We’re starting a new happy habit here at WeeWebWork. Every Friday I’ll do a recap on the most fabulous resource I’ve found on the web in the last week. Appart from great blogging, writing, and freelancing links I’m hoping to include some links outside of the “freelance writing box” that apply to what we do. To start off our new happy habit I’ve chosen:10 Productivity Tips are Better Than 101 – from Wakeuplater.com

This website was a great find and I appreciated the author’s efforts to keep the list focused and concise. (In fact, I appreciated Sam’s efforts all over the site!) My favorite steps were #3: Don’t sleep with unanswered emails and #8 Discipline your waste. I took both of these things to heart and I’ve found that my productivity has increased.

I organize my emails into folders and make sure that I go through everything in my inbox. My email newsletters are promptly put in my newsletter folders – unopened – so when I have some spare time I can easily find what I want to read. Anything that hasn’t been answered during the day that is left in my inbox at 5pm requires followup action – an update for a client, a proposal to be sent out, or even a quick note to say “I can’t complete this task at the moment, let me call you tomorrow to schedule something.” Always let your customers know where they stand.

I am also quite guilty of #8… wasting my time on the fun things. I love to look for CSS tricks, WordPress tips and read articles on writing. I am quite often distracted by shiny objects on the internet and found I have to pull myself back to the task at hand. What works for me is a timer. If I find something in my inbox or through my research that I want to look at later I bookmark it in my “To-Look” folder in my browser. Then, come break time, I pull out my timer and set it for 30 minutes. During that time I take a break from my work and gaze lovingly at all of the shiny objects I have put away. When the buzzer goes off it’s back to work – without the guilt of missing something fun!