This requires a certain degree of mindfulness when looking at your task list.
Asking questions like "Why am I doing this?" or "What is the consequence if this doesn't get done today?" are great ways to whittle down your todo list to the most important tasks. Another thing you can do is look at a task and think, "How much of my energy will I need to pour into this to get it done?" or "If I do this, will I have enough energy to get the rest done?"
Finally, you can also apply an approximate time estimate to the task. Certain tasks will take longer to complete than others, even if they are low energy. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours building a bookshelf I ordered (which was both a long time and a pretty high energy, physically intensive task). By going through my tasks and being honest about my estimated time, I was able to accurately time-block my whole day and get the project done.
I would pair a calendar with my task list and make blocks of events where I want to focus on getting one task or a collection of tasks done for the next 7 days.
That's a great summary, and a couple of little psychological tricks I also like to apply! I find that in software development sometimes I get stuck because what appears to be a low-energy quick task ends up taking 2 weeks to conquer! Such is the nature of the beast I suppose. But you summed it up perfectly in your first statement—mindfulness.
This requires a certain degree of mindfulness when looking at your task list.
Asking questions like "Why am I doing this?" or "What is the consequence if this doesn't get done today?" are great ways to whittle down your todo list to the most important tasks. Another thing you can do is look at a task and think, "How much of my energy will I need to pour into this to get it done?" or "If I do this, will I have enough energy to get the rest done?"
Finally, you can also apply an approximate time estimate to the task. Certain tasks will take longer to complete than others, even if they are low energy. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours building a bookshelf I ordered (which was both a long time and a pretty high energy, physically intensive task). By going through my tasks and being honest about my estimated time, I was able to accurately time-block my whole day and get the project done.
I would pair a calendar with my task list and make blocks of events where I want to focus on getting one task or a collection of tasks done for the next 7 days.
That's a great summary, and a couple of little psychological tricks I also like to apply! I find that in software development sometimes I get stuck because what appears to be a low-energy quick task ends up taking 2 weeks to conquer! Such is the nature of the beast I suppose. But you summed it up perfectly in your first statement—mindfulness.
That's the best strategy for all productivity!