Productivity: 3 New Year's Resolutions That Stuck For Me

How can you get more done with less time?

I know this question is one that this community has spent, collectively, hundreds of thousands of hours thinking about. To start a discussion, I thought I would take a break from healthcare and mention three habits that really helped me since I started implementing them as a New Year's Resolution. Many of these you likely do already, and maybe in better ways, but if you are looking for something new to try, these are three I would recommend. If you have others you would share, please comment -- would love to hear them!

1) Get up 1-2 hours before you have to, and spend most of that time on thinking work (i.e. not answering e-mails) or non-work items. With two small children and highly scheduled, intensive days, it is often hard for me to get enough unstructured time to think creatively and step back. I've learned over the years that my best thinking occurs early in the morning, so waking up at 5:30 AM (I've heard some start as early as 4;30 AM) has allowed me to get more time while my mind is quiet--and I find that I form connections faster. I try not to be over-prescriptive on how I will spend my time: some days I will work, but some days I might do a quick workout, read a book, or write music. The freedom of that hour better prepares me to deal with the onslaught that ensues--almost like starting the day with dessert. I sleep slightly less but have not found this to be a challenge.

2) Reduce recurring meetings (particularly one-on-ones) and commit to 2 hours of no-meeting time per day, preferably in large blocks. This may not apply to many types of jobs, but mine tends to be very meeting heavy, particularly filled with many short ones (30 minutes). Stepping back, I realized that many of my recurring meetings were turning into self-justifying exercises. Also, shorter meetings often don't allow enough time to resolve issues, which is equally inefficient. So I cut out a bunch and reduced the frequency of others. And tried to re-invest that time into longer working sessions and independent working time. Some of my meetings needed to come back, but many didn't. And I find that my most productive days are ones in which my long blocks were put to good use. (I've heard Death by Meeting is a good book on this topic though haven't read myself.)

3) Focus on being present at the meetings I do attend. In meeting heavy cultures, there is a tendency for folks to multi-task during meetings--it is so tempting to check e-mail and check off a few more items on the to-do list when the discussion doesn't involve you! (By the way, if lots of people are doing this in a meeting, this is potentially a sign of bad meeting architecture.)

I am unquestionably a multi-tasker at times still, but I've tried to cut it down a great deal after reading more than a few articles suggesting that these both reduce your productivity and long-term health. Beyond just putting down the laptop & phone, staying present also means not thinking about anything else when with others--which is an item I suspect I will still be trying to improve the rest of my career. Two things I've done that helped me here are 1) short meditations daily in my morning hour, and 2) rubbing my fingertips together as a programmed cue to focus on the present. Ultimately, I believe that good listening is the best way I can show appreciation to the people I'm with for spending their limited time on Earth with me.

All right, those are my three--would love to hear yours!