By Leo Babauta

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks – little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I’ll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #10: Take care of you MITs early in the day.

Your Most Important Things for the day — the things you most need to accomplish that day — should take priority over everything else. However, we all know that fires come up throughout the day, interruptions through phone calls and email and people dropping by, new demands that will push the best-laid plans aside. If you put off your MITs until later in the day, you will end up not doing them much of the time.

Before you check email or blogs or do anything else in the morning, plan out your day and start on your first MIT. Don’t let yourself be distracted by anything else, and work all the way until you finish that first MIT. There. Now you’ve gotten at least one important thing done. Now, take a 10-minute break, and if you can stand it, get started on your next MIT.

Try to get all three of your MITs done (or 1 or 2 or 4, depending on your setup — but don’t do more than that) before moving on to anything else. If you can do that, the rest of the day is gravy!

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

• #10: Take care of your Most Important Things first
• # 9: Wake up early
• # 8: Simplify information streams, crank through blogs & email
• # 7: Declutter your workspace; work on one thing at a time
• # 6: Get to work early; work fewer hours
• # 5: Avoid meetings; when you must meet, make it effective
• # 4: Avoid unnecessary work
• # 3: Do the tough tasks first
• # 2: Work off-line as much as possible
• # 1: Do something you’re passionate about
• (More on Productivity)