Work-Related Productivity Tips

This is a joke, the picture above, but if robots can do it, zombies can do it too.

Here are seven random tips on increasing productivity at work:

1. Productive mediation. One example is that you could go to the gym and think of solving a hard problem while physically occupied such as being on the treadmill or bicycle. Do this if you could not solve the problem on your typical desk. Instead of going to the gym, a peace place such as walking on the lake or walking in a park is an alternative.

2. Quality of time over quantity of time. It is not about how many hours you put, but how much focus you put. Having undivided concentration on a single task is quality.

Quality of work produced = Time Spent x Intensity of Focus

3. Focus room can really help by providing you with an isolated environment.

4. Close your work email and open it in 2-3 specific time intervals during working hours. That may mean you will be hard to reach in return for reducing distractions.

5. Another tip that relates to work email is how to reduce the number of times you go back and forth with someone to end a discussion or an email chain. The solution is to craft your email and put as much needed information as possible.

6. Be lazy! Laziness can make someone master the process of prioritization, especially if it couples with conscientious. There are two more reasons. The first one is laziness implies resting and breaking from work as a way to paradoxically get deep work done. The second one relates to complex problems that may have large amounts of information, constraints and risks. The unconscious mind can solve these problems more efficiently than the conscious one. For example, focus on fully understanding the problem then shift your focus to something else.

7. Train your memory to memorize things such shuffle of a deck of cards, phone numbers or names. Memorization helps you concentrate on single tasks.

All these tips are from the book "Deep Work"