Productivity Tips from the Icon Books Ninjas

Posted on 2014/01/04 , tagged as graham allcott

Share this

Graham Allcott’s How to Be a Productivity Ninja was published this week and to celebrate, we thought we’d share our own productivity tips with you! We’re getting in the New Year, New Ninja mood…

Kate (Commissioning Editor)
I ‘go dark’, to use the terminology in Graham Allcott’s How to be a Productivity Ninja. This means when I really need to focus I turn off my email and put my voicemail on for a few hours, so I can work uninterrupted.

Stacey (Sales and Marketing Executive)
I note down all the tasks I have to do and projects that need to be completed, plus little notes to myself and deadlines, on a to-do list in Excel. In How to Be a Productivity Ninja, this is what Graham Allcott calls our ‘second brain’. I don’t have to try and memorise every task, I can just get on and do them! I also keep a daily to-do list, so I always know what I need to prioritise.

Andrew (Sales and Marketing Director)
I regularly email myself ideas in the evening or at the weekend. It means I don’t forget them when I am at work but it also means I can forget them when I’m not!

Michael (Sales Executive)
With so much of my work based online it’s easy to get lost in spreadsheets and emails. I’ve found that retreating to the safety of ink and paper is often the best resort. Handwritten to-do lists, strategic print outs and a patchwork of post it notes help cut through the snow-blindness of pixelated-living. Plus, crossing out things on my to-do list in thick felt tip pen is incredibly satisfying.

Leena (Digital Sales Executive)
However many spreadsheets you make, sometimes having things existing ‘digitally’ just isn’t enough. And that’s coming from ‘the ebooks girl’ of the office! Get yourself some colourful Sharpies and colour-code those urgent problems in front of you, lay them out like puzzle pieces.
After all, for every job that must be done …

Graham Allcott does not endorse our productivity advice – we may be failing in our attempts to become a Productivity Ninja, but we are human (not superhero!) and will continue in our attempts to live the Ninja way!

How to be a Productivity Ninja is available now from all good bookshops and as an eBook. Follow Graham @grahamallcott.