--- description: Make decisions more automatic, so they require less energy title: 5 Secrets for Getting More Done image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt185ae90c59830d3a/6986a60ccd804d7605ccd0e8/178686451.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Top Secrets to Getting More Done by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2014 4:01 AM CUT  Female Office Worker Writing on a Whiteboard Female Office Worker Writing on a WhiteboardCavan Images—Getty Images by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2014 4:01 AM CUT **1) Be a Machine** The secret to getting more done is to [make things automatic](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-to-get-more-done "undefined")**.** Decisions exhaust you: --- > “” --- **Build routines and habits so that you’re not deciding, you’re just doing.** When you first learn to drive it’s 1000 activities like steering, shifting, checking mirrors, braking — but with practice you turned it into autopilot and it’s no stress at all. **2) Sleep is king** Get [enough sleep](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-little-sleep-can-you-get-away-with "undefined"): --- > “” --- **3) Checklists are magic** **Use** [**checklists**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-something-simple-that-can-make-your-wor "undefined")**.** Yeah, everybody says that. And you probably don’t consistently do it. Harvard surgeon Atul Gawande analyzed their effectiveness in his book [The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312430000?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"). What happens when you consistently use checklists in an intensive care unit? --- > “” --- What makes for a good checklist? Be [specific and include time estimates](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-secret-to-better-to-do-lists "undefined"). **4) Beat** **Pr** **ocrastination** The two secrets to overcoming procrastination are [dashes and precommitment devices](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-are-the-two-steps-for-beating-procrastin/ "undefined"). Dashes are: --- > “” --- Precommitment devices take the form of: --- > “” --- These scale powerfully and work well. **5) Mood Matters** **Happiness** [**increases productivity**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-happiness-boost-productivity "undefined") **and** [**makes you more successful**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-success-make-us-happy-or-does-happiness "undefined")**.** As Shawn Achor describes in his book [The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307591549/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- And don’t be confident — be overconfident. Overconfidence [increases productivity](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-overconfidence-increase-productivity "undefined"): --- > “” --- [Thinking about what you need to do](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-a-rocky-training-montage-what-you-need-to "undefined"), Rocky-montage style, is more powerful than envisioning how good it will feel to be done. Progress [motivates](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-really-motivates-us "undefined") you [more than anything else](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-motivates-us-more-than-most-anything-els "undefined"). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/ "undefined")**_._** **Join more than 100,000 readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined"). Related posts: [7 tips to make the workweek easier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/7-tips-to-make-the-workweek-easier "undefined") [How much of office gossip is true?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-much-of-office-gossip-is-true "undefined") [What are the three keys to moving your career forward?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-the-three-keys-to-moving-your-career "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3446529/5-top-secrets-to-getting-more-done/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3446529/5-top-secrets-to-getting-more-done/"},"headline":"5 Top Secrets to Getting More Done","datePublished":"2014-09-30T04:01:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:56:18.649Z","description":"Make decisions more automatic, so they require less energy","url":"https://time.com/3446529/5-top-secrets-to-getting-more-done/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt185ae90c59830d3a/6986a60ccd804d7605ccd0e8/178686451.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt185ae90c59830d3a/6986a60ccd804d7605ccd0e8/178686451.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"178686451","caption":"178686451","creditText":"Cavan Images—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3446529/5-top-secrets-to-getting-more-done/","name":"5 Top Secrets to Getting More Done"}}]}] ```