To piggyback on my post from last week regarding the importance of building in recovery times in your work day, I recently came across a great blog by  Internet Pioneer and Serial Web Enterpreneur  Marc Andressen (Co-Founder of Netscape in the early days!) and have been thoroughly enjoying his daily thought-provoking posts!

Last week, he wrote a very interesting post titled, The Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity, which really made ponder my own productiveness or there lack of, in my work day. I really liked Marc’s perspectives on "stuctured procrastination" and on keeping your email and phone calls from getting out of control through out the day. In order to maximize productivity, he even went as far as to suggest "Hiding in a Ipod" with your head-set on to avoid distractions in the workplace - you don’t even have to turn it on - perception is everything! 

He also suggested writing 3-5 priority items on a card just before you go to bed, so you are clear on what you need to accomplish the next day. I know personally, I tend to create audaciously large to-do lists with no hope of ever accomplishing half of what’s on the list, which inevitability leads to discouragement! Start small - pick just 3-5 of the most important tasks and check them off your list - you will feel way more productive:)!

The one tip that I am still trying to get my head around is  regarding his idea of not keeping a schedule  and not booking appointments well in advance. His premise is that often we will schedule a meeting days in advance only to realize that on the day of the meeting, we actually have other more important tasks we should be doing then atttending this pre-arranged meeting. While I see his point, I am not sure how that really translates to certain work environments such as a busy sales and marketing department. I have worked in Internet Marketing and Sales for quite some time and given the many accounts I would be managing at one time, it would be unrealistic to go without somewhat of a structured appointment schedule.

Anyways, I highly recommend you check out his Personal Productivity Post and blog for that matter - a very insight guy to say the least!

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