9 ways to increase your personal productivity

In my last two posts, I've been discussing the Tim Ferriss' approach to personal productivity as outlined in his ground-breaking book The 4-Hour Workweek.

Here are some real-life solutions to gain you the time and focus you need to concentrate on the 2-3 critical activities that generate income and success:

1. Write down on a small piece of paper the 2-3 most critical activities you need to engage in at work the night before you go to the office.
2. When you arrive at the office, focus on accomplishing those 2-3 critical activities to the exclusion of all others.
   
3. Structure your contact with people (office times and accessibility of people via phone and e-mail). You can accomplish this via email autoresponders and outgoing voicemail messages.
   
4. Limit voicemail checking and outgoing phone calls to key points in your day (such as 11:00 am and 4:00 pm)
   
5. Limit all email reading and responding to key points in your day (such as 11:30 am and 4:30pm).
6. Schedule brief meetings with a definite agenda and end time.
7. Offer solutions to problems instead of asking for opinions.
   
8. Do not multitask. It doesn't work. Focus on one important activity at a time.
9. Batch regular, routine activities at on specific days at specific times (email, phone, bills, laundry, grocery shopping, etc).