Being More Productive Every Day

I am too ADD for that many lists. Just reading it made me feel wholly inadequate and stressed.

That said:

5-6 sleep, like any NORMAL person. ;)
6-8 is kid, school, world/industry news time
8-11 is connecting, organizing, and responding to mail, opportunities, requests
12-1 exercise (winter) in summer i work through so i can bike after work
1-6 my most productive time. marketing plans, PPT, product development, creative efforts, meetings, trade show speeches, market research. all the heavy lifting is here.
6-8 biking (summer) or social time with friends, family and colleagues (winter)
8-11 music time,. writing, recording, practicing, performing. i'm a night person.
11 nigh-night. if i go any earlier, i'm up by 3 for good. a non-starter.

This is in NO way set in stone. More like set in sand or soft earth.

This reminds me of that South Park episode where Comedy Central agreed to let them say "shit" (It Hits the Fan, even has it's own wikipedia page, lol). Is there a SEO angle here?

Joking aside these are great tips, I am going to definitely consider making some adjustments. I think my biggest challenge (and I am working on it) is that some days are filled with fire drills. It tends to knock me off my plans and returning to the plan is difficult. I do find that the #1 thing for me is being organized and that involves a schedule.

Thanks Dietrich, you are the shit! (I said shit 2 times for the first time in a blog post comment, I hope I am helping your SEO! MUAH)

Are you trying to say winging it isn't a good productivity strategy? I get the same volume of stuff done. Maybe it isn't the most importrant or critical stuff but it's stuff none the less. Like playing the game Dizzy Bat.And if you have not played Dizzy Bat you really must!

One thing I find is across all industries and jobs and lifestyles we all need help in this area. And often I think that when someone reads and article, book, or watches a movie on the subject how much improvement we get if we just remember 1 tidbit.

I watched a video in 1995 that spent 30 minutes discussing your number 6. I was told to put the D's in a draw and lock it tight.

@KatStep2010 I totally agree! Just read this morning: http://www.spinsucks.com/entrepreneur/being-more-productive-every-day/ #lists

Great post.

I have a hard time setting times for specific tasks, but I know you're right because when I have tried it, it always works.

Thanks for sharing the breakdown of your day/tasks.

Fun getting inside your crazy world here Gini...I always like posts like these.

I think the key is balance and knowing where your priorities lie. You've got this down, as I can see, and I find when most people get overwhelmed is when they aren't grounded in all areas. For me, I break it out like this:

mental: blogging, writing, reading, etc.

physical: exericsise and sauna daily

emotional: time with wife, kids, and 'getting away'

spiritual: God

Those are my big 4. When I give each its due, I'm happy. When I fall short in only one, it affects the other 3.

Thanks for the fun read Gini. :-)

Marcus

Loved this on getting your sh*t together and love it here, too. Taking a mental break from work and my 'to do list' to pop over and say hello. I LOVE making lists and love crossing things off my list even more. Even though I spend so much time on my laptop and online, I still value the pen (sharpie, fine point) and paper (moleskin journal) when it comes to my lists and getting myself organized. Thanks for sharing your daily grind with us!

Gini:

"Perception is reality" is one of my all time favorite quotes. It's so true...doesn't matter what we know to be the truth, what other people see is their truth. For myself, I write at night..works better for me as I can let my brain wake up throughout the day. (I dont like mornings!)

I read and comment throughout the day and Twitter-ize 10-15 minutes at a time. I have extra time right now as my 9-5 grind is remodeling and I got some time off!! :)

When I go back to that grind at the end of March, things will revert back to before...crazy ridiculous hours in the wee hours.

Either way....it's always a good idea to get our productive shit together or at least evaluate our shit, er.wait.....

Gini,

Love every one of your tips - especially the ones that don't seem to "be" about time management, like #8 and #9, because we often tend to overlook those. Productivity encompasses so much more than just getting things done - and joy should be part of our journey. Taking the time to rest and recharge and acknowledging what we ARE getting done needs to be on our to-do lists with a big "A" next to it.

I so love this Gini. I thought I was the only obsessive compulsive business owner on the planet!
Seriously, it's great getting an insight into your day. Mine is pretty similar but I also have to factor in 6 dogs (a-hem!) right now.

I like to exercise in the evening to relieve the stresses of the day. Oh, and then walk the dogs again before I go to bed. :)

First I have to say that I love that you have a dog name d Jack Bauer. It's funny because I follow almost evertything here you said religiously. People ask me "how do you go surfing for 4 hours publish 3 podcasts, 3 blog posts for your blog, and run another blog." I find that my morning's are my most productive time. I do all my writing right when I wake up and some mornings's it's complete garbage, but I just put fingers to keyboard and see what happens. What's odd is I've found myself using all this writing I do on a daily basis to assemble what I though would be separate blog posts into much longer ones. People who live in their inbox are funny to me because I realize nothing is really that urgent. In fact I think that 3 hours of real work beats 8 hours of "fake work." I have ADHD so I tend to work in 2 hour spurts, but I can get quite a bit done in those two hours.

I actually wrote a post called the Jack Bauer Guide to Getting Shit done which you might get a kick out of:

http://theskooloflife.com/wordpress/time-management/

I'm not very good at #1-4 "scheduling" writing time, social media time, etc. because I tend to work on several projects at once. But what works for me is your #5: LISTS. Tons of lists. I make lists for everything. Sometimes I have 4-5 lists going at once for various tasks I need to do: "Editorial List" for my upcoming print publications, a "Blog list" of topics I need to write about, a "Social Media list" (or calendar) that maps out the posts I want to make for the next week or month, etc. Then I'm able to judge my productivity level by how many things I can cross off of my lists.

Ok, droppin' the S bomb but at least you didn't say tool..............

I too have a routine, I brush my teeth first then exercise........or maybe that was what you were saying..............

I have my routines and times for social media, exercising, socializing & reading; almost too predictable at times. However, for my payin' gig which requires me to be outside of the office if I want to make any money, I plan for the upcoming week on the Friday before. This is where I set appointments, plan the days etc. This is so much more productive for me to come in on a Monday morning and have my week already planned. Yes, there will be emergencies in flight, but I can usually make allowances and still get my week accomplished.

I don't know if people would describe me as having 'my shit together' but at least I think I do so that's all that matters, right?

Thanks Gini, love this and will update you on my progress.
Larry