Tech parents share your productivity wisdom
Liana Khanova
2 replies
A few friends of mine shared that they started to do things faster and more productive after becoming a parent.
So I wonder, what productivity tips and hacks would you recommend to your younger self based on your parenting experience?
Maybe parenting and productivity are two opposite things?
Replies
Rich Donnellan@rich_donnellan
Dad of two here. I would agree with your friends. And it's probably mainly out of necessity. As a parent, you are forced to become more efficient in all aspects of your life. Here are some things I found worked for me.
1. Prioritize. Many things that were "important" to me before kids just don't make the cut anymore.
2. Figure out the times of day you are most productive and align your checklist items around those times. It's early morning for me.
3. Put down your phone when you need to focus. This one is big for me. So much so that we are launching a company to help people put down their phones and engage in real life.
4. Block your own time on your schedule. I work a lot, and meetings were always piling up on my calendar. I found it very helpful to block my own time for even personal things, like going on a run. Then no one would take it from me.
5. Learn from others. I love the book Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. Great advice in there from successful people across a variety of industries on how they manage to stay so productive.
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Maybe the two things are not in conflict for parents at all, and they just need to be assisted. For example, we are launching a baby monitor to cope sleep deprivation of new parents.