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What productivity techniques do you swear by?

  • 1.  What productivity techniques do you swear by?

    Posted Mon October 17, 2022 06:51 AM
    Edited by System Fri January 20, 2023 04:24 PM

    When it comes to being my most productive self, distractions are hard to avoid. Notifications find their way through silent mode, fire drills can distract me from my daily priorities, and my personal life doesn't disappear during the work day.

    Here are a few things that I found really helpful:

    1- Focusing on single-tasking vs multi-tasking - I find that focusing on one task at a time increases not only the quality but also gets the job done quicker. Research shows that our brain can only handle one complex task at a time.

    2- Turning off push notifications - minimizing distractions while getting work done can really help me with staying productivity. If I'm worried to miss an important notification it is great to toggle between focused and open hours.

    3- Planning my focused time - I find that booking slots in my calendar where I am doing specific tasks helps me not only to get the work done but also to prioritize where I spend my time during the day. I keep part of my calendar open for meetings and book slots of focused time to actually get work done or alternate between the two so that I don't feel overwhelmed by one or the other.

    Looking forward to hearing what some of your productivity hacks!

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    Sophie Kim Yen Liem
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    #WatsonOrchestrate


  • 2.  RE: What productivity techniques do you swear by?

    User Group Leader
    Posted Mon October 17, 2022 12:53 PM

    Techniques 1 and 2 are the main ones that actually get me through the day.

    1. I tend to get distracted easily (I've been writing my response to this for over 30 minutes but find other stuff to do) so focusing on a single-task is the only way that I can deliver high quality products in a timely manner. 

    2. My phone automatically goes from "sleep mode" to "work mode" at 8:55am and only allows notifications from Slack and Outlook. which keeps me away from using my phone. I also book "deep work" slots in my calendar, usually later in the day during the "afternoon slump", which forces me to be productive and get work done. 



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    Gabriel Marte Blanco
    Austin TX
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  • 3.  RE: What productivity techniques do you swear by?

    IBM TechXchange Speaker
    Posted Tue October 18, 2022 09:47 AM
    Edited by System Fri January 20, 2023 04:27 PM

    I love those suggestions Sophie, really helpful and I do realize also that I tend to gravitate to them all!

    I have turn off (most) push notifications at work and also on my personal phone to let me go to what I need to attend when I can attend it.

    I'll go to slack and respond to what is pressing, leaving the rest until I really have more time.

    Like Gabriel, I also tend to get distracted so I like to write on paper for me to see handy the top 5 things I need to focus on (in priority order) to keep focus on those things I cannot let slip among the torrent of what comes in (unless something new must take precedent!).

    My afternoon do tend to give me time to focus with less/no meetings (I am pacific time working with  Europe/ET/CT:) but I like the idea to lock time in calendar for specific tasks and I do it once in a while.

    Thanks!



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    Laurent de Clermont-Tonnerre
    Watson Orchestrate Product Manager
    IBM
    San Francisco CA
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