10x your productivity with these 6 non-negotiables. Building these habits into your daily routine increases your output & effectiveness.

10x Your Productivity Habit #1: Work When Everyone Else Sleeps

Working when everyone else sleeps gives you an edge over your competitors and gives you time to knock out urgent work and complete deep work without interruption.

For Matt and Chris, the best time is early morning. Chris wakes up and immediately works on deep work. Matt knocks out urgent work, then transitions to deep work.

If you are a night owl, that is okay. Take advantage of the late evening time when you are up anyway and your brain works at its best.

10x Your Productivity Habit #2: Prepare to Work

Train your brain to know work is coming by taking advantage of the Pavlov response.

Create and perform the same series of tasks before you work, especially before you complete deep work.

Chris does the following:

1. Puts on noise-cancelling headphones
2. Plays the same playlist
3. Wipes his nose with alcohol wipe
4. Puts on a nose strip to open up sinuses
5. Puts eye drops in eyeballs
6. Pours gigantic cup of coffee

Matt’s prep to work routine includes getting dressed for the day, making coffee, letting the dog out (skips on the road), sitting down in the same chair, and turning on the computer.

There is a chance you already have one. You need to make it more intentional, and might add things (similar to Chris).

10x Your Productivity Habit #3: Work with Absolutely No Distractions

Distractions destroy productivity, causing you to lose focus. They prevent you from completing deep work.

Turn off your phone and computer notifications. Go to a room where you no you will not be disturbed.

Then, when you are done with your deep work, you can respond to the notifications and urgent tasks all at once.

10x Your Productivity Habit #4: Leverage Artificial Deadlines

Create & hold yourself to artificial deadlines. Parkinson’s Law describes how tasks will fill the time allotted to them. Barring extremes (giving yourself one second), you can get tasks done much faster than you think if you give yourself less time.

For example, creating a PowerPoint slide that is not that important might take you two weeks (or even two months) if you let it. If you give yourself one hour, however, you’ll find you can get it done in an hour.

Chris uses time boxing, where he assigns a value to a task and then allots the time for the task. Bringing this intentionality of value makes how much time it should take more clear.

Most people take too long to do things. Occasionally, for truly important, high-value work, they do not spend enough time on it when they really need to ensure high quality.

10x Your Productivity Habit #5: Focus on 1 Task at a Time

You’ve been lied to: multi-tasking is fake. People serially task (context switch), and they context switch poorly.

Instead of bouncing from one task to another, performing both poorly, intentionally serially task. You focus on one thing at a time. When done, move onto the next thing.

Matt and Chris both use the Pomodoro technique. This involves allocating a certain amount of time (try 25 minutes) to completely undistracted work on 1 task. You don’t go to the bathroom, you don’t get more coffee, you don’t look at your phone.

Then, take a break to complete those urgent tasks, go to the bathroom, and get more coffee.

You will learn that you are incredibly distracted. That is okay. Do it badly and you will improve. You will be able to do longer pomodoros with greater focus over time.

One tip Matt has for this is if something pops up into your head, such as the need to thaw meat for dinner or take out the garbage, quickly jot down a one-work reminder and keep work. For example, write down “meat” or “trash” and put it out of your mind. That way, you do not worry you forget about it, but spend no time on it. You do not context shift.

10x Your Productivity Habit #6: Leverage the Eisenhower Matrix

General Eisenhower developed a quad chart based on the urgency and importance of tasks. Tasks can fall into the below categories:

1. not urgent and not important – remove
2. urgent but not important – delegate or automate
3. urgent and important – pomodoro technique
4. important but not urgent – create time for these and defend

You should remove tasks from category 1 and delegate or automated category 2 tasks.

Use the pomodoro technique for category 3 tasks.

You may use the pomodoro technique for category 4 tasks, but the most important thing is to build time for them by reducing the time you spend on other tasks. These tasks tend to not get done, but they are where the most value comes from, whether they are important tasks for you or your business.

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