Maximizing Productivity:Tips & Tricks ToGetting More DoneEric NagelCTO, FMTC

twitter.com/ericnagel

What to Expect● Lots of Tips & Tricks● My experiences● 18 minutes of me throwing information at you, followed by 12 minutes of

the audience grilling me

What NOT to Expect● All the answers● Anything Earth-shattering

○ You already know what you need to do, I’m just here to remind you…○ … and give you some new ways of doing them.

First Steps

Plan Your Day Before You Go To Bed● The "Ivy Lee Method"● 6 things - no more

○ Warren Buffett's "2 List" Strategy

● Prioritize them● How?

○ Trello*○ Asana○ Google Calendar○ Pen(cil) & Paper

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a40094/ivy-lee-productivity-hack/

Decision Matrix

Sidebar: Delegation● If I can do it, anybody can do it● The key is being good at following up...

○ … or at least appearing to be good at it

● Boomerang!

my referral link:

ericnagel.com/go/boomerang

Plan Your Day Before You Go To Bed● Schedule tasks on your calendar

○ Break down if necessary■ Take a task that’s huge and break it down into steps■ Estimate the time for each step and get into chunks of 1-3 hours

○ Multiple Calendars in Google Calendar■ “Scheduled Work”

● "Eat the frog"● Pros

○ You don’t have to think about what you’re going to do○ You’re limited on time to get something done & accept where it is,

without perfection

● Cons○ If you need to put out fires, this is hard to maintain

Plan Your Day Before You Go To Bed● Write them down

○ There's pain in copying something that didn't get done today on to tomorrow's list

● The Productivity Planner from IntelligentChange.com

Working Your Plan● Focus on 1 thing

○ Multi-tasking is dead!○ Multi-purposing is real!

■ Need to put away 20 boxes of Christmas decorations in the attic? Skip the step mill at the gym

● Set a timer & work for 20 minutes with no distractions

○ Duck Duck Go or Google “20 minute timer”

Daily Rituals

Trello "_To Do"● The underscore puts it first in my list of boards● My lists:

○ Today■ The 6 things I’m doing today

○ Later■ Things I’m going to do someday

○ To Done Today■ As I do things, I move them onto this list.■ I use this list when giving an update to my team every morning

○ To Done■ Things I did. This list can be long so make one per month

○ Someday■ Ideas I have. I just have to get them out of my head

○ To Don't■ Ideas I have but have eliminated as something I may do.

Trello "_To Do"

Trello "_To Do"● What you should be doing is at the top of your "Today" list.● If you're doing something that's not at the top

○ Move it to the top○ Add the card○ Or stop doing it

● Another method is to make a “Right Now” list which only contains 1 card, and what’s what you’re doing today

● Keep a To Done list so you feel accomplished○ If you do something & there wasn’t a card for it, make a card & put it in your To Done list○ To Done lists can be archived by Week, Month, etc.

Trello "_To Do"Helpers:

● Ultimello○ Can sort a list based on card due

date

● Card Color Titles for Trello○ Instead of just seeing colors, see

label names

● Card Aging Power up

Email to Trello

● Create a contact in Gmail so you can forward emails right into Trello & have them added to your "Later" list

Gmail● Enable Keyboard Shortcuts● Go to Settings > Labs and enable Auto-advance by Bruce D.● General settings, change “After archiving, deleting, muting, etc. a

conversation” to “Go to the next (newer) conversation”● Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

○ # - archive the message○ ! - delete the message○ l (lowercase “L”) - apply a label to the message○ r - reply○ a - reply all○ f - forward message○ ` (and shift-`) - jump between tabs in Priority Inbox

● Unsubscribe, don’t Delete○ Takes longer, but pays off quickly

Slack● Mute a Channel

Slack● Set DND

Automate & Delegate● Zapier● IFTTT

Automate & Delegate● Automate a Task that

takes you 8 minutes / day

● Assume it takes 6 hours to automate

○ (360 minutes)

● Day 45, you’ve saved 360 minutes

● By Day 365, 1 year after investing 6 hours into automation, you’ve saved 42-½ hours

Other things you already know(but don’t want to hear)

Exercise● "The rest of my time will be more

productive if you give me my workout time" - Barack Obama

● Personally, I have more energy if I sleep for 6 hours and workout than if I turn off the alarm clock & sleep for 8 hours

○ More on sleep later

● I workout in morning○ Eliminates excuses

Meditation● I tried it; vertigo first time & fell asleep another time● Headspace

■ Headspace is meditation made simple. Learn online, when you want, wherever you are, in just 10 minutes a day.

