How do you stay productive? πŸ€”

Ivan Ralic
20 replies
Wearing multiple hats has definitely a huge impact to anyone's productivity. Design a visual, build a product, talk to customers, ask for advice, respond to that email, help your colleague.. 🀨 We all do this? Right? Through past 10 years in making products I've come to some conclusions about staying productive. I would love to hear your hacks πŸ™Œ Here's my "algorithm" πŸ’ͺ GOOD NIGHT OF SLEEP ➜ Deep work sessions (at least 4-5 hour intervals) ➜ Start with quick wins so 1st hour passes ➜ After 1st hour, deep work starts getting effective ➜ Take on more difficult tasks πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’« BAD NIGHT OF SLEEP ➜ Pomodoro Technique (50-10 or 45-15) ➜ Never seat at your table when it's pause ➜ Clean room, listen short video/podcast, exercise How you do it? Please leave your hack and tips below πŸ˜„ πŸ‘‡ We could even build a "Guide for Productivity - From makers for makers" πŸ˜„

Replies

Ali Shah Lakhani
My trick is Podcasts(Design matters by Debbie Millman - Bless her) and TED talks!
Ivan Ralic
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@alishahlakhani awesome, you listen them while you work? πŸ˜„ I guess you do some kind of visual job usually (UX/UI/Video/Animation/..)? When I work on anything with words (dev, copy, sales, support) it's hard for me to listen to anything with words, even songs. Only thing with words I can listen is Rammstein because they have constant rhythm and I don't speak German πŸ˜‚
Ali Shah Lakhani
@ralic well… I’m an developer by profession and I know that most devs don’t listen while they code but 60% of the time, I’m doing something so common that it has become second nature for me lol. I love to listen to lofi music or cafe music when I need to SERIOUSLY code something important.
Ivan Ralic
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@alishahlakhani awesome mate, thanks for sharing πŸ˜„
Warda Bukhari
Thank you for sharing these tips. I had actually never tried the Pomodoro technique, will give that a go today.
Ivan Ralic
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@warda_bukhari1 glad to hear that! There are a lot of Pomodoro Timer Apps out there, but you really don't need one. Just pick either a 30 or 60 min intervals, and start on full or half hour, it gives you consistency πŸ˜„ Example XX:30 ➜ Work (45 mins) XX:15 ➜ Pause (15 mins) Or: XX:30 ➜ Work (25 mins) XX:55 ➜ Pause (5 mins) XX:00 ➜ Work (25 mins) XX:25 ➜ Pause (5 mins)
Daniel Zaitzow
@warda_bukhari1 its a really great productivity tool for people who need to work in sprints!
Elizabeth Tishchenko
Yeah, I use Pomodore as well during worst of my days. In such days also specific music helps - movie soundtracks, nature, Vikind folk. Sometime changing positions also make work more effective, like usage of standing desk. Do you also write a To Do list? How are you organize planning process?
Ivan Ralic
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@nevemind_com πŸ’―% agree, I also usually listen to music either "Alpha Waves" or any kind of "High productivity work music" from YouTube πŸ˜„ Off course, we have team's to-do list, founders to-do list and I have my own daily check-in. It's a mix of short form journaling and to-do list with "The One Thing" in mind. That way I start my day with meditation, journaling, gratitude in 15-ish minutes, see what's important and use my first session of deep work to do so πŸ˜„
Lindsay Davis
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Icons8
Launching soon!
Great algorithm! I would add regular reviews and reflections. Take time to review your progress regularly and reflect on what can be improved.
Ivan Ralic
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@imlindsay yeah that's definitely the way to go πŸ˜„ I've came to this algorithm that works for me by doing exactly that, for a pretty long time πŸ˜„ The biggest "aha" moment for me was that I can have different operating modes for different days. Before that it was a constant struggle because you only need a few days of unproductiveness to lose your grit and reset your habit schedule πŸ˜„
Gordana Laskovic
➜ Never seat at your table when it's a pause ➜ Clean the room, listen to short videos/podcasts, exercise, or go for a walk In my case, this works! πŸ˜„
Gordana Laskovic
@ralic Not yetπŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
Ivan Ralic
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@gordana_laskovic yeah, you're all about exercising and cleaning. I'm just super grateful you don't navy-seal force the rest of us to be as dedicated as you are πŸ™πŸ˜‚
Weiru (Launching Vizard now)πŸ’œ
Rest well!! When I get a good night of sleep, I am much more able to stay productive the next day.
Ivan Ralic
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@weiruye sure is! But it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan as well πŸ˜„
Great insight, Ivan! I love this Good/Bad Night of Sleep categorization. Never tried Pomodoro before but will give it a go definitely. My thing for being productive is good music, clear overview of tasks on Notion and phone in the other room!
Ivan Ralic
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@andriyuh glad to hear that I'm spreading the word about Pomodoro, it's a great technique πŸ˜„ Thanks for sharing! I πŸ’― agree with "Phone in the other room" hack. A simple way to remove all distractions πŸ€– Don't know If it's my phone or it's generally available, but the "Focus Mode" is a great way to remove all distractions in office environment (when there's no other room for your phone) πŸ˜„
Miculino
That's a solid algorithm, Ivan! It's great you have a system to adapt to different scenarios. It's a more realistic approach than having a set-in-stone type of schedule. What I've found to be an interesting approach is to track yourself throughout the day. That way, you're mindful of how much time/effort you allocate to x, y, and z tasks. Those metrics will give you a clearer picture of where to optimize your process to be more productive.
Ivan Ralic
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@remusdb awesome advice! I've done that religiously for years. And every now-and-then when I would loose my grit I would come back to just tracking every 15-min interval of the day. By only tracking it you become more productive, and as a side effect you get the data to optimize even more πŸ˜„πŸš€