I have been working as a graphic designer for over a decade. Within that time I have tried and tested all possible ways of getting my work done in more productive and effective way. It is very hard to be productive and creative at the same time because those two things don’t usually go well together, unless you adjust your daily routines a bit.

 Here are some ideas about productivity at my work place.

 ‘To do list’ Before you start any project prepare a list of things you want to do within one day. I usually prepare my ‘to do list’ in the evening. I don’t plan things too far in advance as it is really hard to predict what is going to happen later in a week, it won’t work in my situation anyway.

 ‘Less is more’ Set up maximum of 3 tasks per day. Working on more projects is usually not very effective and leads to procrastination. If you have a lot of things to do you do you usually don’t know how and where to get started and sooner or later you give up.

 Crate a false time constraint. Buy a timer and use it! Set up a timer for every project. I divide my projects into small chunks. If I work on a small project my tasks are divided in 45 minutes segments followed by 15 minutes brakes. I repeat these steps until each project is finished.

 Keeping a timer in front of me gives me a really big kick. It is like a bomb countdown. I feel a good creative pressure. Believe or not but I’m 100% focused and my projects are ready on time.

Focus only on one task at the time. Don’t work on few projects simultaneously. It is better to complete one task after another and that helps you to avoid unfinished tasks that are painful to complete and make you feel bad about yourself.

Detach from the rest of the World. Turn off your internet, do not answer emails, do not watch news and switch off your mobile. I know its hard but in 80% of cases its a killer of your productivity. I like to work in silence so I use noise cancelling headphones that prevent me from getting distracted.

 I hope that you will find my tips useful and they will help you to improve your productivity. Perhaps you have your own ideas you would like to share. Please comment on my post if you have something to share.