Using productivity tips

I enjoy reading other people's productivity tips. Some of them I like but never put into practice. Others I know I should do but don't, and some, well, I incorporate into my own productivity practice. Some of them seem genuinely useful, some I find a bit odd and make me wonder what that individual does for a living to make that particular tip work for them. Still, others are totally impractical for my job. But I read many of them, try some, and ignore others.

Some tips work and stick with me for years; some I try and drop quickly, while others simply fade as my old habits return. Having a habit of looking at productivity tips and trying them, I think, is a useful thing to do. But does reading about productivity tools make me productive, or am I just procrastinating?

One of the books I have read (and thoroughly enjoyed) lately is Cal Newport's Slow Productivity. I would recommend the book as it promotes the use of taking time to think. Some of the tips feel almost revolutionary, and despite my best efforts to break out of the cycle of mindless busyness, it is bloody hard work to follow some of the suggestions. There's also the challenge of breaking out of our conditioned mode of working: "Busy, busy, busy." I will keep trying to at least put some of his ideas into practice, but so far, I am doing very poorly indeed.