To ask for your excellent failsafe productivity hacks?

[productivityismymiddlename]

I mostly mean from a working from home perspective staying on task, managing workload, getting the big stuff done and not cherry picking. Not leaving stuff to the last minute. Not being distracted by birds out the window. All that jazz.
What are your tips to stay productive?

Welcome to add any other life productivity tips if you have them.

Mine - I'm awful at this generally but I try not to have too many hot drinks as I have to take time out to make them and then need the toilet too.

A life / housework one - I set a time limit, so I might say I'm going to work for half and hour or an hour then try to work hard to get lots done in that time.

You go ....

I light a scented candle and then I have to stay at my desk because I can’t leave a lighted candle unattended.

Stay off Mumsnet

I mean realistic options

Ha - but how can you taky my hacks seriously, considering I am on AIBU in the middle of the working day? I like the Pomodoro technique. Set a timer for 25 minutes, and for those minutes, you focus completely on work. No phone, no browsing, no emails. Then you take a 5 minute break. You are only allowed to count those Pomodoros where you stayed on focus. It's amazing how much you can get done in 25 really focussed minutes! Eventually, you are supposed to be able to break your work up into Pomodoros, in order to better plan your time (but I have never got that far). I have an app in my browser (Marinara) that tells me when yo start and stop focussing.

I was also going to say: stay off mumsnet. It makes me so unproductive. Think I’m going to invest in a safe and keep my phone in there 🤦‍♀️

I've been working from home for a few years now, even before the pandemic. It took me a while to adjust to the idea of focusing on tasks rather than time. To begin with I was following the same routine as I did in the office and was conscious about the amount of time I spent at my desk and assumed I had to be there 9-5.

However, I now have a list of tasks I need to complete with deadlines, and I no longer concern myself with the time I spend at my desk. It has motivated me to just get on with things so that I don't have to be at my desk until 5pm if I've completed what I need to do.

Obviously this only works if you have a role that allows you to manage your own diary but it really helped me to focus my mind and spend my time productively rather than procrastinating to fill my time.

I make sure I’m productive during my tea breaks. So while the kettle is boiling I’ll empty the dishwasher or peel the veg for dinner. Somehow then when I go back to my desk I’m much more focused as I feel like there’s less house chores waiting for me.

Get a flask and fill it with boiled water so when you do want a drink you don't need to hang around waiting for it boil.
If you do need to reboil the kettle in the day, unload dishwasher, load it or whatever shall kitchen task needs doing.

Turn off email when you have a task that needs real concentration - complex spreadsheet for example

I check email on phone while making a drink as often there are one or two I can forward or delete easily and get them out of the way

Reward myself after particularly onerous tasks! Take a few mins outside to clear head whilst kettle is boiling

When I turn email on, try and only touch each email once - do, delegate, file or delete. There will always be a few you can't but I try and keep live inbox to 1 page

I found a good app called forest. You set a time period where you will not look at your phone. If you manage, a little tree is planted in your forest. It’s quite fun to watch the forest grow over a few days. Apparently if you grow enough trees on the app then the company who make the app will plant a real tree.

Agree with turning off email, or at least don't have the pop up notifications. Stand up and stretch once every 30 half at least to get the blood flowing and feel more energetic.

I have meetings throughout the day and use those as timing points. So I have one at 3pm and needed to finish a spreadsheet before then. Which I've done! Absolutely got me working quickly.

For emails I use ADDD. Action. Delay (set a calendar reminder). Delegate. Delete.

To set out my work priorities I have a weekly desk planner. Each Friday I set out key tasks for the following week. Working backwards from any deadlines and breaking projects into "chunks". I also leave blocks of time for checking emails and doing the ADDD process above.

I factor in break time. So for example.

Monday. 9.30 - 11.00. check emails. Do ADDD. Add any that need responding to urgently to my To Do list for the week.

11.00. Coffee break

11.15 - 1.00. Work on whichever project chinks are down for Monday am.

1pm - lunch and dog walk.

2-3.30 PM session.

Repeat for the pm and each day.

I find that having a process / list makes me work much more efficiently.