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A lot of us struggle with productivity. Being able to get things done is a pretty clear competitive advantage when it comes to money. If you are productive, you are potentially more likely to increase your wealth because you can simply get more done which leads to success in business, work, running your household, and pretty much every area in life.

I'm often asked how I get so much done and how I'm so productive. We all have different strengths and this is not to brag but this is something I feel that I excel at and so I'd like to share my approach to productivity.

There are three main things I do to help me stay productive.

1. Use ONE trusted system

It's really important to our human brains that we have one place to capture things that we need to get done.

So many of us have all these different places where put things, like post-it notes, todo apps, spreadsheets, Word docs, scraps of paper lying around, and a bunch of other places.

When we do this, we confuse our brains. We can't focus and we don't know where to look for things and it ends up causing paralysis and anxiety.

I recommend having one single place to store all of your todo items that you need to get done. This can be a notebook, a digital app, or anything that works for you. But it's important that you choose one thing and place everything there. That way your brain has a place that can be "trusted" which allows you to focus on what needs to happen.

2. Think of work as a "flow" rather than a list

It's easy to get overwhelmed when you have a huge to-do list staring at you. It's also easy to feel like a failure when you don't get everything done. This is why I think of work as a fluid journey rather than just a list.

Try batching things by context so that you can switch between categories based on your energy level. In the mornings, I'm really good at research and deep focus work. But I'm terrible at this during the afternoons. So I batch my work accordingly.

Also, try to plan work based on pacing yourself. Instead of just putting a bunch of things to do in one big overwhelming list, try setting specific dates when things will appear on your list so that it auto-updates based on the day.

I use Microsoft Todo for this and it works great. By only viewing what is in my current daily landscape, I'm able to get a more manageable and focused view of what really needs to get done.

3. Stop over-thinking

It's really easy to overthink stuff. It happens to all of us. Writing an article results in agonizing over every word. Working on a presentation? Everything must be perfect! Working on your website? Let's make sure every page and photo is exactly right! Launching a new business? So much to think about!

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Try increasing your bias toward action. Remember that (with few exceptions) you can always improve on what you've done later.

It's better to get something out the door that is pretty good than it is to perfect something only to never deliver it or launch it so late that it's no longer relevant.

These are my top three ways to get a lot done and be as productive as possible. So try using one trusted system, think of your work as a flow, and tilt your bias toward action instead of over-thinking. This may give you a better grasp on your productivity and allow you to get more done.