---
title: Productivity
description: Stop chasing traditional productivity hacks and start aligning your daily tasks with the life you want to build. Discover a 4-bucket framework to eliminate unfulfilling work, automate what you dislike, and focus on what truly matters.
image: https://jensnielsen.us/hubfs/IMG_0620.jpeg
---

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 October 19, 2026

# Productivity

[By Jens Nielsen](https://jensnielsen.us/blog/author/by-jens-nielsen)

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I have lost count of all the various productivity hacks, tools, books, apps, etc., that I have used in an attempt to master my day, to get more done, and to be as productive as possible.

I’ve read books like Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, Deep Work by Cal Newport, and Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. I’ve also tried blocking my calendar and practicing the Pomodoro Technique.

Despite the tools and books, I still have days of mindlessly completing tasks on my to-do list, and those days feel incredibly unfulfilling. They feel a little like the prisoner who scratches a line on the wall for every day in captivity.

After approaching productivity as an intellectual exercise for too long, I realized that I have to attach deeper meaning to my daily activities.

If it were all about achieving more, it would be easy. Just do more of whatever is right in front of you. Answer more emails, send more quotes, call more people, or whatever it is you do.

I came to the conclusion that we have to stop chasing the traditional methods of measuring productivity and ask: Does this activity move me towards the life I want to create, or away from it?

I put activities into four buckets:

![IMG\_0620](https://jensnielsen.us/hs-fs/hubfs/IMG_0620.jpeg?width=565&height=424&name=IMG_0620.jpeg)

Bucket 1:

For activities that move you away from your dream life and that you don’t enjoy, the answer is obvious: stop doing them. That’s it. Just stop.

**Bucket 2:**  
These are activities that move you towards your dream life, and you enjoy them. The answer is clear here as well: do more of them. If you can, fill your day with those activities.

**Bucket 3:**  
These activities are the biggest challenge. They move you towards a dream life, but you don’t enjoy doing them. Those are the tasks that you need to batch, automate, or outsource, so you can focus on Bucket 2.

**Bucket 4:**  
These are activities you enjoy that move you away from your dream life, like scrolling social media or watching TV. Stopping these can be hard, but a starting point is to set a daily time limit on how much time you will allow yourself to spend on them.

If you want to move towards your dream life, focus on Bucket 2.

What’s one thing you’re still doing in Bucket 1 only because you’ve always done it?

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