Yesterday, my good friend Eric Cressey wrote a blog on being more productive. I thought it was a fantastic piece, and since it was brought up this past weekend at the Perform Better summit, I figured I would give on my own two cents as well.

Obviously, being productive is something that’s highly important to all of us. Here are some of the key things that have made me more productive day in and day out.

#1 – The BIG to do list

At the beginning of every week, I write down what I call the big to do list. These are all the things I would like to get done in any given week, along with some random thoughts that are a little bit more “big picture.” The most important goal is to get everything out of your head and onto a piece of paper, into a document, etc.

Once I have all these items written down, my next task is to assign them to us given day.

#2 – The daily schedule

Now that I have my week laid out, it’s time to assign specific tasks to specific days. In this case, I use a simple program called to Teux Deux. While it’s not the sexiest or most robust program you can find on-line, I really enjoy its simplicity and cost effectiveness (considering it’s free!).

With this simple tool, I assign each task to a specific day. If for some reason I don’t get something done, the program simply bumps it up to the next day, so I can make sure to get all my tasks completed on any given week.

#3 – Batching

At the Perform Better Summit this past weekend, we were all asked to give some time management tips. Now before I talk about batching, I want to make a little comment about time management.

In reality there is no such thing as time management. Time is going to go on whether we like it or not. Instead, what we’re really discussing here is life management.

Now, on to batching. Batching is a simple process where we perform many similar tasks all at the same time. Instead of running an errand, writing a program, doing some continuing education, etc. we perform all of our similar tasks at once.

If you’re going to write programs, write all your programs at once.

If you’re going to run errands, run all your errands at once.

If you’re going to take or return phone calls, do them all at once.

When we effectively batch our tasks, we allow our mind to really flex its msucles. Instead of constantly trying to complete dissimilar tasks, we perform a similar task time and again, we become more efficient, and tend to get things done far faster than if we don’t.

With these three simple tips, I’ve been more productive this year than in any year past.

But I’m interested as well:  What tips and tricks do you have in your arsenal?

What are you guys doing to become more successful, and more productive on a day-to-day basis?

I’ll be looking forward to your comments below!

All the best

Mike