Glossary

Productivity Concepts

Batching — Grouping similar tasks together and completing them in a single dedicated session, reducing context-switching costs.

Context switching — Moving between different tasks or types of work. Each switch costs 15–25 minutes of refocused attention.

Decision fatigue — The deterioration of decision quality after making many decisions. Explains why you make poorer choices later in the day.

Deep work — Professional activities performed in distraction-free concentration that push cognitive capabilities. Coined by Cal Newport.

Shallow work — Non-cognitively demanding, logistical tasks often performed while distracted. Necessary but not where value is created.

Flow state — A state of complete absorption in a task where self-consciousness disappears and performance peaks. Requires clear goals, immediate feedback, and appropriate challenge.

Parkinson's Law — Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. A task given two hours will take two hours; the same task given one hour will take one hour.

Time blocking — Assigning specific tasks to specific time slots on your calendar, turning your schedule into an action plan.

Ultradian rhythm — The roughly 90-minute cycles of higher and lower alertness that occur throughout the day.

Prioritization

80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) — The observation that roughly 20% of inputs produce 80% of outputs. Applied to productivity: a small number of activities generate most of your results.

Eisenhower Matrix — A prioritization framework categorizing tasks by urgency and importance into four quadrants: do first, schedule, delegate, and eliminate.

MIT (Most Important Task) — Your single most impactful task for the day. Completing your MIT before anything else ensures meaningful progress regardless of what else happens.

Top 3 — The practice of identifying three priority tasks each day that would make the day a success if completed.

Planning and Systems

Capture — Recording every task, idea, and commitment in a trusted external system rather than relying on memory.

GTD (Getting Things Done) — David Allen's productivity methodology centered on capturing all commitments, clarifying actions, organizing by context, and reviewing regularly.

Inbox zero — The practice of processing your email inbox to empty (or near-empty) during each scheduled email session.

SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) — A documented, step-by-step process for completing a recurring task, enabling consistency and delegation.

Weekly review — A regular session (typically 30 minutes weekly) to review accomplishments, process loose items, and plan the upcoming week.

Focus and Attention

Attention residue — The cognitive carryover from a previous task that lingers when you switch to a new one, reducing performance on the new task.

Distraction — Any stimulus that diverts attention from the intended task. Can be external (notifications, interruptions) or internal (thoughts, urges).

Pomodoro Technique — A time management method using 25-minute focused work intervals separated by 5-minute breaks. Named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.

Single-tasking — Doing one thing at a time with full attention. The opposite of multitasking, and significantly more effective for cognitive work.

Procrastination

Akrasia — Acting against your better judgment — knowing what you should do but doing something else instead. The philosophical term for procrastination.

Implementation intention — A specific if-then plan: "When [situation], I will [behavior]." Dramatically increases follow-through compared to vague intentions.

Temptation bundling — Pairing a dreaded task with an enjoyable activity to make the combination more appealing than avoidance.

Energy Management

Burnout — A state of chronic physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress without adequate recovery. Characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced performance.

Chronotype — Your genetically influenced natural tendency toward morning or evening alertness, which determines your optimal schedule for different types of work.

Cognitive load — The amount of mental processing required by a task or situation. Exceeding cognitive capacity leads to errors, poor decisions, and exhaustion.

Post-prandial dip — The natural decrease in alertness that occurs after eating lunch, typically between 1–3 PM.

Recovery — Time spent in activities that restore mental, physical, and emotional energy. Essential for sustained performance.

Delegation and Automation

Automation — Using tools, software, or AI to complete tasks without manual intervention.

Delegation — Assigning tasks to others who can complete them, freeing your time for higher-value work.

Leverage — Getting more output per unit of input. Systems, delegation, and automation all create leverage.