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Intro

Being busy does not equal to being productive.

There are many different ways that our productivity gets decreased. And the worst thing is if we don’t even notice it.

This happened to me a lot of times before. I was thinking that I was being productive by doing some things.

But at the end of the day, I got nothing done.

Lucky for us, we have Aleš Žehelj with us as a guest author today. His mission is to help as many people as possible to develop healthy habits and be productive.

I have asked him to share his top 15 productivity tips with us.

Let’s get straight into them. Aleš, over to you!

1. Start planning: Think in systems, not just to-do lists

Without structured planning, we can get buried in tasks, projects and drown in meetings and reactive tasks.

Planning across different time periods helps you see what matters now, and what’s coming next.

And also this is very important to keep in mind:

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
— James Clear

Top tips:

• Daily planning: List top 3 tasks. Set clear intentions for focused work.

• Weekly: Plan key deliverables, team syncs, and buffer time for problem-solving.

• Monthly/Quarterly: Review project milestones, tech debt and growth areas (team or personal).

• Use tools like Notion (Gregor’s top choice), OneNote, Google Keep. Paper still works, if you actually use it.

2. Time blocking: Own your calendar, own your day

Our days can get hijacked quickly by interruptions, ad-hoc requests and low-value tasks if we’re not owning our time.

Doing context-switching and multitasking is not the way to go. Time blocking is a powerful way to protect your focus and balance your workload. If you don’t schedule your time, someone else will.

Here are my top tips:

• Create themed blocks: Try to combine similar activities together → activities like doing deep work (coding or overall focus time), meetings, admin/emails, education/learning, breaks, personal matters and social time.

• Stick to your blocks: Treat them as seriously as important client meetings. If something urgent comes up, reschedule, don’t delete the block!

• Use different colors for blocks or labels (e.g., blue for deep work, yellow for meetings) to see your day at a glance and maintain balance.

3. Set priorities: Don’t confuse activity with progress

Setting priorities is a very simple principle that anyone can use. But very few people actually use it.

If you prioritize poorly, you can be very efficient → but at things that aren't important.

Prioritizing helps you spend your best brainpower on what actually drives progress → resolving critical problems, or making decisions that move the team forward.

Pro tips:

• Use the Eisenhower Matrix (urgent vs. important) or the ABC method to sort tasks.

• Start each day by identifying 1–3 high-impact tasks, then protect time for them.

• Teach your team to prioritize too. A team that knows what matters will be able to make great decisions autonomously.

4. Apply the two-minute rule: Eliminate micro-tasks before they pile up

Tiny tasks like replying to a Slack message, email, reviewing PRs can either be handled quickly or they pile up into a mental backlog that drains your focus.

The Two-Minute Rule (from David Allen's Getting Things Done) keeps your cognitive load light and your task list clean.

Pro tips:

• If a task takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately.

• Don’t let small things steal space in your head or clutter your backlog.

• Great for clearing administrative clutter (e.g., calendar invites, short replies, quick status updates) so you can focus on the big stuff.

5. Minimize context-switching: Protect your focus, protect your output

The most amount of work we do is when we are in deep focus for a longer amount of time. But constant interruptions, shifting priorities or changing directions negatively impact it.

It takes over 20 minutes to get back on track with a task after being interrupted.

Multiply that by a few times a day and your best hours are gone.

My top tips:

• Batch similar tasks together: Meetings (specific theme of meetings like 1:1s), emails, responding to Slack messages, etc. Switching between emails, meetings, and tasks is mentally exhausting and inefficient.

• Theme your whole days: Reserve entire days (if possible) for specific types of days like “Focus day” or “Meeting day” → to avoid jumping between too many unrelated responsibilities.

• Prep before switching: When changing task types (e.g., from coding to a 1:1 meeting), take 3–5 minutes to mentally reset → review notes, stretch, or do a short walk to shift gears intentionally.

6. Avoid multitasking: Master one task at a time

Multitasking might feel efficient → but it’s actually a productivity trap.

Switching between writing code, checking messages and attending meetings creates mental clutter and increases the chance of errors.

The brain isn’t built to multitask, it just toggles attention back and forth, losing efficiency and depth each time.

Pro tips:

• Practice monotasking: Focus on one task at a time, fully. Whether debugging, reviewing PRs or preparing a technical specification → give it your full attention.

• Use a task queue system: List your tasks in order of priority. As you finish one, then move to the next. Tools like Todoist, Trello or even a basic checklist works great.

• Set a timer for focus: Set a timer, Pomodoro timer works great (25–45 mins) and commit to just one task during that window. This reduces the temptation to jump between tasks or other things that may.

7. Limit notifications: Control your tech before it controls you

Notifications are tiny attention thieves. A ping from Slack, a notification of a new email or a message on Teams might seem harmless, but each one breaks your focus and pulls you out of the deep work mode.

For engineers in deep work or managers in strategic thinking, even a brief interruption can derail work momentum.

Pro tip:

• Silence everything non-urgent → this includes visual and sound email alerts, chat pop-ups, social media badges, and even calendar reminders you already know about.

• Turn off sounds and visual notifications on your devices (especially those corner-of-the-screen distractions). Go into Do Not Disturb mode or set Focus modes on your phone and desktop.

• Batch notifications: Check email and messages at specific times during the day (e.g., 11:30 AM and 3:30 PM) instead of reacting instantly.

8. Schedule your meeting (manager) time and maker time

Engineers are makers and they need long, uninterrupted blocks to build, think + solve and managers are often managers of time → switching between planning, reviewing, communicating.

But when these two worlds collide, productivity suffers because of it.

