while letting go of hundreds of less important things.
Mark Zuckerberg, the New York-born co-founder of Facebook, says you need to set a goal and make space for it. This is one of the best ways to boost your productivity. Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. Some make better use of it than others.
When you're learning how to be productive, remember to make time for the daily tasks that matter most. Prioritize those to be sure they get done, then fill in extra time with smaller, less important tasks.
Another great productivity tool comes from David Allen, the author of "Getting Things Done." As the name of his book suggests, David is a time management guru. He came up with the two-minute rule, which is a simple, but brilliant, concept.
Applying the two-minute rule may help you avoid procrastinating so you can start actively achieving your goals. The two-minute rule dictates that any essential task that will take two minutes or less should be done right away instead of being put off.
This is a great way to get small tasks out of the way first thing in the morning. It's often a mountain of small tasks (such as responding to an email, watering a plant, or feeding a pet), that can overwhelm us when they clutter up our "to do" list. Getting them out of the way first can help us feel better prepared to face the more daunting tasks of the day.