My Nine Favorite Productivity Methods in One Efficient List
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A good productivity method can mean the difference between a disorganized, unfulfilling day and one during which you get a lot done and feel great about it. That tradeoff is why so many of these methods, techniques, and hacks exist. Some are over 100 years old, some were accidentally discovered by everyday people looking to improve their lives, and some come from self-styled gurus who publish entire books on their findings.
And some are better than others—though maybe not objectively. To find the one that works best for you, take a look through this guide to seven of my favorites. Notably, these are the ones I like, but there are plenty out there for you to consider, too. Try one that sounds like a strong match for how you think and work (or try to avoid work).
The "Power Hour" method
The idea of a "Power Hour" comes from Adrienne Herbert’s book, Power Hour: How to Focus on Your Goals and Create a Life You Love and asks you to devote an hour a day to working hard on your biggest task—or the thing you care about the most. Sometimes, this is a must-do task that will have major ramifications for your life, like filling out job applications or working on homework. In that case, what you care about most is your overall goal of improvement. Other times, it might be a personal project or passion that you want to carve out time to pursue, which will enhance your life, make you feel happier, and make you more productive that way. The trick is committing—truly committing—to taking that hour every day, upending your schedule if necessary.
Here's my fuller rundown of the approach, which I have started putting into practice in my own life with great results.
The 10-minute rule
Of all the techniques on the list, this might be the one I use (or adapt) most often. Essentially, when there's a small, mundane, or tedious task that doesn't excite you, but won't take more than 10 minutes to do, you just do it. Just do it. That's it. It sounds easy, but it's not, since these are also those tasks you're more likely to put off and ignore, like answering emails or doing the dishes. Fighting against that impulse, committing to just doing these things when you think of them, and then getting them done is hard at first, but becomes a habit over time—and it's one with a lot of benefits. I do this when I'm cleaning my apartment. Instead of laboring over some cleaning checklist or structured plan (which is helpful for a lot of people), I just take on a task when I notice it needs to be done. Then, not only does it simply get done, which is the point, but I feel a sense of motivation and contentment. Since I started doing this, my home has never been cleaner, even though I'm not following any strict guidelines besides "just do it."
I also couple this with another favorite—the "one more" trick, which involves asking yourself, "Can I do one more?" every time you finish a small task. The answer is usually yes and when it becomes no, you give yourself the grace to stop. Just knowing you don't have to, but you can do something can be motivating enough.
Here's a longer explainer on the 10-minute rule.
The “Action Method” of productivity
This method is one of my favorites for keeping on task when I’m juggling multiple projects. It calls on you to organize your tasks into three categories: Action steps, references, and back-burners. Once you’ve done that, you put it all into a spreadsheet with those three categories as the column headers. You slot tasks into each column alongside notes, supplemental material, and whatever else you need—and move them around as they change their designations, as what is a back-burner today might be an action step tomorrow. Organizing it all this way helps you keep on top of the most pressing needs.
Here’s a full explanation of how to employ the Action Method. (The “ABC” method is very similar, with “A” tasks being must-do and high-priority, “B” tasks being should-do activities, and “C” tasks being low-priority ones.)
The 3-3-3 productivity method
Using this technique, you aim to plan your day in threes: Spend your first three hours engaging in deep work on your most important project, then complete three other urgent tasks that require less time, and then do three “maintenance” tasks, like answering emails or scheduling other work. This method works because you do your deep, focused work up-front, which gets you in the zone and gives you a sense of accomplishment and makes tackling the stuff afterward easier. I like this one on days I need a touch of structure. I use a prioritization method—usually MIT, which forces me to think of my responsibilities in terms of the impact they'll have on my life, but sometimes one like the Eisenhower matrix—to figure out which category all of my to-dos belong in, then follow the guidelines to make sure they all get done. I typically pull this one out when I have a big project and am struggling to think of how I'll get it all done. Even breaking one large task down into three hours of hard work, three urgent components, and three "maintenance" tasks helps everything flow a little easier.
Here’s a guide to planning your day in threes.
