Are you struggling to be productive today? We’ve all been there.

Here are 10 tips that, if implemented, will give you an instant boost! 

And be sure to check out the related posts below this one for additional ideas. 

1. Work your emails down to 0 in your inbox. Having 210 read and 38 unread emails staring you in the face does nothing but clutter your mind and keep you from being effective.  So work that inbox down to 0.  You can do it!
2. Clean off your desk. File what you must and throw away the rest.
3. De-clutter your computer desktop. Much like the desk you work at… a cluttered computer desktop does nothing but encourage ineffectiveness.
4. Close down all forms of Social Media. Yes, this includes LSS Academy (until our next article of course). Select a few times each day to read blogs, log into Facebook, Twitter, etc.  
5. Close your email. Like Social Media… identify fixed times during the day to check and respond to emails. Keeping your email open all the time only disrupts any form of flow you may enter into.
6. Read. The fact you’re reading this sentence is a good sign you’re on the right path. You should find at least 15 minutes each day to read something new as it may inspire you to action. With this said, spending 3 hours reading probably won’t move your productivity forward so be sure set a limit.
7. Make a list. Write down the things you need to accomplish each day and cross them off as you complete them. The items you don’t get done should be at the top of tomorrow’s list.
8. Identify Your 3 Most Important Tasks. Related to your list… identify the 3 most important tasks you must do today. Work on these 3 tasks first and don’t start anything else until they are done.
9. Go to Gemba. Go to where the work is done on a regular basis with a pre-determined plan of what you will do. In other words, this is not a time for industrial tourism.
10. Teach someone. Nothing encourages productivity more than helping others… so do your best to teach/coach someone every day. Kids, co-workers, significant other, etc. Find someone and help them.

What do you think?

What other tips would you add to the list?