I have tried all of these personally and they’ve worked wonders for me over the years.
1. Get a big monitor … really big one! You won’t believe the kind of efficiency big screen real-estate can bring to your day to day work. If you have the space and can afford one, this is the first thing you should spend on. You’ll be able to scroll faster, multi-task faster, less window switching … everything becomes faster and better.
2. If you have the habit of keeping your phone on the table while you work, keep it face down. Don’t let the notifications distract you. Looking at the phone multiple times while you work breaks the flow and focus. Keeping it face down means you’d know if a call comes, but won’t be bothered by the notifications.
3. Buy multiple chargers and cables. Keep some in your work bag, one near your desk, one at home where you usually sit with your laptop …. if you were to start adding up the minutes you’ve spend over the years finding that charger or the cable, you’re likely to be surprised. Let’s stop adding more minutes to that list.
4. Use a different account/profile on your computer or browser for non-work stuff. Switch to that profile when you want to have some leisure time like games, social media etc.
5. Identify the most important task for the day before you begin work. This might sound trivial but could have a huge impact on the results you deliver in the long term. Too often our days are spent firefighting, tackling things that may not need our attention. We keep procrastinating on the important tasks because they seem overwhelming. A good way to fix this is to take them up one at a time. And it could be one task that’s spread over several days. It doesn’t need to be a “different” most important task every day. It could well be the same task. But it ensures that you work on it every day, eventually completing it.