■ First 10, 10-minute sessions are free■ $12.95/month or $7.99/month 1-year pre-paid

Sleep● A typical American gets around 6.8 hours of sleep● Elite performers... sleep on average 8 hours and 36 minutes per night

But everyone’s different

● I perform best when I sleep 5-6 hours at night, and 20 minutes after lunch○ Bed time

■ No phones■ No TV in bed■ No caffeine in afternoon

○ Nap■ Set alarm for 22-24 minutes■ Put on sleep mask

SleepHow to get up after 6 hours?

● Put alarm clock across the room● Drink a full glass of water before going to bed

○ It's the alarm clock you cannot ignore

● I use a "sunrise" alarm clock & often wake before the alarm goes off● Set out clothes● Drink 1 or 2 full glasses of water when you wake up● Military Energy Gum (MEG)

○ Chew for 5 minutes

Limit your News

● “I had a revelation one day when I realized I didn't have to read everything I found on the Internet.”

○ https://paulstamatiou.com/simplify/

○ “Wild Theory Suggests ‘Snow White’ is Actually a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Sequel”

○ “A Brief History Of Food Emoji: Why You Won't Find Hummus On Your Phone”

● The Week, http://theweek.com/○ 10 things you need to know today

● Ozy, http://www.ozy.com/presidential-daily-brief○ Presidential Daily Brief

Limit Distractions● Facebook, Twitter, etc.● RescueTime

○ Set Goals for the Day○ Productivity Score○ Weekly Email Summary○ Detailed Reports○ Premium:

■ Block Distracting Sites

● Choose an amount of time you would like to focus and RescueTime will block access to distracting websites.

■ Notifications

Problem:

Some productive tasks appear to be distracting:

● Managing Facebook Ads● Sharing things on Twitter

Wrapping Up

Done is better than perfect● Sign painted on the wall of Facebook’s headquarters c.2010

This slide isn’t perfect, but it’s done.http://lifehacker.com/5870379/done-is-better-than-perfect

Ambition99u.com/articles/33407/ambition-holding-back-jealous-potential

● Is Your Ambition Holding You Back?○ When you fear you aren't "living up to your potential" you're ignoring the progress you've

actually made.

● “Ambition… (i)s a constant voice nagging you to do more.”● “There’s always more to do. There’s always others doing more.”● Keep a To Done list!● Don’t compare yourself to others

○ It’s a moving target

If There’s Time...

Environment● Coworking, or working from a coffee shop, etc. you'll feel like somebody's

watching you.● You want to appear to be productive, not be caught checking Facebook

Seinfeld Method

Resources

● http://99u.com/articles/7223/how-barack-obama-gets-things-done

● http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/genius-time-savers_us_584099f0e4b09e21702dbaf7

● https://wpcurve.com/personal-productivity/

● https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/power-intention

● https://www.fastcompany.com/3062946/your-most-productive-self/this-100-year-old-to-do-list-hack-still-works-like-a-charm

○ http://jamesclear.com/buffett-focus

● http://99u.com/articles/6915/how-analog-rituals-can-amp-your-productivity

○ https://www.intelligentchange.com/collections/all/products/the-productivity-planner

● https://turbinehq.com/2014/productivity-hacks/

● http://99u.com/articles/33407/ambition-holding-back-jealous-potential

● http://blog.sewickley.org/stop-procrastinating-and-start-producing

● http://blog.trello.com/get-more-done-gamify-your-life

● Trello blog, http://blog.trello.com/

● Zapier blog, https://zapier.com/blog/

Questions?Please fill out the feedback forms:

Session Session 3AMaximizing Productivity: Tips & Tricks To Getting More Done

Eric NagelCTO, FMTC

twitter.com/ericnagel