Productivity Tip – Set a Timer

This will be nothing new to anyone who’s done research on improving their productivity, but it’s a great habit to get into. If you’ve never tried this, just do it for a day and you’ll be amazed at how much you get done.

Thanks to Andrea Warner for today’s tip:

Get yourself two egg timers, or some other type of external timer. Don’t use your computer clock – go spend the 2 dollars to get an external timer.

Set the first timer to 45 minutes. Set the second one for 15 minutes. Don’t start either yet.

Shut down twitter, facebook, email, phone, web browser, or anything else that will distract you. Go to the toilet and have a glass of water next to you. You won’t be leaving your desk for the 45 minutes, so be ready.

Start the timer and work on whatever task you have set yourself. Don’t do anything else, no matter how urgent it seems. Don’t go off at a tangent, don’t start anything new, just work on the task until it’s finished.

If you finish the task before the 45 minutes is up, go onto the next task, etc until the alarm goes off on the timer.

Start the second timer (the one for 15 minutes). Do whatever you want during this time. Things like stretch, walk around, have a chat at the water-cooler, fire up twitter/facebook/email, make plans for the evening with your friends, send me a tweet thanking me for this article (try the link lol). Just relax during this time – you earned it.

When the timer goes off, start the 45 minute timer again and repeat the process.

At the end of the day, make a list in your business journal about what you got done during the day. Prepare to be amazed.