The magic fix to get more done and feel less stress

When it comes time to get stuff done, how good are you at being really productive?

Can you buckle down and knock out work?

Or do you start something and get distracted by something else…and then something else…and then before you know it you’re on your third BuzzFeed quiz?

It’s really hard to stay focused these days, isn’t it?

If you work in an office, you’ve got people who need things from you. You’ve got the phone ringing. You’ve got the black hole of the internet at your fingertips.

How in the world do you stay on task with all that going on?

If you’re at home, it’s probably worse. At home you’re constantly making decisions on the fly about what tasks are more important than others.

Can the dirty diaper wait until the pasta is done cooking? Can the barking dog wait until two more checks get written?

The end result is that many of us get to the end of the day feeling like we didn’t make much progress at all.

We don’t feel like we have anything to show for the day.

And that doesn’t feel very good, right?

Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of days feel for me.

But this week, I found the fix.

When I found the fix, I immediately started seeing better results in my work.

I was getting more done.

I was feeling less stress.

I could see what needed to be done now and what needed to be done next.

I didn’t get distracted.

I was so happy.

So what was this magic fix?

It’s so simple it’s stupid.

I honestly can’t believe I needed to hear it from someone before I used it.

So here’s the story.

Earlier this week I decided to catch up on Justin Wise’s Think Digital podcast.

In his episode #222 called “”Building Your Business with a System of Systems” he talks about all the, well, systems you need to have a healthy business.

Just like that, it clicked.

Go check out the podcast, but in short, I grabbed on to a few key ideas.

The two key ideas that rocked my work:

• The pomodoro technique
• The post-it note system

These two things, I’m telling you, were game-changers.

You can read about the pomodoro technique in this Lifehacker article, but the quick summary is this: set a timer and work for 25 minutes, then take a five minute break. Then do another 25 minutes with a 15 minute break after.

I followed this method and kept repeating the cycle through the morning for two days. I couldn’t believe how much work I got done.

I worked hard during the work times and during the breaks I refilled coffee, went to the bathroom, checked Facebook, etc. without feeling guilty about killing time.

The second game-changer is the post-it note system. The post-it note system says don’t try to do more in a day than the three or four big things you can fit on a post-it note.

The first day I used the post-it note system I had four to-dos on my post-it. I got two of them done.

You see, we usually start the day with these epic to-do lists but what Justin said on the podcast is that really about all we can get done in a day is four things.

Is that true for you?

Is getting tasks done a fight for you?

Do you get to the end of the day and think, “Did I do anything today?”

Let me tell you something: a few simple techniques can have a huge impact on what you get done…and on how you feel at the end of the day.

Check out Justin’s podcast here: Building Your Business With a System of Systems