I noticed a link coming into my site from Problogger from a guest post I did over there when Darren was away. Typos aside, I still think it’s a pretty decent article on productivity and how I do things. Other than working from home now, my daily routine is very much like it was then. Let me quote myself, which may be a first?

There a couple of points I want to make before I get into how I do things. So many people complain about not having time to do stuff, or that their kids get in the way or that they are just too tired when they get home etc. The fact is, if you want to do more, or not even do more, but do something other than your’re doing (maybe your’re spending all your time watching kids, or working in the garden, whatever) then you need figure out what your priority is. You can tell me all day long that you want to be a writer, blogger or web developer and do more, like I do, but if you don’t make it a priority then you’ll never do any of it. If you really want to do it, then do it. It’s that simple. Don’t tell me about why you can’t do it. There are days when it’s hard for me. Don’t lecture me that it’s because I don’t have kids, Aeryn and I decided not to have kids. Don’t tell me you have other things to do. I do too. I just decide what’s most important to me. Watching TV, reading a book, going out to eat, laundry and the million other daily chores, or is my priority writing, blogging and working on my web sites? Sometimes I have just as much trouble getting to what I love to do because of life just as much as the next person. But at the end of the day, I want to be a writer. I want to blog. I want to build up my websites. So, before you decide that you need to get something done, you need to decide what that really is. That will make the rest of the decisions easy.

Head over and ready my Productivity Tips. I think I’ll have to brush up that article, fix the typos and repost with some of the cool tricks I’ve added to my day.

I love productivity. So much so that I’ll work hours at improving my productivity and never get a lick of work done! I’m sure I’m not the only one either. So in taking steps towards getting more done each day and constantly moving towards my goals here are some changes I’ve made in my life to help me get more out of the day.

• Deleted all games off my computer. While I don’t play games much I do like to jump in now and then and blow off some steam. I’m done with that for now. Time is money.
• Limit IM/Chat. Again, I’m not big on the chat. It’s great for making connections and friends so I hop on now and then to stay “visible”, but I don’t linger.
• Email is my bitch, not the other way around. I check my emails at regular times during the day and don’t let it distract me from getting my work done.
• The phone is from the devil. I know a lot of people think the phone is the best way to get things done and sometimes that’s true. But largely phone calls are counter productive. Verbal communication is open to interpration, memory and just generally easy to get wires crossed. Email is much better and creates a trail of what’s been said and decided. It also allows both parties to fire off a batch of emails and then get back to work instead of spending who knows how long trying to hash something out on the phone.
• Limiting time on time wasting web sites. It’s easy to get lost in Facebook or Twitter or any number of social / media sharing sites. I check most of these only once or twice a week and just do Twitter a few times a day. Social networking is a big part of getting your name out there so it has to be part of your process but don’t let it get in the way of getting things done.
• No more TV unless I’m on the Treadmill. Killing two birds with one stone I save myself several hours per week! The only shows I watch off the Treadmill is Heroes and Dexter because I have friends & family come over for those.
• I love forums. They are one of the best places to meet people, network and learn valuable information. But they can also be a time sink if you don’t manage them properly. Like email and chat schedule times to do your forum rounds.

That’s just some quick things I’ve done to take back my day. I’ve always been pretty good about most of those things but now that I’m trying to do even more it’s time to kick it up a notch. I find working on projects is as fun, if not more, than most of the things that distract me anyway. Granted, I deliberately take breaks for short bursts of time to avoid burn out. You’ve got to. I just go off and read or just leave the house for a bit, nice dinner with Aeryn or anything that give my mind a break.

Anyone got any other good tips for getting more done? I’m sure I’ve left off several.

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