I see many people around me who can’t do anything productive in most days. That’s a common problem that we all sometimes feel drowned by having lots of things to but actually doing nothing. Recently I have read this free book named GTD for Hackers and compiled a list of practices of mine and author’s on getting things done.

  • Organize your inbox. I use Gmail and for the emails I won’t read or reply immediately, I star them. If I’m not gonna need that email, I simply delete it. If I’m done with it, I archive it.

  • Have To-Do lists. In fact several of them. I have lists for school-related, project-related and personal stuff.(try this or this)

  • Keep To-Dos simple. Try to split them into tasks doable in 15 minutes.

  • Keep iterating on To-Dos during the day, pick the ones you wish to do at that moment.

  • **Actually do things. **Try to have several hours of time you can keep concentrated. Find your favorite place, coffee or playlist whatever keeps you on the track for a while.

  • Archive Things. I visit Hacker News several times everyday, I follow many blogs on RSS. If it sounds interesting, I add this to my reading list. (try this, this or this) If you found website that may be useful someday, bookmark it and keep your mind relaxed, forgetting things won’t bug you anymore.

  • Shortest Job First. When a new task takes less than 2 minutes arrives, don’t postpone it or put it in your queue; rather stop what you are doing and do this now.

  • Don’t get stuck. If a todo item always stays there try to find another way of doing it or consult someone knows better than you. If you got stuck more than twice its estimated time, stop working on it.