Here are 22 of the most effective.

1. Decide whats important because in 5 years, 80% of what you do today will not t
urn into anything. Its just busywork, no useful outcome.
2. Sleep, food and exercise can help you triple your outcome, because they incre
ase focus, motivation and energy levels.
3. The 2-minute rule: if you can do something (like replying to an email, or a h
ouse chore) in 2 minutes, do it now. Planning it for later, remembering it, doin
g it in the future will take 5 minutes or more.
4. The 5-minute rule: the biggest cure against procrastination is to set your go
al not to finish a scary big hairy task, but to just work 5 minutes on it. Youll
find out that most times it continues well beyond the 5 minutes, as you enter a
flow state.
5. Seinfelds productivity chain: if you want to be good at something, do it every
day. Including on Christmas, Easter and Judgement Day. No exceptions.
6. Tiny habits, highly linked with the 5-minute rule, helps you create good habi
ts quickly. It works, I tested it.
7. Your memory sucks. Get everything out of your head, even if youre a genius. Wr
ite it down in a notebook, put it in your todo-list app, on your phone, talk to
Siri, I dont care.
8. As few tools as possible. Ive tested most of the todo managers and finally sta
yed with Cultured Codes Things app and Google Calendar (iCal is ok, but Google Ca
lendar integrates well with Gmail, my default client). It doesnt matter what you
use (pen & paper are fine) if you understand the next rule.
9. Routine beats tools. You need discipline, and this means for me two things: I
plan my day first thing in the morning, and I write a short daily log every day
. This helps me stay sane, prioritize well, scrap useless tasks, and do what mat
ters. This saves me hours.
10. Timeboxing for 30 minutes do only the task at hand. Nothing else: no phones,
email, talking to people, Facebook, running out of the building in case of fire
. Nothing else.
11. Always wear your headphones. You dont have to listen to music, but it will di
scourage people to approach you.
12. Email scheduling and inbox zero. Dont read your email first thing in the day,
dont read it in the evening (it ruined many evenings for me), and try to do it o
nly 3 times a day: at 11am, 2pm and 5pm. And your email inbox is not a todo list
. Clear it: every message should be an actionable task (link it from the todo ap
p), a reference document (send to Evernote or archive), or should be deleted now
.
13. Same thing for phone calls. Dont be always available. I always keep my phone
on silent, and return calls in batches.
14. Batch small tasks. Like mail, phones, Facebook etc.
15. MI3. Most important three tasks (or the alternative 1 must 3 should 5 could)
. Start with the most important first thing in the morning.
16. Willpower is limited. Dont think that willpower will help you when you get in
trouble. Make important decisions in the morning and automate everything possib
le (delegate, batch etc.). US presidents dont have to choose their menu or suit c
olor everydayotherwise their willpower will be depleted at that late hour when th
ey should push (or not push) the red button).
17. The most powerful thing. Always ask yourself what is the most powerful thing
you can do right now. Then apply rule #4.
18. Ship often. Dont polish it too muchas they say in the startup world, "if youre
not ashamed of your product, youve launched too late!
19. Pressure can do wonders. Use rewards or social commitment.
20. Scheduled procrastination. Your brain needs some rest, and sometimes that ne
w episode from Arrow can do wonders that the smartest TED talk wont.
21. Delete. Say No. Ignore. Dont commit to schedules. I love the last one, its fro
m Marc Andreessen, because it allows him to meet whomever he wants on the spot.
A lot of people will hate you for this, but youll have time to do relevant stuff.
Do you think youll regret that in 20 years, or doing something for someone you d
ont really care about, just to be superficially appreciated.