I’m an advocate of productivity and simplicity, and I assume most readers of this blog are as well. So today I figured I’d hit two birds with one stone and give you the best productivity advice possible in five words or less. After all, simple, straightforward advice is often the best advice.
- Define realistic goals.
- Start now.
- Plan, but not too much.
- Do important things first.
- One thing at a time.
- Break complex goals into tasks.
- Disconnect yourself from distractions.
- Love what you do.
- Learn from your failures.
- Celebrate your successes.
- Be early.
- Handle small tasks immediately.
- Batch process similar tasks.
- Manage your time.
- Use a planner.
- Take notes.
- Focus more on less.
- Find and follow efficient patterns.
- Learn productive shortcuts.
- Tomorrow is today’s result.
- Organize your space.
- Clear clutter.
- Be productive while you wait.
- Automate tasks and reminders.
- Read the manual.
- Learn from others.
- Teach others to help you.
- Delegate.
- Allocate and maximize your resources.
- Use the right tools.
- Work on goals every day.
- Keep it fun.
- Establish and maintain strong relationships.
- Spend time with your family.
- Take care of your health.
- Get enough sleep.
- Delete the unnecessary.
- Trust your gut instincts.
- Face your fears.
- Solve problems.
- Make your own decisions.
- Take your own advice.
- Try something new.
- Follow your values.
- Learn to say, “No.”
- Spend minutes to save hours.
- Validate your assumptions.
- Follow and speak the truth.
- Never cheat.
- Never give up on yourself.
- Small steps add up fast.
- Be meaningful.
- Ask questions.
- Identify and strengthen your weaknesses.
- Over-deliver on your promises.
- Adapt to change.
- Pay it forward.
- Stay flexible.
- Be open to new ideas.
- Challenge yourself.
- Be positive.
- Disregard negative people.
- Live below your means.
- Listen more, speak less.
- Think.
- Continuously educate yourself.
- Lead by example.
- Always do your best.
- Don’t settle.
- Communicate clearly.
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Act when opportunities arise.
- Quality over quantity.
- Do the hard stuff first.
- Set deadlines.
- Reflect on your progress.
- Keep track of important milestones.
- Follow the 80-20 rule.
- Urgent is not always important.
- Done is better than perfect.
- Learn skills few people know.
- Provide tangible value.
- Time trumps money.
- Be yourself.
- Find people with similar goals.
- Reuse and recycle what works.
- Patience is a virtue.
- Ask yourself: “Why do this?”
- Don’t worry about the uncontrollable.
- Your thoughts create your reality.
- Complaining just wastes time.
- Excel at what you do.
- Slow and steady.
- Be here now.
- Perform tasks with multiple positives.
- View things from different angles.
- Use your imagination.
- Visualize your success.
- Smile.
- Keep it simple.
- Finish what you start.
Please expand on this list by adding your own advice in five words or less in the comments section below.
Also, I highly recommend these best selling productivity books:
- Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
- Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Photo by: Veo
Saurabh says
Wow!!! Love it!!! This is a great help…
Craig Thomas says
Very nice post with a catchy title. Some pretty solid advice there, defining, realistic, planning, delegating and deadlines. All gold terms in productivity. Nice to see them all summed up in one nice list. 🙂
Amy says
Awesome! Number 63 made a lot of sense to me. Keep it up!
Amit Sodha - The Power Of Choice says
Brilliant List Marc! I particularly like 57.
Thank you!
Saul says
1- Re-evaluate and re-prioritize periodically
2- Compliment yourself when you succeeded
3- Compliment others who helped you
4- Constantly aspire to improve
5- Thank God for being you
Enough for one day!
🙂
Love your website/thoughts/etc’
Thank you for sharing you with us!
Have a wonderful coming week.
Saul
Success Coach says
This is a great list. I think you have covered every personal development lesson ever taught! One that came to mind for me was
“Model those you admire”
Caroline O'Sullivan says
Always keep your area clean.
Betsy Talbot says
“Take the first step!”
We get so paralyzed by “what ifs” that we never make it to the first step. Do it first and worry about “what ifs” as they come. You’ll be surprised at how much easier they are to handle than to worry about.
Linda says
I’ve filed this post, thanks!
Two to add..
No-one is better – just different!
Listen to yourself – then others
Linda
Fernando Duthoy says
great great info to start my new perspective.
thank u so much.
Sami Paju says
A different take on “Identify and strengthen your weaknesses.” would be instead to “Capitalize on your strengths.”
Also, couple of my favorite personal productivity tips would be “Take frequent breaks.” and “Listen to your body.” Meaning, that if you feel tired and have hard time to focus, don’t fight it but take a 20-30min break doing something entirely else and you’ll find it easier to work again.
//sami
Fortunatas says
Very true words. The truth is there, so “Do It!”
Nicholas Scalice says
This is such a great list. Thanks for sharing!
Bradley says
Do what is right.
Francis B. says
Smell the roses.
ifang says
Think twice, act wise.
Urgent matters, speak slowly.
Important matters, speak clearly.
Small matters, speak humorously.
Accept the unchangeable.
Thomas HD says
Appreciate beauty.
Cheryl from thatgirlisfunny says
Hi Marc and Angel,
I love it when I hit the “stumble” button and one of your pages shows up. Fantastic list as usual. Every time I visit you, I learn something new 😀
Thumbs up big time!
Naomi Sosa says
eliminate the What Ifs.
blog is amazing!
Karl says
I just love your site. Thanks for the work you do.
Enjoy Learning.
Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com says
I love the unque creativity of this list. A 5 word limit is great. So much can usually be said in 5 words which takes people 50. On that note …
Michele in Ohio says
Be grateful always.
Marc says
@All:
I almost forgot to jump in and say, “Thanks for all the great additions!” Productive advice indeed!
😉
Ricardo Bueno says
Love the advice! I’m a fan of simplicity. I think all too often, we tend to complicate things for ourselves. So along one of the last points, my favorite is: Keep it simple.
Sonali says
Hey thanks for the great 101 advice…It will help a lot
Paul - themastermap says
Great list… a fun read indeed. But I think trying to follow them all at once will simply waste more time.
Vanessa says
Great post. Simple but powerful. Stuff like is always inspiring to me.
Thanks for the great content 🙂
Hagend Adit says
-Follow your values
-Be meaningful
-Be positive
-Smile
It’s great..thanks for sharing..
Your post is useful for me..
Success for you..
misshap says
Never stop learning.
Carolan Ross says
A clever idea to pair up productivity with simplicity. Sometimes we make things much too complicated. Maybe to be productive, we should seal it with a KISS = Keep It Simple Sweetie!
Tracy says
Live deliberately.