HABITS OF A HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE PERSON! PART 4

So far we have talked about Habit 1: Ruthlessly cut away the unimportant (and Focus on the important) & Habit 2: Allocate breaks strategically. Continue to read Habit 3 & 4. Habit 3: Remove productivity stoppers (i.e. distractions), Habit 4: Tap into your inspiration. Continue to read 5 & 6.

Habit 5: Create barriers to entry

The fifth habit of productive people is to create barriers to entry.

A great thing about our world today is that it's easier than ever to reach out to someone. Everyone is just a sms/phone call/email/Facebook message away. At the same time it has become a highly distracting place to live in. Every few minutes, there's a new request coming in. Your phone rings and it's a telemarketer; you get an sms from a friend who's bored at work; you get a new email and it's some unrelated, unimportant mail; you get a Facebook mass events invite from someone you don't know; your calendar sends an alert about an appointment you already know... the list goes on.

There are constantly messages coming from all different directions, shouting for your attention. Each one of them serves an agenda that's not yours. And every time you pay attention to them, you're distracted from doing what matters... to you.

What do you do then? To get real work done, I recommend you put up barriers, so it's hard(er) to reach you. Unplug your phone, switch off your phone, close off your inbox, set a personal rule where you only reply to emails after X days. I'm not saying disappear from the face of the earth, but do that during your work hours at least, especially when you're working on an intense project. After a while, people will get used to it and adhere to the rule in order to reach you.

For example when I was working on the 30DLBL Program last month, I blocked out my calendar from other appointments. When my friends wanted to meet-up, I explained I was working on an important project and I wouldn't be free for a few weeks.

On a daily basis, sometimes I'd switch off my phone and only check it at the end of the day to return the messages and calls (my telecom automatically sends a message if there are missed calls while I'm unavailable). I set up my blog contact form as my official contact channel, and list out common requests on that page so that people can get their answers even before they contact me! For those who contact me, they know that a reply is never guaranteed, and no reply can usually be considered as a "no." (See Tip #11 of How to Say No to Others.)

By making it harder for others to reach you, you filter out a lot of unimportant "noise" from outside, and that lets you work on your Q2 goals (see Habit 1). It's not about being difficult or putting yourself above others (nothing of this sort) - it's about focusing on what matters to you and creating real value you want in your life so you can then do the same for others.

Habit 6: Optimize time pockets

The sixth habit of productive people is to optimize time pockets.

Time pockets refer to pockets of time you have in between events. You usually get time pockets when waiting for people, commuting, walking from one place to another, etc.

Look at your schedule. What are the time pockets that can be better utilized? How can you maximize them? Have some ready activities to do during these pockets, such as listening to podcasts, reading books, planning, etc. You will be amazed at how much can be done in just a short amount of time!

For example, I spend a lot of time commuting. Even though I largely work from my home office now, I still commute a fair bit, say when heading out to meet friends, networking, business/lunch/personal appointments, giving workshops, and so on. While I try to schedule them at convenient places, there's still downtime from walking from one location to the next, waiting for transport, traveling, etc.

So rather than let the time go to waste, I use it to do some work. I bought a smart phone last year (with a QWERTY keypad) so I can type articles on the go. I also acquired a dataplan so I can check my emails wherever I am. Last but not least, I make it a habit to bring a notebook when I go out to jot down ideas.

Amazingly, I'm highly productive during these time pockets. Because there's nothing else I can do in this 15, 30, 45 minutes, I concentrate fully on what I'm doing. Right now, I'm actually typing this article on my bus ride home. Just a few days ago, I finished creating my 3-months plan from Dec '10 to Feb '11, as well as created the idea and book outline for my next book for next year, all while having lunch. That's a lot of progress compared to if I had just spaced out, slept or idled away the time pockets.

Read PART 5

By Celestine Chua