Eight top tips to make you a Productivity Ninja The golden rule: time management is dead. In an age of constant connection and information overload the way forward is attention management. How well you protect and use you attention determines your success. Here are the top eight tips to do so: 1. Have Zen-like calm - Create time and space to think rationally and intelligently about the issue at hand. Realise that you'll never get everything done, but that's not the aim. Know that you're in control, and trust yourself. 2.

Be ruthless - Protect your time and attention, focusing only on the things that add the greatest impact. Say 'No', both to yourself and others, and allow yourself to be choosy. Avoid all unwanted interruptions. 3. Be weapon-savvy - The right tools can make you even more effective. 'Productivity porn' should be avoided, but there are plenty of great thinking and organizing tools out there that can help make your lives easier and your decision making better. 4. Use stealth and camouflage - Keep yourself out of the limelight.

Protect your attention to ensure it's spent on what you decide to spend it on, not what others hijack it for. If necessary, turn off the internet. 5. Try out unorthodoxy - The end result is what matters, not how you got there. Be willing to question everything and avoid getting stuck in a rut, doing things less efficiently than you could, at all costs. Don't be afraid to stand out when the time is right. 6. Be agile - Keep light on your feet, able to shift your thinking, react quickly and make decisions in a short space of time.

Be able to spot an opportunity or threat, wherever it comes from. 7. Try out mindfulness - Ensure that you are emotionally intelligent and self-aware. Be aware of your lizard brain - which tells you to stand still, blend into the crowd and not make a change - and learn to silence it. 8. Be prepared - None of the above tips are possible if you are not prepared, both mentally and physically. Ensure that you are always ready to tackle whatever comes your way, both with an exceptionally well-organized stationery cupboard, and by ensuring that you have enough time off-duty to rest and recharge.