Being productive refers to someone’s ability to complete a lot of work or to achieve abundant results.

You may be able to do many things and be very busy, but if those many things are not are not achieving results – I’m sorry – we can’t call you productive.

Focus on being productive instead of busy.

Tim Ferriss

Being productive involves hitting targets and getting results. You may have a big assignment to accomplish. You would break this down to multiple small tasks. How you work on these tasks and complete them, thus fulfilling the assignment is how we will determine how productive you are.

There are some practices that can help us be productive. It is wise to learn them and implement them in your lives.

The hardest thing about being productive is not the work, but the split second it takes to decide to take control.

David Allen

Write down your tasks for the day in order of importance. Then focus on the most important tasks first. This will keep you away from distractions and will enable you to complete the important tasks when your mind and body are fresh and at their sharpest.

Schedule regular breaks to rejuvenate your mind. Drink water, take a walk, use the bathroom, relax your mind. This will keep you fresh as you will avoid fatigue.

Don’t multitask. Schedule time for things like emails, WhatsApp messages, Facebook chats, etc. Let those not get into the way of your focus on important tasks. Make sure you choose times of the day when you don’t need to be at your sharpest.

Give away some of your tasks. There are some tasks that can be done by others. Free up time by delegating those simple tasks to others. To be productive, you need all the time you can get.

One interesting thing I’ve heard about being productive is that you must make fewer decisions. It sounds strange but it’s referring to structuring your life in a way that you only have to make important decisions. You leave the simple decisions to others.

You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.

Barack Obama

Be wise in choosing what to take on. Don’t say yes to everything and end up being overwhelmed with work. In fact, the sooner you learn to say no, the more productive you will be.

Being productive gives people a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that loafing never can.

Zig Ziglar

To make progress in life, you should be productive.