You’ve probably heard someone (maybe me) say something like, “You don’t need more storage. You need less clutter.” Well, the same goes for your time.

You need to double your productivity.

So, tell me, how many times a day do you say, “I’m busy” or “I don’t have time for that”? (Cue a chorus of “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”)

No time to rest, read, grab coffee with a friend, meditate, or go to the gym. All of these activities actually increase your productivity and stamina in the long run.

My real purpose with this article is to get you to a place where you can enjoy all of that newfound sweet, sweet free time. I want you to message me next week after you wake up from the best nap of your life or finish that book that changes you forever.

Focus on the things that produce a result.

There are really only two reasons we consistently feel busy and short on time. We’re allowing too many things to take pieces of our time, or we’re allowing the things that do have our time to take too much of it.

Think of it like balls in a glass jar. The jar can’t expand beyond what it can currently hold.

It gets overly full because there are too many balls, or because the balls themselves are too big. We’ll get to the second reason in a minute, so right now, let’s focus on the “too many balls” problem.

Chances are, you’re trying to do a lot more than you need to. You’re taking on too much, driven by the false belief that “busy” equals “productive.”

There are plenty of things we do to fill our time that don’t actually produce anything. If a limb isn’t growing real fruit, cut it, so the nutrients (your time and energy) can go to what’s actually producing.

Removing what’s unnecessary can double your productivity and improve your sanity at the same time.

Learn how to set the right kind of goals. Actions are only productive if they’re actually producing something, so if it isn’t producing, it’s just busy work eating your time.

Think of yourself as a ruthless gardener, immediately chopping away nutrient-wasting limbs the moment they show up.

Set a time limit.

There are plenty of tools that can help you set limits on your tasks. Now let’s talk about the second scenario, when the things that already have your time take up too much of it (or, in jar terms, when the balls are too big).

Parkinson’s Law says it best, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

Give yourself a week to complete a task, and it’ll take a week, then get stacked on top of whatever else pops up later in the week.

Think of the essay you had a whole semester to write, the one you waited until the night before to finish. We’ve all done this in some area of our lives.

Procrastination is absolutely a habit. Give in once, and it’s twice as easy to give in the next time.

It’s a type of resistance that grows stronger every time it wins, and the balls grow bigger right along with it (the tasks start eating up more of your time).

You don’t have to wait for the resistance to disappear either. Plenty of people are living with procrastination and still getting stuff done every day.

Think of your life as a bubble-popping game. Your tasks are like bubbles floating around you, expanding over time, and your job is to pop them (finish them) before they get too big.

What size is “too big”? That’s up to you, since you’re the one setting the time limit for your own tasks.

But the shorter, the better, if you want to double your productivity. Imagine getting all of your work done in three hours a day, and think about how many hours would be left to actually enjoy your life.

Stop trying to be a perfectionist.

When I tell you to fit your productive tasks into a short time frame, like three hours, your mind probably jumps straight to, “It takes longer than that to produce good quality.”

Your quality within that time frame will absolutely increase with practice. The real issue is that perfectionism eats your time and delays the benefit of whatever you’re actually producing.

Done is better than perfect.

Author Brooke Castillo talks about the power of “B-work,” the idea that if you want big results, you have to get okay with B-work instead of holding out for perfection.

Am I asking you to double your productivity by lowering your standards? If your current standard is perfection, then yes, absolutely.

Perfectionism as a lifestyle has psychological, social, and productive drawbacks, and a simpler approach will take you further.

Most big projects will never be perfect enough. You can improve on them over time, sure, but if you’re waiting for perfection, you’ll never actually reach your goals.

I love the way James Clear puts it in his book Atomic Habits, “Just get your reps in.” I love the simplicity of that.

Just do the thing that needs to be done, and do it enough that the habit sticks.

Hebb’s Law says it plainly, “Neurons that fire together wire together.” You build your brain to match the things you do consistently.

Develop those habits and neural pathways, and the process of doubling your productivity gets a hell of a lot easier.

Where to go from here.

Doubling your productivity is really just one piece of a bigger picture. If you want the full framework for cutting the noise, start with how to simplify your life for more time, energy, and mental capacity.