We are often told that no one can shortcut his way to success.

5 counterintuitive tips that will boost your productivity

And that in order to achieve more, we have to keep our noses to the grindstone all the time. However, while diligence is without a doubt a virtue all entrepreneurs should aspire to, there is a way to work less and get more done. Here we present to you five tips that will boost your productivity though might sound counterintuitive as this goal.

1. Work only when you feel like it

There will always be times when you do not feel like working at all.

It could be due to personal life turmoil, or it could be completely coming out of nowhere: you just wake up in the morning having no motivation at all.

Sure, you might still manage to crawl your way to your laptop, but chances are, you will not be producing your desired results. If you really don’t feel like working, you might as well choose to listen to yourself. But I’m by no means suggesting that you have a right to put off work indefinitely either. You simply need to recognize when a break is needed to revitalize your mind.

A short meditation session or taking a walk works wonders for me personally. You too can find your own exercise to give you a motivation boost at any time.

2. Get rid of your to-do list

A to-do list may seem like a straightforward way to help you plan out your day as you go, but in fact, all it does is stressing you out with a big chunk of tasks that need to be done without giving you any concrete guidelines.

So instead of making a laundry list of your tasks of the day, try to actually plan them. Work out the specific steps that are needed to finish those tasks first and schedule them into time blocks. The key is to make executable plans that will let you be in control of your time and energy.

3. Embrace distractions

A call, an urgent message, a quick decision you are asked to make—these are all possible interruptions that can pull you away from what you should really be focusing.

You hate them but they are oftentimes out of your control. There is, however, a way to use distractions to your advantage. Learn to anticipate interruptions at any time.

Keeping your mind in such an alert state will not decrease but indeed increase your productivity once your brain adapts to it, and it will further motivate you to break a major task into smaller ones that are less likely to get interrupted, making them easier to execute.

4. Don’t count on yourself too much

I’m not saying you are lazy, incompetent and that you should just give up on your dreams. In fact, if you’re reading this, you are probably a very smart and ambitious person, but still sometimes it is important to acknowledge that human brain power has its limitations.

Keeping mental notes of everything is hardly a bright idea if you want to get the most out of your day. Because a lot of time is going to be wasted retrieving those tiny pieces of information from the back of your head.

By the same token, it can be helpful to utilize some of the productivity techniques and tools out there, instead of solely relying on your organizational skills and will power. But don’t be caught up jumping from one app to another either. Find the ones that really work for you and integrate them into your daily work and routine.

We could suggest you a list of some of the productivity tools that we prefer at our work.

5. Begin a day’s work with the end in mind

Most of us wake up every morning with expectations about what we want to get done for the day.

Yet, it is important to have expectations about when your day should end as well. Especially if you are not working the 9-to-5 schedule.

Having the end of the day in mind will give you an extra shot of motivation. If you don’t have this end in your mind, you probably won’t have one in actuality either, which in turn could mean not having enough time to reflect and recharge.

Of course, having extra time on hand after a day’s work requires careful planning. And if you do manage to do that, take your precious off-time to do things that can help you start fresh the next day and things that are beneficial to you in the long run.

How do you find this article? Have you tried these tips before? Let us know in the comments below.

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