Five General Productivity Tips

1. DO NOT DIVIDE YOUR ATTENTION:

Maintain a clear approach. There will be no multitasking. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can study English and do your work flawlessly at the same time. Concentrate 100 percent on each task before moving on to the next one. Full, undistracted, committed focus will give you far more bang for your buck than dividing your attention between five different activities.

2. LESS IS MORE, AND DO NOT CHANGE WHAT WORKS.

For productivity, you don't need 1747 apps. There's no need to buy two schedulebooks for your company if your Google Calendar is sufficient for organization. You're adding clutter, disorder, and distraction to a situation that should be kept SIMPLE. When you're in a rush to meet a deadline, don't try new productivity techniques. When you're completely relaxed, try new things.

3. SCHEDULE TIME OFF AND ACTUAL WORK TIME.

In your (online/paper) schedulebook, plan your movie night and your job shifts. Make a strategy ahead of time and promise yourself that you'll stick to it. Time off, sleep, and down time are all necessary for being more productive, but you must also be productive in order for your time off to be meaningful. Otherwise, it'll just be a waste of time.

4. GIVE YOURSELF A DAILY GOAL.

Something achievable, DOABLE, and with a PLAN OF ACTION. It could be something like, "I want to read 30 pages of this book, and I'll do so after breakfast and before night." Getting something simple done every day boosts your attitude and happiness, making you more inclined to want to achieve another goal, and another goal, and another goal, and so on.

5. GO AND DO IT!

You have the skills and mindset, now actively go and do the work that needs to be done.