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<html> <head lang=en><meta charset=UTF-8><title>Productivity Tricks | EF</title><link href=//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.2.0/css/font-awesome.min.css rel=stylesheet><link href=http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Inconsolata rel=stylesheet type=text/css><link rel=stylesheet href=http://nafiulis.me/theme/css/main.css><link rel=stylesheet href=http://nafiulis.me/theme/css/pygment.css><script src=http://nafiulis.me/theme/js/jquery.min.js></script><script src=http://nafiulis.me/theme/js/main.js></script></head> <body> <!--Heading at the top saying "Engineering Fantasy"--> <div id=header_top> <div class=title> <a href=http://nafiulis.me><span id=engineering>Engineering</span><span id=fantasy>Fantasy</span></a> </div> </div> <button type=button class="js-menu-trigger sliding-menu-button button-nav"> <img src=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thoughtbot/refills/master/source/images/menu-white.png alt="Menu Icon"> </button> <!--Navigation Bar--> <nav class="js-menu sliding-menu-content"> <span class=section-header>Pages</span> <ul> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me>Home</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/tags.html>Tags</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/pages/about-me.html>About Me</a></li> </ul> <span class=section-header>Categories</span> <ul> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/anime.html>Anime</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/education.html>Education</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/productivity.html>Productivity</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/programming.html>programming</a></li> <li><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/rants.html>rants</a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="js-menu-screen menu-screen"></div> <!--Main Container--> <div class=container> <!--Top most menu--> <div id=menu> <div class=left> <a href=http://nafiulis.me/feeds/all.atom.xml><i class="fa fa-rss
icon"></i></a> <a href=https://twitter.com/gamesbrainiac><i class="fa fa-twitter icon"></i></a> </div> <div class=center> <h1 class=message>Nafiul Islam on casting spells with code</h1> </div> <div class=right> <a href=https://github.com/gamesbrainiac><i class="fa fa-github icon"></i></a> <a href=http://stackoverflow.com/users/1624921/games-brainiac><i class="fa fa-stack-overflow icon" style="padding-right: 30px"></i></a> </div> </div> <!--Main blog list container--> <div id=blogroll> <div class=article-container> <h1>Productivity Tricks</h1> <p class=time>Friday, 17 April 2015</p> <div class=article-content> <div class="contents topic" id=table-of-contents> <p class="topic-title first">Table of Contents</p> <ul class=simple> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#measuring-productivity id=id5>Measuring Productivity</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#the-checklist id=id6>The Checklist</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#time-boxing id=id7>Time-Boxing</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#pomodoro id=id8>Pomodoro</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#planning id=id9>Planning</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#don-t-work-everyday id=id10>Don't Work Everyday</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#two-transition-days id=id11>Two Transition Days</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#good-estimation id=id12>Good Estimation</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#will-power id=id13>Will Power</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#peanuts id=id14>Peanuts</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#green-tea id=id15>Green Tea</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href=#conclusion id=id16>Conclusion</a></li> </ul> </div> <p>Productivity is an arbitrary metric that (tries to) measure how much work we get done per unit time. To some, it's not even a metric, but a feeling. For example, we could actually be doing a lot of work, but <em>feel</em> as though we're doing nothing at all. On the other hand, we could actually be making a lot of <em>progress</em> in one particular task and feel as though we've been highly productive. In this post, I will try to share a few tips and tricks that have boosted my own productivity in a holistic approach.</p> <div class=section id=measuring-productivity> <h2><a class=toc-backref href=#id5>Measuring Productivity</a></h2> <p>In order to "boost" productivity, we must define the standard by which we measure it. For most people (and initially for me), productivity is not <em>measured</em> but rather <em>felt</em>. The consequences of this is that we either feel productive or we don't. As such this <em>feeling</em> is not very helpful in determining what we can do about it. So is there a better way? Short answer, yes. Long answer, <em>probably</em>.