James Clear has a nice article (The Ivy Lee Method, The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity) about a productivity consultant that Charles Schwab retained to improve company productivity.
Here is the method:
During his 15 minutes with each executive, Lee explained his simple method for achieving peak productivity:
- At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
- Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
- When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
- Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, >move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
- Repeat this process every working day.