“Take breaks and do something completely different.”

In today’s fast paced world, it seems that everyone is at least a little obsessed with productivity. How to ‘hack’ it, increase your own and zap productivity killers. With two months of 2020 already flying by, we wanted to touch base with our own members and their resolutions to be more productive by asking them what their favorite productivity hacks are. Read on for some strategies from Utah’s early-stage tech ecosystem:

Inbox Zero! – Jake Via, Go1

The two-minute rule for tasks of smaller importance. It’s so easy to get mired in the small stuff so set a time limit to complete them and move on. – Becca Rettenberger, Friendemic

Take breaks and do something completely different. eg.: before I write, I do a number puzzle. Before I do budget/numbers, I read an article. – Sherri Lund, Go1 

Adderall and Bose noise cancelling headphones. Kidding, but my day depends on the latter (headphones) and “the headphone rule” (no shoulder tapping someone who has their headphones on) – if it’s not an emergency, signal me asynchronous on slack. – Dave Welch, Hexly

Any Rosalia Playlist – Carlie Davis, Daily Harvest

“Identify important tasks, both urgent and non-urgent, and tackle those first. Urgent and unimportant tasks belong in the waste basket.”

My productivity hack is to go skiing before coming into the office. and to optimize for the hours in the day when I feel most productive. If I am not feeling productive, I will take a break until I am. – Jodie Lyons, Substantial

I’m mildly obsessed with being more productive, so I actually love this stuff. Crazy example: I did the math and realized that if I spent 5 minutes a day doing my hair, I’d love over 30 hours of productivity a year – or more than 4 full days! I shaved my head the next day, and get more 4 vacation days now (well that, and I went bald, but it sounds cooler that I shave my head to be productive than because I’m an old, bald guy). Good luck! – James Armijo, Smartcare

Sweat once a day – ideally at the start of your day. Identify important tasks, both urgent and non-urgent, and tackle those first. Urgent and unimportant tasks belong in the waste basket. – Carol Beck, Stealth Startup

To help fight against procrastination: I ask myself “Can this task be completed in 60 seconds or less?” If the answer is yes I get it done. I always try to remind myself to “set your future self up for success” – Jake Goldstein, Kiln 

I apply this principle from the book The One Thing. Most of the stuff we do as entrepreneurs is a waste of time. Once we have identified the one thing that makes everything else easier or unnecessary, we can get more done (as far as moving the needle on growth) in 2 hours a day than most get done in 8. ie- for me, if I focus on business development 2 hours a day, everything else I do that day is just icing on the cake. Revenue grows with that focused effort and I can hire people to do the rest. Too often we stack effort based on demand from others instead of choosing proactively to work on our highest value activity (which is different for each person and each position). – Trent Chapman, Fix Your Funnel

We use to have a saying we posted all over the office walls that said … “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” – Greg Heaps, Chunker 

Have something we’re missing? Hit us up on Instagram with your favorite productivity hack at @kiln.co