That’s why separating “maker time” (focus work) from “manager time” (meetings, check-ins) is key to a productive day.

Pro tips:

• Block your day into themes: For example, reserve mornings (9–12) for deep work, and afternoons (1–5) for meetings, admin, and follow-ups.

• For managers: Reserve at least 2–3 hours of maker time a couple of times per week for strategy, planning, or reviewing. Leading isn’t just talking, it’s thinking and executing too.

• For engineers: Use meeting hours for sprint planning/retros/demos, daily standups or async comms. Protect the rest for your deep focus.

9. Stop procrastinating: Start before you feel ready

Procrastination isn't just a bad habit, it’s often a silent performance killer.

Whether it's starting a complex project, tackling a hard technical challenge or giving a tough piece of feedback, putting things off drains mental energy and builds unnecessary stress.

Delayed decisions or actions can slow down entire teams or project timelines.

Here are my tips:

• Start ugly, then refine: Don’t wait for the perfect conditions. Begin with a rough draft, a skeleton or a mind map of your thoughts. Getting started breaks the mental resistance.

• Use the 5-minute rule: Tell yourself you’ll work on the task for just 5 minutes. More often than not, once you begin, you’ll keep going.

• Kill the excuses: Be honest → are you really “too busy,” or just avoiding discomfort or fear of imperfection? Productivity begins with self-awareness.

10. Break down bigger tasks into smaller ones

Big tasks often feel overwhelming, not because they’re impossible, but because they’re vague.

Ambiguity often causes procrastination.

That’s where breaking tasks into smaller, actionable steps comes in.

Smaller tasks feel doable, boost motivation through quick wins, and eliminate the paralysis of trying to “eat the whole elephant” at once.

Pro tip: If you’re stuck, the task is probably too big. Zoom in until it feels actionable.

11. Focus on high-impact work: Work smart, not just hard

Being busy doesn’t equal to being productive. The real value at work lies in solving the right problems, not just doing more tasks.

High-impact work drives results, improves systems and moves the business forward.

Pro tips:

• Prioritize quality, outcomes and results over pure output.

• Automate repetitive tasks to free up creative and strategic time.

• Focus on work where you can make others around you better, not just finishing tasks.

• Don’t just follow the process, look for ways to improve it.

12. Practice deep work sessions: Get more done in less time

Deep work, uninterrupted, focused effort on cognitively demanding tasks → this is where the real progress happens.

But these tasks can’t happen in a constant stream of pings, meetings, and distractions.

My top tips:

• Create the right environment: Move to a quiet space (home office, phone booth, or even a meeting room) where you won’t be interrupted.

• Go dark: Silence all notifications, close unrelated tabs, and put your phone on airplane mode.

• Time it right: Block out 60–90 minutes for one single, high-value task. This is the sweet spot for concentration before your brain starts to fatigue.

• Pre-plan the session: Know exactly what you’re working on before you start, so you don’t waste mental energy deciding.

13. Improve your typing speed

Typing might seem basic, but in reality, it’s a core skill for any tech professional.

We all spend a lot of time typing and if your typing is slow or error-prone, it adds friction to nearly everything you do → over time, that adds up.

Pro tips:

• Use all of your fingers not just two or three of them and also learn touch typing without looking at the keyboard.

• Focus more on accuracy first, then on speed.

• Focus on proper finger placement, not just speed.

14. Take regular breaks: Recharge to perform at a high level

Breaks aren’t a luxury → they are a necessity.

Short breaks boost focus, enhance creativity, prevent mental fatigue and are essential to recharge our body & mind.

Plan them in advance or when scheduling your work day. Skipping breaks might feel productive, but it leads to decision fatigue, slower thinking, and eventually, burnout.

Plan your breaks just like you plan your tasks. Insert short recovery blocks throughout the day to reset your brain, protect your focus, and return sharper.

Break ideas:

• Lunch break (non-negotiable): Step away from your desk and eat a proper meal. No screens. This reset can improve afternoon focus and prevent energy crashes.

• Walking break: Get outside or walk a few flights of stairs → great for breaking up long periods of sitting and stimulating blood flow to the brain.

• Creative break: Sketch an idea, write down concepts → it keeps your mind active without draining it.

• Social break: A 5-minute chat with a colleague or friend (in person or on Slack) can lift your mood, ease stress and bring a fresh perspective.

Active Break: Do 5–10 minutes of stretching near your desk or take a quick bike ride to grab a coffee, especially helpful after intense sitting or screen time. Here’s an example of some simple stretching exercises:

15. Alternate between sitting and standing work

Sitting all day affects more than just your posture → it can reduce blood flow, increase fatigue, and lower cognitive performance.

For engineers solving complex problems or managers making strategic decisions, physical stagnation → can lead to mental stagnation.

Pro tips:

• Try a sit-stand routine: 45–60 minutes sitting, then 15–20 minutes standing.

• Use standing sessions for lower-focus tasks like reading documentation, replying to messages, or holding short internal meetings.

• Don’t have a standing desk? Stack books under your monitor or laptop for a simple DIY version.

Last words

Special thanks to Aleš for sharing his insights with us on this very important topic. Make sure to follow him on LinkedIn and also check out his newsletter Next Level Zonewhere he shares productivity and health tips!

To learn more in a structured way, check out his ebook with actionable tips for improving work & personal performance here: High Performing Business Lifestyle Program.

Great for busy professionals, who wish to level up and have more time & energy for themselves.

We are not over yet!

3 Main Learnings When I Grew From Engineer To Manager

Check out my latest video. Management is a different skill set and what makes you a great engineer won’t make you a great manager. In this video, I am sharing how I grew from engineer to manager and my top 3 mistakes that I made.

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