The “Eat the Frog” productivity method
Similar to 3-3-3, the “Eat the Frog” method invites you to tackle work on your biggest, scariest, wartiest task first thing in the morning. Whatever time-intensive task that has kept you up at night is, that’s what you should do first. It's similar to Power Hour in that you're supposed to do it early in the day, but different in that this may not be your most important or passion-fueled project. After that, everything else should be easier. While most proponents argue you should “eat the frog” as soon as you wake up, this method can work on any schedule as long as you commit to jumping into the hard thing early, enthusiastically, and without hesitation, thus freeing up the rest of your day for other work and lowering your overall stress level. When I use this one, I specify it a little more. If cleaning my kitchen is the most demanding task of the day, that doesn't mean I should do it the second I wake up, but when I get home from work or errands. It wouldn't make sense to postpone leaving for the day to do that, but it does make sense to turn it into the "first thing" I do when I'm in the relevant space, as it makes the rest of my time in the home for the evening better.
Here’s a guide to eating your first frog, so to speak.
The Kanban productivity method
Kanban is similar to the Action Method but requires you to label your tasks as to-do, doing, and done. It works best when managed in a spreadsheet or even on a big board with sticky notes, but you need the three columns so you can move whatever is completed into your “done” pile and anything that still needs doing into “to-do.” If you’re a visual person, this is going to be a game-changer, as it helps you easily see what needs to be done, and gives you some satisfaction when you see what you’ve already accomplished piling up under “done.”
Here’s a guide to implementing the Kanban productivity method.
The timeboxing productivity method
Another trick for the visually inclined and motivated, timeboxing requires you to schedule your entire day. Every activity, from answering emails, to working on a big project, to eating a snack, should go on your calendar. It’s much easier to use a digital calendar, like Google Calendar, for this, since so much of the average day is subject to change and it’s simpler to move things around there than in a physical planner, but try not to deviate from the schedule too much just because deviation is a drag-and-drop away. The idea behind this method is that it allows you to plan to devote exactly as much time to each task as you need to complete it while still filling your entire day with activity. There are a lot of tricks that go along with this one, and once you start, you may go down the productivity technique rabbit hole. For instance, Parkinson's Law dictates that the more time you give yourself to work on something, the longer you'll naturally take—which makes you less productive by reducing the quality of your work over time and stopping you from working on other things. With timeboxing, you can and should practice cutting off time from all your boxes, giving yourself less time to work overall. In the gaps you ultimately create, don't forget to take a break. Those are also essential to productivity.
Here’s a guide to getting started with timeboxing.
The Pomodoro productivity technique
This is an old standby that has withstood the test of time because it works so well: Work for 25 minutes on a task, take a short break of about five minutes, and work for 25 minutes again. Every time you complete four 25-minute cycles, take a longer break. This gets you into the groove of working hard in those 25-minute bursts, since you know a little reprieve is coming. The break recharges you and you get back at it, over and over again, until your job is complete. To maximize the benefits of Pomodoro, get a specialized timer so you don't have to set alarms on your phone and can work without glancing at it and all its distracting apps. On the other hand, an app might be just what you need. I love Focus Pomo, a Pomodoro technique-specific app that blocks all your other ones during "focus sessions." If you're not finding this approach helpful after a few consistent attempts, don't be afraid to adapt it, either. The standard 25 minutes on and five off work well for a lot of people, but you might need shorter or longer work or break sessions. What matters most is that you time them out, commit to taking breaks, and then commit to getting back at it.
Here’s a guide to getting started with the Pomodoro method.
The Results Planning Method (RPM)
This technique comes from famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who designed it to be motivational, fast, and efficient. Not only does does the acronym stand for Rapid Planning Method, but it can also serve as a guide to what your day should look like: Results-oriented, purpose-driven, and built around a "massive action plan."
Consistently—every morning or week—ask yourself these three questions:
What do I want?
What is my purpose?
What do I need to do/What is my massive action plan?
By doing this, you connect more to your mission and get more energized about getting to work right away on the answer to the third question, rather than spending a bunch of time deliberating about what you should or shouldn't be doing with your time.