The Productivity Tip That Shaved an Hour Off My Work Day

If you've seen my recent Facebook posts or read this blog semi-regularly, you probably already know that, lately, I've been obsessed with workplace productivity.

I've been toying with my daily routine and sleep schedule in order to feel more alert. I've changed the configuration of my home office to make it as comfy as possible (more on my brand-new ergonomic work space tomorrow). Basically, I've been doing everything I can to increase my stamina, motivation and concentration at work. The result, I hope, is a work day brimming with ideas, a to-do list that benefits from several daily check-offs, and an overall feeling of increased health and happiness.

Tall order? Perhaps. But I've seen some real improvement.

I'll get in to the office-design stuff tomorrow. But today, I want to tell you about one of the smaller changes I've made recently that has shaved about an hour off of my work day. The best thing about this change is, it takes five minutes or less and it's free.

Here it comes ...

Change your homepage.

Huh? That doesn't sound so revolutionary, does it? But for me, it was. Here's why.

For as long as I can remember, I've had my browser set to a default page that shows current news headlines, including breaking news, lifestyle news, sports highlights and celebrity gossip (admittedly, that last one was really my downfall).

The result? Every time I sat down to my machine (and sometimes even when I got bored transcribing or hit a writing wall) I'd click on something on that home page. Inevitably, every time I'd do this, I'd find myself reading about Stacy Keibler's wardrobe malfunction, Amanda Bynes' weird Twitter behavior, Kobe's word war with Dwight Howard or "The Top Ten Wealthiest Neighborhoods in the Country."

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about getting my news and I do advocate taking frequent small work breaks. But a constant stream of mostly soft-news headlines throughout the day was seriously disruptive — to the tune of about an hour of wasted accumulated time per day.

So, two days ago, I switched my browser's homepage to the simple, boring Google search screen. I no longer feel distracted. I no longer spend ten minutes at a time clicking on stories that aren't really worth precious workday moments.

It really was that simple for me.

What tips and tricks helped you boost productivity?  Leave a comment and share!