99 Ways to be More Productive According to Quora

Getting answers to your questions is what Quora’s all about and there’s some very interesting conversations happening around all sorts of topics.
One question asked recently was “What are some uncommon ways to work smarter instead of harder?“. Below is a summary of some of the great answers given by members of the site.

1. Learn to say “No.”
2. Sleep at least 8-9 hours
3. Don’t be a night Owl. Work in between 5am-10pm not from 10pm-5am
4. Stop multitasking
5. Take more breaks: respect your natural attention spans
6. Spend time in nature
7. Move around and work in blocks
8. Limit your to-do list
9. Measure your results, not your time
10. Build “getting ready to work” routines
11. Track what you’re wasting time on
12. Exercise daily even if you think you have no time
13. Believe that you can do it
14. Use keyboard shortcuts
15. Get enough rest and sleep, even when you’re behind
16. Procrastinate, but not until the last minute
17. Delegate
18. Don’t be a perfectionist
19. Increase your typing speed
20. Use the 80/20 Principle. Analyze the work before you start
21. Set a deadline
22. Use a time management system, such as GTD
23. Believe that you can do it
24. “Eat that frog“: Do the most difficult task or the task you hate the most first
25. Do not sit in the same place for long stretches of time
26. Use systems & automation to make good habits stick.
27. Don’t rely on discipline & willpower
28. Hire a virtual assistant to get more done
29. Planning is the #1 tool to ensure you’re working smarter, not working for work’s sake
30. Find your biological prime time
31. Schedule 1-2 hours just for yourself
32. Stop multitasking
33. Divide big tasks into small tasks
34. Tackle the worst task first
35. Do everything that takes less than 2 minutes, right away
36. Block distracting websites
37. Use the Pomodoro Technique
38. Eat “brain” food
39. Use room scents
40. Drink coffee strategically
41. Watch your working hours
42. Set a deadline for each task
43. Use waiting time for small tasks
44. Track your time
45. Do similar tasks together
46. Do email response batching
47. Dictate
48. Improve your typing speed
49. Learn speed reading
50. Set the office thermostat to 70-72°F (21–22ºC)
51. Use a standing desk
52. Have a plant on your desk
53. Clean your desk when you’re leaving the office
54. Take a power nap
55. Procrastinate or Surf the web for 10 minutes
56. Use two screens to work
57. Communicate more by talking
58. The 80-20 rule. Much of your effort is not really adding much to your life and should be cut out. A small part of your efforts are driving most of the success in your life and need to be expanded even further
59. Stop hitting Reply All
60. Setup email filters
61. Meditate
62. Build Relationships at Work
63. Banish long meetings
64. Make use of Chrome Plugins
65. Use a voicerecorder and repeat back something important you’re told
66. Build habits that become systems. Systems beat willpower
67. Use a password manager like 1Password/Lastpass
68. Recognise starting is often the hardest part
69. Switch your workplace
70. Use a whiteboard
71. Eliminate friction wherever you can
72. Have some fun
73. Use a kanban board
74. Talk and write in bulletpoints
75. Identify and deal with bottlenecks
76. Optimize the repetitive processes
77. Get good tools
78. Make decisions on the spot
79. Be clear on responsibilities
80. Spend less time planning and more time doing
81. Avoid analysis paralysis. Use a decision matrix. Makes decision faster
82. If something stays on your to-do list for so long that it starts to bother you, just delete it
83.  Set realistic expectations for what you can accomplish in a day
84. Enjoy a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day
85. Make weekend plans, and NEVER set a Monday deadline
86. Use your left hand while brushing, it ignites the imaginative part of you
87. Don’t see, OBSERVE
88. Don’t hear, LISTEN
89. If you want to prepare a presentation, use 10, 20, 30 technique. (10 slides, 20 mins, 30 font size)
90. Offer two or three choices – never more
91. Look for simplification
92. Remember Parkinson’s Law ~ Tasks expand to the time allotted
93. Use the Pomodoro Technique and a Timer
94. Look for inspirations from others
95. Train your mind to go through the analysis and not jump to conclusions
96. Know the rules of the game so you can optimize how you play
97. If you’re already working as hard as you can, then working even harder isn’t the answer
98. Turn on music
99. The Method of Loci or Memory Palace

For further details on any of the above the full comment trail can be found here.