Do Nothing But Your To-Do List
Most people would agree that having a to-do list is absolutely essential for improving your productivity and getting more stuff done. For the past two months I've been living with a to-do list as well, and it has indeed made me a lot more productive.
I've also learned that just having a to-do list isn't enough to keep me productive at all times. What should I do to further increase my productivity and get even more stuff done?
The answer is quite simple. I should eliminate all distractions. I should only spend time on the things that I wrote on my to-do list on the day before. Yes, I can't go on Facebook while I'm writing a blog post, but it also goes beyond obvious.
Let's say that I get an email that I absolutely need to respond to. Or the phone is ringing. Or I realize that it's been a while since the last time I cleaned my room. Or whatever else seems to be important enough to demand my attention at that moment.
With a bit of self discipline, it's easy to eliminate all the obvious wastes of time from my working routine. When I'm working on my iPhone photography website, I already know I shouldn't be wasting any time on Facebook. That's kind of obvious.