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Advice / Succeeding at Work / Productivity

9 Productivity Tips You Should Steal From the World's Most Successful People

We’re all looking to be a little more productive every day—so who better to turn to than some of the most successful people in the world?

Below are nine strategies that some of the most accomplished people on Earth use to stay focused, efficient, and on top of things.

  1. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is a big believer in scheduling phone calls to stay productive. It’s much more effective than email, but less rude than picking up the phone and interrupting someone’s workday. (Fast Company)
  2. Katia Beauchamp, co-founder of Birchbox, insists that employees indicate if they need a response from her in emails to make the process of prioritizing much faster. (Lifehacker)
  3. Entrepreneur Hua Wang stresses the importance of avoiding decision fatigue. She sets out her outfits the night before and eats the same breakfast foods every morning so she has fewer decisions to make each day. (My Morning Routine)
  4. GE CMO Beth Comstock uses Venn diagrams to cut through chaos and see what overlaps. (Business Insider)
  5. Kevin Chou, co-founder and CEO of Kabam, loves to do daily stand-ups with his team to get their blood pumping. Even standing up alone can do big things for your health and productivity. (LinkedIn)
  6. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has a fascinating way to burn through the 1,000-2,000 emails he receive every day: He’s a big fan of the “Yesterbox,” where he answers yesterday’s emails today. (Digiday)
  7. Author and writer Laura Vanderkam uses a system of tracking time to know what she’s spending her minutes and hours doing. (Laura Vanderkam)
  8. Productivity expert Julie Morgenstern loves old-fashioned mono-tasking. Don’t stop what you’re doing just to pick up another agenda item.
  9. It’s no secret that Arianna Huffington is a big supporter of getting enough sleep. And hey, she definitely has a good point. (The Daily Muse)


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