How to stay productive for two hours straight

Staying productive all week is a challenge for most of us. But weeks are days and days are hours. Get through them two at a time and you'll work better and faster than you (or anyone else) ever expected.

Clearly define what you need to get done
Before you even start working, jot down every small task you need to do to complete the work at hand, on a piece of paper. Write down these tiny sub-goals with bullet points. Complete them one by one in the next two hours. 

Drink coffee before starting to work
Caffeine needs time to kick in. And while the worries of whether or not your coffee's getting cold and the regret that there's no more left in the cup are minor issues – they  are still distractions.

Lock yourself up in a room
If you're working from home or if you can manage a small meeting room in the office all to yourself, then get in, shut the door and stop any living creature from entering your war zone.

Make sure there's sufficient airflow around you
You know this! Don't suffocate yourself and sit in a damp old stuffy place for two hours. 

Block out social media and restrict phone usage
Checking social media and taking that not-so-important call from your buddy will downright kill your productivity. Use apps like SelfControl to block specific websites for a certain period of time.

Remove distractions from your workspace
Distractions don't always come from outside. That magazine you have, that toy you keep playing with, stationeries lying around, all of these can keep stealing your attention every few seconds or so. Throw 'em out (temporarily).

Turn off device notifications
Mute your devices and turn off notifications about software updates and what not. You can deal with those later.

Get ready with everything you need
You already know what you might need while working. Try to get those beforehand and avoid leaving the desk in between.

Set a timer not a stopwatch
A stopwatch puts pressure on you. You keep thinking about how much time you don't have left and lose focus on work. Instead, set a timer on your phone. You'll be working with a more positive vibe.

Noise-cancelling headphones
There's nothing like these for blocking out the entire world from interrupting. Plus, the people around you know that you don't want to be disturbed now.

Play ambient sounds and white noise on your headphones
Listening to repetitive sounds that don't distract you is one of the best ways to focus. Check these out: www.coffitivity.com, www.asoftmurmur.com

One tab at a time
"Multi-tabbing" doesn't help. Moving back and forth between articles and opening more and more links is wasting your time. Go to the next tab only when you're finished with the current one and don't open any page that isn't relevant to your work. No matter how interesting it seems.

Get up and stretch every 30 minutes
Two hours isn't much when you're working but it will give you a sore back if you keep sitting for that long. Get up from your chair, remove the headphones and take a small break for half a minute or so.