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Impress your coworkers with how much you accomplish without breaking a sweat.
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To find out what those strategies are, we checked out the Quora thread "What is the secret to insane productivity?" as well as some other research, and picked out our favorite techniques.

1. Work less.


"As I got older," she writes, "I started thinking differently. I realized that working harder is not always the right path to success. Sometimes, working less can actually produce better results."



2. Procrastinate.

Patrick Hankinson explains that "procrastination could actually prove to be a useful productivity tool."


1. What are the long-term benefits of the task I'm putting off?

2. Can I do without those benefits?





Ultimately, procrastination can be a cue that whatever you're working on isn't necessary and could help you turn your attention to something that is.

3. Don't manage your time — manage your energy.

"You need to align your work schedule with your energy level fluctuations," writes Maurice Dziubinski.

He suggests tracking your energy levels throughout the day for a few days. Then schedule your workday according to when you're the most focused.

So if you have the most energy right when you get into work, you'll want to do your writing then. If you hit a wall around 3 p.m., you might want to go through your inbox, a task that generally doesn't require a ton of concentration.


Learn to delegate work to employees.
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4. Don't do the work yourself.

"Learning to delegate effectively is the best thing you can do to free up your time as a manager," says Christian Bonilla.


If you're having trouble delegating, Amy Gallo at The Harvard Business Review suggests figuring out why. Maybe you're a perfectionist; maybe you believe your work is better than everyone else's; maybe you're under-confident and don't want your employees to shine brighter than you do.

Being aware of what's stopping you from delegating is the first step to addressing the issue and boosting your personal productivity.

5. Get rid of your current to-do list.

If your to-do list is brimming with items you didn't get to last week, or month, or year, it's time to make a change.



Meanwhile, over at Forbes, Kevin Kruse recommends doing away with your to-do list entirely. In interviews with highly successful people, Kruse found that none of them use to-do lists. Among other reasons, to-do lists don't account for time, so we're inclined to jump on the easiest tasks first.

Instead, Kruse suggests working from a calendar, so you can plan exactly which tasks to complete first and how long you'll spend on them.

Take a long lunch break and read a book.
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6. Take a long lunch break.

It's tempting to power through the day and feel productive, but that's not always wise.


Moreover, a long lunch gives your brain a chance to recover from mental fatigue, so that you don't lose steam later in the afternoon.

Davis suggests reading a non-work-related book, socializing with non-coworkers, or doing moderate exercise during your break.

7. Don't plan every hour of your day.

Etienne Garbugli, a Montreal-based product and marketing consultant, has 26 great pieces of time-management advice for those who are just starting out. Here's one, which he attributes to David Heinemeier Hansson at 37 Signals:

"Only plan for 4-5 hours of real work per day. Days always fill up."

In other words, schedule some buffer time around tasks in case they take longer than you think or something pops up. Best case scenario? You'll have extra time on your hands and you'll be even more productive than you expected.