</p> <div class=section id=the-checklist> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id6>The Checklist</a></h3> <img alt="Image of a Checklist" class=align-center src=/images/productivity_01.png> <p>I'm pretty sure that we all have used or attempted to use a checklist at one point in our lives. Its a simple tool and it serves its purpose quite well. Simply planning out what you want to get out in the day can go a long way to boosting your productivity. Instead of having a seemingly infinite list of things, you have a <em>finite</em> list of <em>known</em> tasks that you need to get done. However this poses a very fundamental problem, <em>are all tasks created equal?</em></p> </div> <div class=section id=time-boxing> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id7>Time-Boxing</a></h3> <p>Turns out, all tasks are not created equal. Some tasks can take half a day, and some tasks require only half an hour. Its not about how many tasks we complete, but rather how many hours we spend working productively that really matters. This is where <em>time-boxing</em> comes into play. Time-Boxing is essentially allocating a fixed amount of time to work on a task or group of tasks. There are two advantages of doing this:</p> <ul class=simple> <li>You get a lower and upper limit of how much time you actually end up working in a day</li> <li>You can <em>estimate</em> what tasks are going to take longer, and therefore get a realistic picture of how much you can accomplish in a day.</li> <li>It will allow you to break down large monolithic tasks into smaller sub-tasks and distribute the workload over days instead of trying to do everything in <em>one</em> day and then failing miserably when that doesn't work out.</li> </ul> <div class=section id=pomodoro> <h4><a class=toc-backref href=#id8>Pomodoro</a></h4> <p>The pomodoro is a unit of time, and is a <em>specific</em> method of time-boxing. Here's how it works:</p> <ul class=simple> <li>Get a task that you want to complete</li> <li>Estimate the number of pomodori (plural of a pomodoro) it will take (A pomodoro is 25 minutes of time)</li> <li>After each pomodoro, take a 5 to 10 minute break.</li> <li>After four pomodori, take a longer break (usually 15 to 30 minutes)</li> </ul> <p>Now the above is the standard way of doing things. My own method is to assign 25 minutes to each pomodoro, take 5-minute short breaks and take a longer break (30) minutes after <em>three</em> pomodori. This way, I work 3/4th of the time in a 2-hour time slot. My</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class=section id=planning> <h2><a class=toc-backref href=#id9>Planning</a></h2> <blockquote> <dl class=docutils> <dt>Failing to plan is planning to fail.</dt> <dd><cite>Alan Lakein</cite></dd> </dl> </blockquote> <p>Too much productivity is actually bad for you since you might end up <em>burning out</em>.<a class=footnote-reference href=#burnout id=id1>[1]</a> Its better to prevent burnout than trying to cure it and the best prevention tool at our disposal is planning. The plan does not have to be overly elaborate, but rather makes sure that there are breaks in your work schedule. When it comes to planning, I have a few basic rules.</p> <div class=section id=don-t-work-everyday> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id10>Don't Work Everyday</a></h3> <p>There should be one day of the week where you just sit back, relax and read an interesting book or watch a movie. I take a break on Friday, and so throughout the week, if there's something that I wanted to do or something that I wanted to watch, I add that to my "Friday list". What this basically means is that I end up watching tons of movies and finishing blog posts on a Friday.</p> </div> <div class=section id=two-transition-days> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id11>Two Transition Days</a></h3> <p>I have two transition days, one before and one after Friday. On a transition day, I do 40% less work than I do on a regular day. On a normal day, I end up doing around 12 pomodori. On a transition day, I work 8 pomodori. This way, there's less anxiety when it comes to getting back to work after a Friday.</p> </div> <div class=section id=good-estimation> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id12>Good Estimation</a></h3> <p>Being able to estimate how long something will take is key to making sure that you don't end up with too little or too much in a day. I try to get this right by making sure that I've broken down a task to atomic levels. So for example, if I have a chapter to write, I'm going to break that chapter down to the features or skills that I want to teach. I further breakdown the features or skills into sub-sections, like why a feature is useful, how to use the feature and gotchas to watch out for. Most tasks can be broken down into pretty small bits that are easier to estimate.