Being productive at work is crucial to any type of success. Anyone can show up to the office, get a few tasks completed and spend the rest of the afternoon telling stories and talking football. Look at the boss, he does it daily.

I’m a procrastinator. I want a coffee mug that states WORLD’S WORST PROCRASTINATOR but I keep putting off buying it. To make matters worse, I’ve got attention deficit so when I eventually sit down to accomplish a task I becomes distracted by anything; a noise, an uncomfortable pair of underwear or the cat chasing his tail. Maybe I should get it for him. I’ll grab it and he can stop circling…NO! Do work!

I’ve gotten better focusing my attention over the years. So how did I master my procrastination issues? Here are four ways to be more productive;

1) Disconnect- This is the first step and most important step. That is how numbering work. The #1 means this step is important. (Jot that down about how numbers work. Groundbreaking stuff.) You must cut yourself off from the outside world. No email, no cell phone, no television or anything that is going to pull your attention from the task at hand. It’s easier to get things done when you can ignore people who want to pull you out to a long lunch or a sale at Annie Sez (Culottes half price? well, maybe this once.) The outside world doesn’t exist. You’ve got things to do.

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