I have been reading quite a lot about time management and how to increase productivity when your running a small home-based business. I felt like I have had problems achieving my goals lately, and have felt I havent got anywhere for a while. So I decided to try to do something about my productivity by making some changes in the way I live and work.

I started reading on the Lifehack Blog, which contains a lot of very good and interesting articles. One of these articles that have inspired my to start a new experiment, is this article about how to wake up and instantly achieve something everyday. The basic of the article is, that if you start your day off by doing your most important goal for that day, you will get a self-esteem boost and possibly get more done that day.

I’m not sure how this excactly will work on me. First of all, I have to admit that I’m not a morning person at all – I need my coffee and my time alone. If I try to go running in the morning, I always get sick and dont get as much out of the trip as if I go in the afternoon. If I get caught by some interesting work, I can stay up all night and work where I suddenly notice that it is sunrise. So the thought of starting my day with actually doing the most important goal for the day sounds like a crazy idea.. None the less, I decided to give it a try.

I only just started on this experiment today, but the conclusion so far is that it actually works. So far I let my self make a cup of coffee and some breakfast, before I start working – but I try to avoid to start surfing, reading, watching TV or doing anything else that what I set as my “morning goal”. I simply just make my coffee and breakfast, and go directly into my little “office” – close down my mail program, and only keep the windows open related to the work I’m doing right at that moment. It really works to let you focus on that achievement of the day, and no matter how much of the other stuff you planned to do that day, you know you got the most importent thing done, because you did it before you did everything else.

As for the experiment, I will continue to do this from now on; every evening I decide what the first thing I will get done tomorrow will be. That way I dont have to spend the rest of the evening / night thinking about that thing, because I know it will be dealt with as the first thing tomorrow.

That and a lot of other interesting posts on Lifehack has really inspired me, and I will properly try to follow more and more advises from sites and blogs like Lifehack. I hope this maybe has inspired you too. Do you follow any of these Lifehack blogs or resources? Do you run experiments like that to increase your productivity, or do you have a speciel way of getting things done? I hope you will share your experiences with Lifehacks and ways of increasing productivity.