Coding with Jesse

Getting Things Done

April 23rd, 2006

Productivity is a hot topic these days, so I thought I'd contribute to the ever-growing mountain of hints and tips with a few things you can do to Get Things Done:

  1. Make a to-do list

    Write down a list of all the things you have to do. When you figure out more things to do, just add them to the list. I just use notepad for my list.

  2. Prioritise your list

    You don't actually have to write down the priorities somewhere. It's probably pretty obvious, so you just need to keep it in mind. The key is to do higher priority things first. For example: Finish the project your boss keeps asking about - high priority. Catch up on 2035 unread blog posts - low priority.

  3. Go do the things on your list

    Seriously. Right now. Go do them. Don't even read the rest of this article. Go. Now. Do the dishes, or go back to work, or write that blog post or whatever it is you have to do. I'm not kidding. Close your browser.

  4. Try not to spend 3 hours a day reading productivity tips

    Think of all the things you could get done with the time you spend trying to figure out how to get all these things done. Actually, nevermind, don't think about it.

I hope these tips are useful to you. Actually, if you're reading this far they obviously haven't been. So, seriously, either go back to work or just give up on being productive altogether. Whichever one is fine with me.

About the author

Jesse Skinner Hi, I'm Jesse Skinner. I'm a self-employed web developer with over two decades of experience. I love learning new things, finding ways to improve, and sharing what I've learned with others. I love to hear from my readers, so please get in touch!