"Productivity" Tricks for the Neurotic, Manic-Depressive, and Crazy (Like Me) - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

"When it comes to living a healthy and productive life, I do my best to focus on three time management tips…1. Eliminate half-work and focus deeply.2. Do the most important thing first.3. Stick to your schedule and build the habit, no matter how small the accomplishment."

Focus on one big thing

I used to make long to-do lists and feel guilty about not completing them.

Now, I structure my to-do list as follows:

One big thing

Less important thing

Less important thing

If I finish my one big thing, then my day is a success. To find it, I use this matrix:

The Eisenhower matrix

This matrix does have one flaw. From my experience... See more

The point was that until I spread my task list out in front of me visually, it was impossible to adequately prioritize, filter, defer, or dismiss tasks that were bouncing around in my mind all day. I would let emotion rule which tasks I did next, not priority. Or worse, I would act on whatever task happened to pop into my mind next. And the stress

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I highly recommend using lists. I make lists of what I want to accomplish each year, each month, and each day. Lists are very focusing, and they help me with multitasking because I don’t have to keep as much in my head. If I’m not in the mood for some particular task, I can always find something else I’m excited to do.

There are three particular variations of productivity momentum that I like. The first is from my friend Wai Chuan, who told me a couple months ago that he lists down, before bed, three tasks that he intends to accomplish the next day.