Underestimate Your Abilities

Ever get that feeling that you never get to finish everything you planned on doing for that day? Here's an idea: Shorten your to-do list to about half of what you know you can complete. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it will do an amazing job of boosting your confidence and will give you that extra kick you need to keep on going.

One of my biggest problems is being too optimistic when it comes to deadlines and what I can do in a day. This alone causes me to be less productive during the day since I'm spending so much time worrying if I will be able to finish everything.

Another thing that I've stopped doing is timing every single activity. I used to constantly use a digital stopwatch that I made in C# to time how long each of my work activities took. I knew I was overdoing it when I realized I was typing how long it took me to eat lunch and to wash my hands. Now I charge based on value, not hours. This makes me a lot more comfortable when it comes to working and gives me more freedom.