--- title: Advice: 17 Small Productivity Habits description: Clear your desktop canonical: https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-19T11:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:30.136Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 17 Small Habits To Make You More Productive og:description: Clear your desktop og:url: https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 17 Small Habits To Make You More Productive twitter:description: Clear your desktop twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 17 Small Habits To Make You More Productive > Sponsored content. 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Melinda Gates talks to TIME's Belinda Luscombe about the biggest problem for women in the workplace_ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 19, 2015 11:00 AM UTC by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 19, 2015 11:00 AM UTC _“The goal of a mini-habit is to be consistent. In fact, consistency is much more important than what you accomplish with this daily habit.”_ **The Mini-Habit** The idea behind mini habits is that you can get to a larger habit if you start small, create simple goals, and aim for consistency. In his book [Mini Habits: Small Habits, Bigger Results](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1499341474/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1499341474&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=WKA7SLNLEE6X6MDL), Stephen Guise gives the example of “The One Pushup Challenge.” He was doing what a lot of us do. Feeling guilty about not working out, he tried to fit years worth of exercise into the first workout which created an all or nothing attitude (not to mention a [focus on goals and not process](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/12/scott-adams-fail-at-everything/).) Well, one day he decided to do the opposite. He did only one pushup. This allowed him to check the box that he did his activity. Only he didn’t stop at one, he did 14 more. Then he did one pull-up and guess what? He didn’t stop at one. His workout went on like this and when he was done it was a pretty decent effort. It started with one pushup. In [Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQHB67O/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JQHB67O&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=WTYHQGDEPT2GEEWL), author S. J. Scott writes: --- > “” --- **Habit-Stacking** The purpose of habit-stacking is to create simple and repeatable routines (managed by a checklist). The goal is to get this out of the cognitive load, “because all you have to remember to do is follow the checklist,” and not each individual habit. You do this by doing the same set of actions in the same order and way each day. Checklists, do more than simply tell you what you need to do next, they [help you deal with complexity and increase productivity](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/the-checklist-manifesto/). --- > “” --- According to Scott there are 8 Elements of a habit-stacking routine. 1. Each habit takes less than five minutes to complete. 2. It’s a complete habit. 3. It improves your life. 4. It’s simple to complete. 5. The entire routine takes less than 30 minutes. 6. It follows a logical process. 7. It follows a checklist. 8. It fits your life. **17 Small Productivity Habits** All of these habits are from Scott’s [Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1499341474/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1499341474&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=O3VLXO2M4FWVNBZO). I don’t agree with all of them; Most of these seem like common sense. Scott argues that if you add them to a routine, “you’ll see a dramatic improvement in both the quantity and the quality of your efforts.” I think a lot of that improvement will be from simply bringing awareness to how you spend your time and what you’re doing. **#1 Drink a Large Glass of Water** --- > “” --- **#2\. Schedule Your Day and Prioritize Your Tasks** --- > “” --- If you’re lost on how to make this change or what it looks like, [let Peter Bregman explain](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/07/bregman-finding-focus/). **#3\. Focus on Your Three Most Important Tasks** --- > “” --- **#4\. Turn Tasks into Manageable Steps** --- > “” --- **#5\. Create Accountability by Telling Others** --- > “” --- **#6\. Reward Yourself for Task Completion** --- > “” --- **#7\. Remove Distractions Before Working** --- > “” --- **#8\. Clear Your Desktop** --- > “” --- **#9\. Play Music or White Noise to Improve Focus** --- > “” --- **#10\. Do the Hardest (or Most Unappealing) Task First** --- > “” --- **#11\. Commit to a Very Small Goal** --- > “” --- **#12\. Work in Small Blocks of Time** --- > “” --- **#13\. Track Time for Different Activities** --- > “” --- **#14\. Use the Two-Minute Rule** --- > “” --- Keep in mind that this type of framework is [how the urgent trumps the meaningful](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/07/steve-mcclatchy-gain-and-preventing-pain/). **#15\. Capture Every Idea** Our minds tend to wander. Despite our intentions they drift off from the task at hand. Rather than a drawback this is one of [the fascinating ways that we gain insights](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/09/the-remarkable-ways-we-gain-insights/). Pull out a notepad and write them down. You can come back to them later and, who knows, it just might be a great idea or the solution to a problem you’ve been working on. **#16\. Write a Done List** --- > “” --- **#17\. Review Your Goals** --- > “” --- [Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQHB67O/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JQHB67O&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=WTYHQGDEPT2GEEWL) goes on to offer small habits in six other areas: relationships, finances, organization, mental well-being, physical fitness, and leisure. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/08/habit-stacking/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/"},"headline":"17 Small Habits To Make You More Productive","datePublished":"2015-08-19T11:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:30.136Z","description":"Clear your desktop","url":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/","keywords":["Innovation","Careers & Workplace","productivity","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"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/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/","name":"17 Small Habits To Make You More Productive"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Melinda Gates on Women's Biggest Problem in the Workplace","description":"Melinda Gates talks to TIME's Belinda Luscombe about the biggest problem for women in the workplace","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/umfaJAjz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-19T23:55:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/umfaJAjz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3989246/small-productivity-habits/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```