5 Universal No Tech Principles You Can’t Live Without For Maximum Productivity

You use productivity tools; they don’t use you.

That’s the problem with software. It’s the next thing to scratch your productivity hack itch. But productivity doesn’t happen in a software stack. Instead, it happens when you focus relentlessly on your priorities.

I’ve been sucked into the software rabbit hole more times than I want to admit.

But I always come back to these universal principles to make progress on my most important priorities:

Your North Star

Gary Keller preaches, “doing the most important thing is always the most important thing” in his book, The One Thing.

Sure, you’ll have a few things that are top priority and matter more than the rest, but “one will matter the most.”

It all starts with a focusing question:

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do / such that by doing it / everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

Once you have the answer, you know what’s most important.

In business, it’s the same idea.

Every company must have one BIG objective they’re pursuing.

Priorities Over Productivity

Being efficient is great.

Achieving some level of quality output is essential. But what get’s you to reach your most important goals is a focus on your core priorities.

It’s not looking at email, making a call, or responding to some high-urgency, low-importance task.

Focus on results, not checking off low-value tasks.

Daily Themes

If you’re in a role that requires multiple areas of responsibility assigning yourself daily themes is a huge help.

For example, this is how my current week is broken down:

• Monday: Priority Focus (Acquisitions, Hiring, OKRs)
• Tuesday: Marketing & Sales
• Wednesday: Leadership
• Thursday: Marketing & Sales