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I’ve tried over 20 productivity methods, facing some colossal failures along the way. But I’ve also found a few simple, game-changing techniques that truly work—and they might work for you too.
1The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle, also known asthe 80/20 rule, suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of the things you do, and this theory has changed my life in all areas. For example, I realized that only a small number of tasks are responsible for my success as a writer.
When I dug even deeper, I also realized that only a few tasks or clients were responsible for most of my stress. After removing them, I could allocate more time to bigger priorities. And when I stopped using this principle for a while, I unsurprisingly suffered.
Besides work, I’ve also applied the 80/20 rule to my personal relationships and what I do in my spare time. I now spend most of my time on meaningful creative projects and hobbies, and with people I want to be with—leading to a higher quality of life.
260 Minutes of Work, 15 Minutes of Rest
The standard Pomodoro Technique(25 minutes of work followed by a break) didn’t work for me because it usually takes me at least 15-20 minutes toget into a flow state. Stopping every time I hit my stride was frustrating, and as a result, I increased my work periods to 60 minutes. Doing this helped me stay more consistent with my output, and it’s something I still use today.
After writing or researching for 60 minutes, I take a 15-minute break. During this time, I normally go for a short walk or refill my water bottle. Besides giving my brain some time to rest, I alsoclose my Apple Watch ringsby ensuring that I stand and exercise each hour.
I recommend experimenting with your work and rest times because your mileage may vary. This also works well for me as a writer, but you may need to focus for longer depending on your profession or what you’re studying. Notion has afree Pomodoro trackerthat you can change to 60 minutes.
3Habit-Stacking
I learned about stacking habits from James Clear’sAtomic Habitsbook in 2020, and focusing on good habits instead of the end result has helped me achieve numerous goals. My goals at that time were to improve my mental health, establish myself as a freelance writer, build a consistent workout routine, and move abroad. I started small with these daily habits:
As I became more comfortable, I increased the duration and output for each one. I also added more habits once I could do the others on autopilot. I recommend doing the same if you’re in a similar position to my old self; trying to do everything at once will lead to burnout.
4Weekly Reviews
Achieving big goals takes time, and you won’t always notice your progress from week to week.Building a weekly review habitis, therefore, excellent for bringing your efforts into perspective.
To review my week, I look at what I’ve done, where there’s room for improvement and the wins I can celebrate. Because of this, I can clearly see how I’ve made progress and where to course-correct if needed. I’m also more self-aware and can identify potential roadblocks earlier.
Your weekly review will only take an hour at most, but you’ll ensure that you’re spending more of your time on meaningful tasks. It’s a huge return on investment.
5To-Do Lists
A lot of online productivity advice needlessly complicates what it takes to succeed, and after burning out, I reverted to simple to-do lists. Funnily enough, I find these more effective than many of the complex systems that others recommend.
I found thatswitching to paper to-do listswas the best way to organize my day, but digital ones have their merits. For example,I love the Things 3 app. TickTick, Todoist, and Microsoft To Do are also fantastic (and free) tools.
Not putting too many tasks on your to-do list is vital for consistency, but you’ll need to experiment before discovering your ideal capacity.
6Single-Tasking
After burning out numerous times while multitasking (and becoming more frustrated each time), I tried focusing on one task at a time. Instead of feeling like I was constantly falling behind, I actually got more done each day and could increase my capacity. Ironically, I also had more free time because I completed my to-do list faster (and yet, the quality of my work increased).
In my opinion, your brain is effectively a supercomputer with 1GB of RAM. Most people can only focus on one thing at a time; trying to write one article while outlining another will quickly become frustrating.
I suggestusing website blockers to remove distractionswhile focusing on one task. Cold Turkey is my personal favorite because its restrictions are hard to bypass.
7Inbox Zero
Having 50+ unread emails in my inbox quickly clogs my brain and stops me from focusing on my important daily tasks. To tackle this issue, I aim to have a clear inbox at the end of each day. I usually check my emails twice, once in the morning and again in the evening.
I star important messages to respond to them later. Everything else gets deleted. I also check my spam folder in case anything important accidentally ended up there. To save time, I manage my emails in Mailbird.
8"Slow Productivity"
Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity book aims to show a more natural way of working (and actually getting things done). The book highlighted how creativity ebbs and flows, and I’ve learned to embrace busy and quiet periods as part of life. He also emphasized the importance of quality over quantity; after realizing I was spreading myself too thin, I chose to focus on creating the best possible work rather than focusing just on volume.
Embracing slow productivity takes time, especially if you’re used to constantly feeling like you’re running for a train (raises hand). Nonetheless, I think that it’s a route to better grades, more professional recognition, and higher personal fulfillment.
9The 2-Minute Rule
Small things that build up often derail me more than the big tasks, and to tackle this, I began implementing the two-minute rule in 2022. If something takes less than two minutes to do (e.g., responding to an email I’ve just seen), I do it immediately.
The longer you wait to do something, the more mental capacity it consumes. Ticking these items off your to-do list ASAP will free you up to complete your bigger projects and enable you toincorporate the Zen to Done method.
10Setting Streaks
Setting streaks is one of the best methods I’ve used to make new habits stick. I normally usesimple habit-tracking appsto identify when I’ve completed a task; Habitica is my top recommendation.
You don’t need to track streaks forever, but I suggest doing it until the habit becomes part of your daily routine. Moreover, I recommend using this method to build good new habits. When trying to quit a bad habit, thinking about how long I haven’t done it makes me more likely to break the streak.
