Productivity

Here are some tips from productivity research that I have found to be most helpful. Individual adaptation may be necessary.

• Do the hardest and most important thing(s) first each day, or more generally at the times when your energy is highest. Tasks that are urgent (i.e., homework, things with deadlines) command our attention. However, it is often the case that the things that are the most urgent are not the most important. You need to put the “big rocks” (most important items) in your schedule first, then let the other things fit in or eliminate them if they are nonessential. Don’t schedule meetings in the morning. Everything hinges on a productive morning focused on the most important thing. The corollary to this, is don’t start your day by opening email (or slack, etc.). You’ll want to be able to set your priorities and focus your attention. By opening your inbox you’re basically allowing others to set your priorities. With the big rocks attended to, the later part of the day can allow for lower intensity tasks (not low importance, those should be thrown out altogether or delegated if possible). You can’t stay at high intensity all day, but can still do important less demanding tasks during this lower energy period.

• Completely eliminate distractions (e.g., shut down email, slack, social media, notifications, etc.). This may be hard to do at first, but you will be far more effective with focused periods of work punctuated by breaks, as compared to longer sessions with distractions. Don’t try to “multitask”.

• Periodic breaks are necessary to maintain focus at a high level. A typical optimal ratio is approximately 1 hour work / 10 minutes break. Taking a walk, eating a snack (not sugary ones), or talking to someone else are all more restorative than surfing the web. Like an elite athlete, intentional breaks are essential to maintaining top performance. Longer walks later in the day can be very helpful. Take a real lunch break, not at your desk by yourself, but with other people.

• Try to schedule larger blocks of uninterrupted time. Frequent switching between tasks throughout the day will slow progress. A related key element is consistency. Large blocks of time that are sporadic are also less effective. Some semesters are more time constrained and in that case consistency is even more important. For example, research on writers suggests that they are a lot more productive when they write a little each day, as compared to more sporadic marathon sessions. Figure out what is most important, and make sure you are doing at least a little each day on your most important tasks.

• Plan your day. Some people like to plan in the morning, and some like to plan at the end of the day. Of course, some adaptability is always needed, but without a schedule you are likely to spend too long on things that don’t need that much attention, or to put off things that are hard because you don’t feel like them at the moment. Having the discipline to follow your schedule, and learning how to schedule effectively, will help you make progress towards your important goals, and help you avoid last minute scrambles. For more on goals and planning see the relevant section here.

• Be results oriented. It is easy in research to let less important pursuits consume too much attention because they are easier. For example, one can get caught up in excessive planning, code documentation, feature development, or code testing (all important, but can distract from the essential).

• Set boundaries. You need to take care of your mental, physical, and spiritual health or your productivity will plummet. Ensuring that you exercise and get adequate sleep is essential. Honoring the Sabbath Day is not just good for your spiritual health, but a weekly complete break from work is good for your mental health. You will need to set boundaries on your evenings. Sometimes you’ll still need to work in the evenings, but be deliberate about it as opposed to being in an always-on email-checking state. If it helps, you should think of your recovery as part of your job. Like an elite athlete, you need to take it seriously or you will not be ready to run the next morning.

• Usually the most important things we work on don’t come with deadlines. You’ll need to learn to set and enforce your own milestones. Setting them is easier, but enforcing them is hard. Too often people blow by their own deadlines, and if there are no real consequences they rationalize and just make new deadlines. Adaptability is always important, but treat your deadlines like you would homework or any other hard deadline. Create real consequences if necessary. Even better than negative consequences, create compelling rewards for achieving your internal deadlines. I find it more effective to set one big internal deadline, rather than many small ones. It’s very difficult to accurate gauge many small deadlines, and if you reschedule some you will reinforce behavior that they don’t really matter. It is still helpful to create a plan for these smaller steps, just not hard deadlines. The one big deadline is easier to plan and adhere to, and if associated with an actual hard deadline (e.g., a conference paper) make sure there is plenty of buffer.

• Batch less important tasks. Email/Slack/Texting should be done in batches. It’s much more efficient to wait a few hours and respond to 10 messages in one short sitting, then to respond to them sporadically throughout the day. Keep a list of short tasks that need to be done. When you only have a few minutes, and it would be ineffective to start on something new, you can knock out a few of these short tasks.

• Network. Don’t underestimate the importance of networking. Get to know the other students and faculty members around you. Use your breaks effectively and have lunch with other people. Don’t be afraid to email or approach people whose names are on the research papers you are reading. More often than not they will be happy to talk to you about their work. At the same time, look for opportunities to mentor and help others.

• Finding an accountability partner/group can be very beneficial to help each other in areas that are difficult for you. For example, meeting someone at a set time in the morning can make it much easier to get going.

• Once in a while it can be rather enlightening to keep a detailed time diary. Record everything you do down to 15 or 30 minute intervals for a week or two (you’ll go crazy if you do this all the time, although you do usually get a positive boost simply by recording as you become more aware of time usage). At least record during work, but it can be helpful to record your entire day if you’re able. Categorize your efforts. You may be surprised at how much time you spend with different categories and on work overall. Identify things you could improve.

• At the end of the day, keep in mind that productivity is not the real goal. It is a means to an end. Don’t let yourself get caught up in defining your worth by your productivity. You should maintain a hunger for growth or improvement, but never devalue your own great worth.