Did you know you are only one app away from being able to achieve 12 of the Forbes 15 surprising things productive people do differently?
In January 2016, Kevin Kruse collated a list of 15 surprising things productive people do. It was a result of interviews with over 200 super productive people, including billionaires, successful entrepreneurs and Olympians, during which he asked one question, "What is your number one secret to productivity?".
The result of compiling all the data was a noticeable repetition of 15 specific tasks these people honestly believed had improved their productivity.
But even better than knowing the 15 things, is that by using focus booster and the pomodoro technique you will achieve 12 of them with ease. I have broken it down for you below.
#1: Focus on minutes, not hours
Time is valuable. You can never get it back. So the most successful people focus on minutes.
The whole premise of focus booster is to work with time rather than against it. The pomodoro technique encourages you only to focus on the 25 minutes directly ahead of you.
By allocating a session to complete a particular task, you also impose a deadline of sorts that can be useful for pushing you to strive for completion.
focus booster then records all the time you spend against your clients, projects and tasks, so you know exactly where those minutes went.
#2: Focus only on one thing
We have said it before, multitasking isn't productive (checkout misconception #1 the pomodoro technique isn't for everyone). focus booster ensures you determine one thing to concentrate on per session. It teaches you to manage distractions, so you give all your attention to that one thing only. Ensuring you do a better job, in less time.
#3: Don't use to-do lists
At this stage focus booster doesn't have any to-do list capability. So, for the moment focus booster users are planning their days elsewhere.
Why not try planning your day with your calendar. Block out time in 25 minutes chunks (a pomodoro session) with a specific focus for each. Plan your day like a productive person.
#4: Beat procrastination with time travel
Think about what you might do in the future that will stop you from achieving the goals you have today. This anticipation will help to circumvent extending effort on something if you aren't going to put in 100%. It will also prepare you for working towards something you really want to achieve by recognizing how you might self-sabotage.
You can use focus booster to beat procrastination on any task. The act of breaking all tasks into 25-minute sessions makes it less daunting to get started. The short time frame and reward of a 5-minute rest ensure the task no longer seems insurmountable.
#5: Be home for dinner
Successful people make time for the things and ones they love but to do this, you need to get on top of your ever-growing list of things to do.
One of the best things about using focus booster and the pomodoro technique is that you become a lot better at managing expectations.
The longer you work in pomodoro sessions, the better you become at estimating how long things will take. In turn, you can give accurate information to management, clients, team members and most importantly, you can be truthful with yourself.
Often the reason for working late is we have a deadline to meet. Use focus booster and plan in pomodoro sessions to help you realistically manage expectations and make it home for dinner.
#7: Deal with email only a few times a day
When planning out the day in pomodoro sessions, allocate a few for dealing with email. Then for the rest of the day, you can shut down your mail client and be released from the stress of needing to know what the email that just flashed across your screen contained. It will allow you to focus purely on the task at hand.
#8: Avoid meetings at all costs
Meetings are known to be inefficient and result in a lot of wasted time. Reduce the number of meetings you have. Those that are necessary keep them to the length of a pomodoro session.
#10: Follow the 80/20 rule
Be mindful of the activities that make you successful and spend more time on them. The 80/20 rule, known as the Pareto Principle, states that 80% of results come from 20% of actions. As an example, 80% of a company's business often comes from just 20% of its clients.
Nurture the areas that show the biggest returns. To do this, you can use focus booster's productivity reporting to ensure you are concentrating the right ratio of time in the more valuable areas.
#12: Theme days of the week
The mind responds well to routine. If you are in the habit of doing certain tasks on certain days, you are more likely to ensure they are completed and allowing you to move on with your schedule.
Once you have your theme, use focus booster to maintain focus throughout the day and track how much time you devote to these themes. You may be able to free up time for other things that will progress you further in the future.
#13: Only touch things once
The process of opening and reading an email only to decide to deal with it later only causes more work. By using the pomodoro technique, you can ensure you only touch things one. Set aside a dedicated email pomodoro session, where you read any new emails and deal with them immediately.
This theory also works for projects too. If you set aside some pomodoros to tackle something, you need to be complete by the end of that last session. Practice discipline with your time by reducing the number of times you need to look at something.
#14: Have a consistent morning routine
Nurture your body and mind in the morning. A healthy breakfast, some exercise and some meditation or motivational reading. Despite their benefits, some people can find it difficult to make time for these things. If you really struggle to keep them in your busy routine, the best way to make them stick is to set aside a pomodoro session or two for them.
Once you start work, focus booster is essential for sticking to a routine and keeping you motivated.
#15: Energy is everything
Having high energy levels is essential to being successful because what precedes success is hard work. focus booster helps you to retain high energy levels by promoting regular breaks. It is also a tool that changes the way you think about time. You no longer work against the clock, you work with it and have an in-depth understanding of the effort required to achieve amazing things.
There are so many different things touted as immediate solutions to creating success through productivity. There is no one size fits all solution but focus booster can help you achieve 12 of the 15 productivity secrets that Kevin Kruse discovered through his interviews, and that has to be worth a try, especially when we have a 30-day free trial, no credit card required!
The other three, in case you are wondering!
focus booster can help you achieve all but three of the productivity improving tasks these successful people have recognized as being paramount to their success. Here are the rest to round out your new productivity regime;
#6: Use a notebook
Your mind is for being creative and thinking, don't overwork it with the job of remembering everything too. Write it down. Carry a notebook or use an app to write things down. It saves forgetting them and Richard Branson, among other highly successful people, swears by it.
#9: Say "no" to almost everything
You only have 1,440 minutes in a day, use them wisely and for things you want to do.
#11: Delegate almost everything
What is the best way to get a task done? Well, it certainly isn't always by doing it yourself. Outsource and delegate when you can.
You can download the ready to print infographic of the 15 surprising things ultra productive people to differently.
12 out of 15 isn't bad. Try focus booster out and see just how much your productivity improves. Sign up for a free 30-day trial with focus booster today.
Written in 7 pomodoro sessions, this is our take on why focus booster can help you become as productive as some of the world's most successful people.