A very common mistake people tend to make when they approach a new method for enhancing their productivity is to apply that method without acknowledging the principles first. Anyone who seeks to be orthodox in getting things done might fail if they don't have clear principles to support their work. The best productivity system is the one that adapts to each person. Each person is free to organize in their own way.

If you want to enhance your personal productivity, the first thing to do is to internalize the principles that will allow you to create your own methods. The principles that will allow you to create the method that suits you. Starting from the principles, you can be free to build your own productivity system.

Let's look at the principles to be a real ninja of productivity:

1. Being effective vs being efficient

It simply represents the difference between doing things well and doing the right things. Remind yourself why you want to do something, say it out loud and work out if that still makes sense if you aim to do an effective job.

2. Big goals and small goals

The future is uncertain and most future plans might seem only dreams. They should represent your long-term goals. It's great to have them, but they will look like impossible dreams if you don't plan other smaller goals that will take you one step closer to the big one, little by little. Try setting a one year goal instead of five years, and make sure that it is heading you in the right direction. Smaller goals can easily be adjusted along the way, while keeping an eye on your final prize.

3. The Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule)

This Italian economist discovered that 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth. The Pareto Principle is the intuition that most things are not distributed evenly. This principle is applicable to anything, not necessarily with the same proportion. You might use 20% of your clothes for the 80% of the time and the 80% of them only for 20% of the time. 10% of your clients can produce 70% of your income. 50% of your work can be done in 10% of the time.

4. Parkinson's Law

It is the law that measures the efficiency and procrastinators should be aware of it. Parkinson tells us that if we have a week to do a job, it would take the whole week for us to do it. But if for any reason we only had a few hours to deliver it, we would do the job in that short period of time. But usually pressure doesn't really help. What can really help here is proactivity and planning your week in the right way.

5. Attention is your currency

Time might be spent, but attention still needs to be paid. It is also a more limited resource than your time. If you were able to recognise the level of your attention throughout the day, you could plan your schedule accordingly. You could prioritise your tasks and dedicate a specific amount of attention to each of them. It obviously takes practice, but you would be able to develop a great habit that will help you boost your productivity regardless of the type of job.