33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity

[JJH]

Excellent post, Steve.

My absolutle favorite that's helped me many times is number 28, Insanely bad. Kills perfectionism every time and gives you (ironically) a great first draft of whatever you're doing.

[Iamsuperman]

Thank you!

[Sam988]

Great article, i'm particulary bad at rule number 26, sticking to something until i'm 100% done with it, it seems something more interesting always shows up.

[ArthurHung]

Is currently printing on my printer and will be used synergetically with 20: Gap reading. Morning shaving while sequentially reading choice Pavlina articles, just thinking about it makes me feel more productive

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by ArthurHung

Is currently printing on my printer and will be used synergetically with 20: Gap reading. Morning shaving while sequentially reading choice Pavlina articles, just thinking about it makes me feel more productive

Cut your facial hair and become more aware. I like it!

[Paul C]

Thank you! This post just happens to be a syncronicity for me.

I've recently been thinking deeply about the benefits of sheer determination to get something done- the discipline to drive forward. Then this post appears, heh.

Great post.

[Steve Pavlina]

FYI I've already come up with 33 more for the next post after this one.

[Erin Pavlina]

Gap Reading. Reading while shaving is great as long as you're careful not to miss patches of hair *cough* *ahem* "Honey? I've been meaning to tell you..."

[Lallymac]

Woow Thank you for this blog. It is so timely. I've spent today realising I'm lacking the commitment required to get work from home. My house has become mecca for the lost, tragic and hopeless (mirror)
Blog now printed and hung on the wall. Sign for the front (not available during office hours) hung.
In the words of Dr Seus 'My troubles will now have troubles with me' from 'I had trouble in getting to Solar Saleuw' where they never have troubles, at least very few'.
Lallymac

[Famous Nabob]

A good list of 33 here, and I'm sure you could come up with 33--or 333-- more. Number 28 reminds me of a chapter in Anne Lamott's book, "Bird by Bird", where she talks about writing "crappy" first drafts. Who cares what the first draft looks like? You'll be revising it, but you got rolling by giving yourself permission to write a crappy draft. Thanks Steve!

[Caveman Joe]

Aaah, that's better! Steve, I knew there was a reason I was still subscribing to your RSS feed, and here it is. Practical, direct examples of real things that you can actually do. Top form, my good man.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Great stuff, Steve. Always good to get a highlight of what existing knowledge you are yet to apply so you can actually lock in your gains. I especially liked the fact that you posted not 5 rules, not 10 rules, but 33 rules! It's that extra effort that makes your blog stand out from the rest and worth every minute you spend reading.

I must say though, I find all this "good stuff, Steve -- just like the old days!" talk pretty amusing. One minute people are going on "Steve has lost his way, it's all over" tangents and the next they're jumping aboard the "I couldn't stay mad at you for long, let's never fight again!" train. I didn't know that such a large percentage of your audience was female. (Oh, I'm going to cop it for that one... please girls, keep the hits above the belt! )

Anyway, in response to the challenge from your article...

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina, '33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity'

What other productivity rules have you found effective?

Here are some rules of my own, hot off the presses:

(continuing on from Steve's list...)

34. Eliminate risk. Eliminate risk from projects you have been daunting and putting off so you are more likely to take action. What can you do to make the project virtually risk free? Brainstorm some ideas and get to it! Suddenly that daunting task you were fearing for so long becomes an enjoyable optimisation challenge and you're left with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

35. Dress the part. Certain clothes (or clothing styles) can influence the way you feel based on how they physically feel on your body and your beliefs about them. Take the time to tap the untapped potential from what you wear and select clothing that fits your personal style, preferences, and makes you not only look, but feel your best. Then get out there and let the world know who you are!

I could come up a few more, but those are the ones I whipped up this morning after reading the article. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Caveman Joe

Aaah, that's better! Steve, I knew there was a reason I was still subscribing to your RSS feed, and here it is. Practical, direct examples of real things that you can actually do. Top form, my good man.

Hehe, you sound like the Terran Firebat Marine, a unit in the RTS PC game, Starcraft.

Firebat: <injects 'roids> "Ahhh, that's the stuff."

(If you've never played Starcraft you probably won't understand, but oh well, it still amuses me. )

Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare to defend against the Zergling rush from all the women I offended with the joke at the top of my post. (That's another Starcraft reference, by the way. I'm sure someone out there will know what I'm jabbering about... maybe... someone? <insert sound of crickets chirping here>)

[Steve Pavlina]

Apparently this article struck a chord with some people. In less that 24 hours it hit the top spot on del.icio.us, made it to Digg's home page (600+ diggs and counting), and got picked up by Lifehacker and more than a dozen other blogs as well.

