Today’s Gleaning 11/24/09

Matt Perman of the uber-helpful productivity site What’s Best Next, answers three questions in an interview by Josh Etter:

1. What’s the most common mistake people make when developing a system for productivity?
2. In the last three months, what is the most helpful insight that has helped you be more productive?
3. In a nutshell, what is the most important and fundamental principle for being productive?

Here’s a sample from the answer to question #3:

“The key denominator of effectiveness is not intelligence or even hard work, as important as those are. It is the discipline to put first things first. You need to operate from a center of sound principles and organize and execute around priorities. This means that instead of prioritizing your schedule, you schedule your priorities.”

Reading the whole thing would be a productive use of your time.