How to Be a Productivity Ninja summary

Productivity is all about time management – or so the conventional wisdom goes. But ninjas are hardly conventional. And a productivity ninja knows that attention management, not time management, is the key to ultra-high productivity.

You can follow all the time-management hacks you want – getting up 15 minutes earlier every day, scheduling meetings during your lunch break, and taking work calls on the treadmill. But if you can’t bring a high level of attention to those extra tasks you’ve managed to squeeze in, then all that time management goes to waste.

Have you ever seen one of those movie scenes where a ninja is surrounded by dozens of assailants on all sides – and has to execute an impressive array of kicks, leaps, and swordcraft before finally vanquishing her enemies?

Well, in the modern workplace, you face thousands of assailants intent on attacking your productivity every day: your emails. But, with a bit of ninja know-how, you can vanquish all of them without breaking a sweat.

To get things done, you need to know what there is to do. It sounds simple enough, but when it comes to collating their tasks, many people go about it all wrong. They start to list what needs to be done – and then get distracted while strategizing about how they’ll do it all. Or worse, they get overwhelmed and abandon the list altogether. 

Combat half-written to-do lists with the CORD model: an approach to creating your to-do list that’s adapted to the realities of modern life. The first step, Capture and Collect, will ensure your to-do list is an accurate snapshot of outstanding tasks.

So you’ve finished the Capture and Collect phase of the CORD model, and now you’re left with a big pile of outstanding tasks. But make no mistake – the mountain of to-do’s in front of you is not your to-do list. Not yet, at least! But it will be once you’ve worked through the next phase of the CORD model: Organizing. 

The humble to-do list is one of the most popular productivity tools around. In its most common form – a numbered list of tasks that might range from “prepare presentation” to “buy milk” – it’s also far from effective. But in the hands of a productivity ninja, a to-do list turns from a pointless piece of paper into a lethal weapon.

Once you’ve weaponized your to-do list, you’ll be amazed at how easily you flow from task to task, checking off to-do’s and putting big projects to bed. All that mental energy you’ve saved by not agonizing over which task to tackle next can be put to good use in the third phase of the CORD model: Review. 

The key message is: Thinking about what you do is as important as doing it.

At last, you’ve reached the final stage of the CORD model. You’ve collated, you’ve organized, and you’ve reviewed. What’s next? What’s the mysterious final step that will unlock the secret to ninja-level productivity?

The secret is . . . there is no secret. Once you’ve established what needs doing, organized how you’re going to do it, and refined your approach to doing it, all that’s left to do is, well, to do it! That’s why the final component of the CORD model is the Do stage.

Let’s finish up with a rundown of some of the most effective productivity techniques you can have in your arsenal. 

You’ve probably heard of multitasking, where someone stays on top of many different tasks at once. So-called multitaskers tend to wear this label as a badge of pride, but they shouldn’t. Sure, you can stay on top of lots of tasks if you choose to. But if you want to finish a task in an efficient, frictionless manner, you’re far better off giving it your full attention from start to finish. So instead of multitasking, try monotasking. In other words, do one task at a time, do it well, and move on to the next one when you’re finished. You’ll find you get far more done that way.