I've written two more volumes with 33 additional rules each. Volume 2 is already online here:
33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity - Volume 2

Volume 3 will be posted on Thursday.

[Iff]

I have to thank you for this one. I will take that article (and the next(s), for that matter), print it out and each evening underline the items I did not account for on that day. It will be a lot of underlining at first, but improvement is inevitable.

P. S. You are not alone.

Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg

[...]
Hehe, you sound like the Terran Firebat Marine, a unit in the RTS PC game, Starcraft.

Firebat: <injects 'roids> "Ahhh, that's the stuff."

(If you've never played Starcraft you probably won't understand, but oh well, it still amuses me. )

Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare to defend against the Zergling rush from all the women I offended with the joke at the top of my post. (That's another Starcraft reference, by the way. I'm sure someone out there will know what I'm jabbering about... maybe... someone? <insert sound of crickets chirping here>)

[InJoy]

This is just flat out great. Time to fire up my printer. Thank you, Steve.

[jryanstewart]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Apparently this article struck a chord with some people. In less that 24 hours it hit the top spot on del.icio.us, made it to Digg's home page (600+ diggs and counting), and got picked up by Lifehacker and more than a dozen other blogs as well.

Well, it certainly struck a chord with me, Steve. I'm the one who submitted it to both Digg and Lifehacker

Keep up the good work.

Ryan

[~C4Chaos]

Cone of silence. Take a laptop with no network or WiFi access, and go to a place where you can work flat out without distractions, such as a library, park, coffee house, or your own backyard. Leave your comm gadgets behind.

thanks! love this list. i work from home (or from coffeeshops with wifi access) so i can relate to the Cone of Silence! woot!

[EU wizard]

Great article, Steve.
My favourite must be 21 & 28, I think so. Even I'm an avid perfectionist.
I don't believe in the idea of a "quick fix" or instant gratification, but I have to say I was intrigued
when I ran across an article about "7 Ways to Make Yourself Happier in the Next Hour."
The author spent a year testing out the various theories of current scientific studies on happiness, and came up with seven points.
The idea is to try to do as many of them as you can in an hour.

Boost your energy by getting up and moving around. Taking a brisk ten-minute walk is best, because when you are moving faster, your metabolism speeds up and the activity is good for your focus and mood and helps you retain information.

Get an old task out of the way. If you've been procrastinating about a chore, tackle it now. Like making that doctor or dental appointment, or arranging to get broken equipment fixed. You'll feel a sense of relief and a burst of energy.

Create a calmer environment. This gives a sense of serenity as well.

Give it a try!


Elitsa

[escapee]

Early bird. Get up early in the morning, like at 5am, and go straight to work on your most important task. You can often get more done before 8am than most people do in a day.

THis is so extremely tough for me, but i will keep trying (probably forever)

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by escapee

THis is so extremely tough for me, but i will keep trying (probably forever)

Do, or do not. There is no try.
~ Yoda, Star Wars: Episode V

Easy for me to say though, isn't it?

Seriously though, if you cannot reach your goal, take a different route -- the one you're using is no good. If you see no other routes around you, ask someone who isn't stuck in the maze to scout for one from their perspective (ie. make a thread about it in the forum and list what you’re trying to do, what you’ve done, why it hasn’t worked, and ask people to give their feedback).

In other words, if whatever method you are using to become an early riser isn't working for you, use another method. Once you have a good idea of what doesn't work, you'll start to get an idea of what will work. And keep an open mind about things -- maybe "what will work" involves you surrendering to the idea that getting up at 5AM isn't for you and instead you should focus on creating your own empowering sleep schedule. Why does Steve get up at 5AM? To get straight into his work and to feel refreshed. There are many ways to achieve such results -- you don't have to get up at 5AM to get them.

If you’re currently at a loss for what to do, regain your control by implementing something you can do, such as asking other people for their feedback (not for “help”, but for their feedback based on their perspective... they may see things you cannot), or taking a few steps back and implementing something you know will work for sure, such patience. Realise that there’s no dishonour or defeat in shifting your focus from something that isn’t working to something that will work (such as exercising patience and coming back to the problem at a later time). Quite the contrary; if what you’re currently doing doesn’t work, the winning move is to do something else.

Keep at it.