This is a great productivity method if you tend to get distracted easily. It’s especially useful when sitting in front of a desk or computer. This method works two-fold, to improve your concentration and your efficiency.

The method is very simple. Take a stack of post-its and put them on the right side of your desk where they’re easy to see and to write on. Decide the task you’re going to work on and write it on the top post-it note along with the current time. As you’re working, if anything else comes into your mind that you need to do, write it on the post-it immediately underneath the top one. Now, it’s out of your mind so you won’t get distracted by it and you can give your current task your full attention.

Once you’ve completed the task you’ve set yourself, put the top post-it aside and start over, remembering to note the start time of the next new task on it’s post-it. Remember, what gets measured gets improved. The simple act of time-stamping your tasks makes you more conscious of the amount of time you spend on the task and encourages you to do it faster.

For some reason, collecting a stack of ‘done’ post-its and being able to go through and see what you’ve achieved and how long each task took you at the end of the day also feels great – so try it!