What productivity tools and methods do you use?

Productivity tools


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I use butthurt method. Very productive. Everytime as my business, team or product are fucked up. I start butthurting 24/7 until shit is done in a proper manner.
In fact I butthurt 24/7 and checking and planning everything. I cannot tell you that it is good and healthy style of life but this is my style.

upd: I use Anydo app
 
I've tried tons of productivity tools out there. Honestly, you should just pick a few based on your personal preference and not on what's 'trendy'.

And to stay on topic: Along with the most common ones (Stack, Trello, Todoist) I use XMind. It makes things look very nice and neat which brings a smile to my face every time I open the to-do list and prepares me to act.
 
Haha glad you're liking Stack!

I've tried so many productivity tools, and am always looking for more - my current productivity stack includes:

Gitscrum for project progress/time tracking
Remente and an app just called "Goals" for overall goal tracking
Walling.app for idea collection/organization
Notejoy for note organization
Synctuition & Brain.fm for focusing
Freedom for blocking sites/apps during focus sessions
Stack for browser

I'm really looking forward to the TimeChi I preordered, that thing is gonna be amazing - I love the idea of a modern, physical pomodoro timer instead of just using software exclusively.
 
@yakuzaemme that wouldn't really work for me as I don't often *need* to go into social media. I just choose to do it between work. That part runs on autopilot.

The pomotodo thing mentioned may work for me in terms of sorting and maintaining projects, though, as I'm running close to 10 projects at once. Checking and maintaining them all is really, what I need to be better at, and a simple checklist seems to be helping - the goal is to complete the checklist each day.

This checklist includes other jobs such as washing, exercise etc too.
 
I'm really looking forward to the TimeChi I preordered, that thing is gonna be amazing - I love the idea of a modern, physical pomodoro timer instead of just using software exclusively.

There must surely be a free app like that somewhere? A countdown that runs through X number of inputted tasks in a row?
 
There must surely be a free app like that somewhere? A countdown that runs through X number of inputted tasks in a row?

Oh I'm sure there are, I've used quite a few pomodoro apps and there are some great options - but I want the actual tactile response of pushing a button that lights up and counts down, locks up all the distracting apps on my phone and computer, and tracks progress (either natively or with integrations) and is ever-visible to remind me how much time is left in my current focus session or break. If I worked in an office I would love the 'do not disturb' element it adds to let people know when you're busy - not that I need that but I'm sure it will be helpful to a lot of people.
 
-for project management I use TRELLO
- digital notes I use EVERNOTE
-for Mind Map, I use coggle and Xmind

and ultimately I use pen and paper, I forced myself a little bit to get comfortable with journaling, quite interesting for me, and discovered the bullet journal method, still exploring it,

.
 
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For my todo/planning my week/keeping tracks of projects I use Org-mode, I've tried many apps for these, most of them just get in my way, or I try to find the best way to optimize them, so I end up just spending too much time "trying to be productive" instead of just being productive. A huge plus for me when using org-mode is that it's already on my code editor(Emacs).

Another thing that worked for me is plan pen and paper, but I used to travel a lot and sometime lose my notes and also switching my context from coding to taking a note about a project I'm coding is counterintuitive.

Browser: Firefox with Tridactyl (this allows me to do pretty much anything on my browser without using my mouse and a lot more, like searching for all open tabs just by pressing b), I have other extensions, but this is the one that is a must-have for me. Mostly I use it when I code(I don't use my mouse then either) and I need to look up an error/documentation or anything else.

Focus method: I've started using pomodoro again, can't beat that, no matter what I've tried.

Another thing that helped me, is writing down at the end of the day/week my achievements for the day/week, usually after a few days of not writing down anything meaningful, you should start working.
 
I write my task list on toilet paper, then when I'm done I go for a shite.
 
Notion mainly.

I also keep multiple notebooks in hand to write down ideas and later apply them.

In terms of productivity "methods", I'm trying to incorporate batch production and focus sprints.

Batch= doing as much of the same task as possible so the brain doesn't lose itself between tasks. It takes advantage of your peak capacity.

Focus sprints= 90 minutes of inunterrupted work where you also get to the peak.

Due to coronavirus, I'm living in uncomfortable conditions in terms of work space which is why I've found it hard.

Talking about focus sprints. Batch is a must.
 
Focus sprints= 90 minutes of inunterrupted work where you also get to the peak.

Interesting. Have you tried pomodoro (25 minute sprints)? If so, why did you decide for longer ones?
 
Interesting. Have you tried pomodoro (25 minute sprints)? If so, why did you decide for longer ones?

My personal preference is doing X number of tasks/jobs as opposed to minutes.

I'll have things I want doing in the morning, then I'll go for a walk for an hour and maybe have a few games of Fifa, then I'll come back to it and complete the afternoon jobs.

So rather than 25 minutes being the limit, it's "complete this before I go out for an hour".
 
Holy fuck - you really do utilize pomodoro timers. I try to use 'as many as possible', but rarely reach my daily goal.
Any tips on how to stay so consistent?

I dont reach my daily goal either. Thats pretty normal and happens with everyone. I have few meh days in between and days where I am super motivated. But yes once you start tracking each minute when you are working, then it becomes kind of an obsession.

What works for me is during certain periods of the day I put my macbook on DND mode and mobile phone on airplane mode. This is huge, I dont want random people calling me, texting me when I am in middle of Deep Work or what some people refer to as Flow state which is not easy to achieve.

I also try to lock myself in a room. Yes your girlfriend/wife might get angry but she will understand with time or get used to it :D
 
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Countdown timer for periods of work. Chalkboard paint on my wall for to do list and quotes.
 
The two main productivity tools that I use are todoist - I’m a big fan of this app for many years - and also simplyfile for outlook which is a good plugin for intelligent filing of emails and it helps me to keep my inbox at zero.
 
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