</p> </div> </div> <div class=section id=will-power> <h2><a class=toc-backref href=#id13>Will Power</a></h2> <p>Motivation is heavily talked about, and everyone has their own way of motivating themselves. However, I've picked up a few unconventional tips over the years. A lot of these tips come from some of the books and blog posts I've read. The most prominent of these is <a class="reference external" href=http://goo.gl/Zg9gC6>"The Will Power Instinct"</a> by Kelly McGonigal. I highly recommend it as a read, but here are a couple of things that I found very useful.</p> <div class=section id=peanuts> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id14>Peanuts</a></h3> <p>Have a small bag of peanuts with you on your desk, enough to last you 2 hours and eat them sparingly. As you finish mini tasks within the task,<a class=footnote-reference href=#minitask id=id2>[2]</a> reward yourself with a peanut. The rationale behind this is that, our brains need a steady stream of energy to keep working. Peanuts are ideal since they're small, and provide enough energy. Sugar is not a viable solution since it provides <em>too much</em> energy.</p> </div> <div class=section id=green-tea> <h3><a class=toc-backref href=#id15>Green Tea</a></h3> <p>Green Tea helps me concentrate better. Apparently, there's a bit of science backing this too.<a class=footnote-reference href=#green id=id3>[3]</a> I generally tend to drink green tea in my long breaks (basically once every two hours). Green tea is great because although it <em>does</em> have caffeine, the content is quite low.<a class=footnote-reference href=#caffene id=id4>[4]</a> This means that you won't have to worry about sleep if you drink green tea at night.</p> </div> </div> <div class=section id=conclusion> <h2><a class=toc-backref href=#id16>Conclusion</a></h2> <p>There are plenty of ways to stay productive, but these are the ones I find most useful. I've read a lot about productivity over the years, but the pomodoro, and Green Tea are probably the best tools at my disposal.</p> <hr class=docutils> <table class="docutils footnote" frame=void id=burnout rules=none> <colgroup><col class=label><col></colgroup> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td class=label><a class=fn-backref href=#id1>[1]</a></td><td>Burnout is when we lose interest in the work that we do. This can have terrible consequences and is frequently talked about. <a class="reference external" href=http://goo.gl/bvsQ3P>Forbes article on burnout</a></td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame=void id=minitask rules=none> <colgroup><col class=label><col></colgroup> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td class=label><a class=fn-backref href=#id2>[2]</a></td><td>When I write, I reward myself after every paragraph. In code, I reward myself when I finish writing a function or method.</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame=void id=green rules=none> <colgroup><col class=label><col></colgroup> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td class=label><a class=fn-backref href=#id3>[3]</a></td><td><a class="reference external" href=http://alifeofproductivity.com/9-brain-foods-that-will-boost-your-ability-to-focus/ >http://alifeofproductivity.com/9-brain-foods-that-will-boost-your-ability-to-focus/</a></td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame=void id=caffene rules=none> <colgroup><col class=label><col></colgroup> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td class=label><a class=fn-backref href=#id4>[4]</a></td><td><a class="reference external" href=http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20049372>http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20049372</a></td></tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div> <div class=post-meta><span class=meta-type>Category: </span> <span><a href=http://nafiulis.me/category/productivity.html>Productivity</a></span> <span class=meta-type> Tags: </span> <span> <a href=http://nafiulis.me/tag/productivity.html>productivity</a>, <a href=http://nafiulis.me/tag/pomodoro.html>pomodoro</a>, <a href=http://nafiulis.me/tag/time-boxing.html>time-boxing</a>, <a href=http://nafiulis.me/tag/willpower.html>willpower</a>, <a href=http://nafiulis.me/tag/motivation.html>motivation</a> </span> </div> <div id=disqus_thread style="margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;"></div> <script type=text/javascript>
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