Want Less Productivity? Do These Eight Things

Productivity is one of those elusive goals -- like nirvana -- that lurk at the edge of consciousness. "Yeah, I'd like to be productive, but I’m too busy." That's why folks like David Allen, of ”Getting Things Done" fame, soar to such heights: they take the abstract concept of productivity and make it concrete via steps and principles that anyone can apply.

A recent example of the genre with a twist on the "what to do" form is posted to the Cranking Widgets blog. Rather than telling you what to do, here's what not to do: here's eight ways to put your email on the path to useless:

1. Say way more than is necessary
2. Stray wildly from the topic
3. Send emails that are completely unnecessary
4. Don't answer the question you’re asked
5. Make no effort to punctuate the message
6. Walk over to the recipient 10 minutes after sending the message to make sure they got it
7. Leave the subject line blank
8. Set the priority to ‘high’ on every single message

Click over to Cranking Widgets to read the fine print on each of these eight points and stop doing them now.