Taking Recommendations for Productivity

I've been reading some of my Kindle resources lately.

(Just a side note, I'm a bibliophile, and this trend is happening for me in the form of free Kindle books - the more, the better!!)

I found a collection of essays, chapters, or thoughts about being productive in these days, and I downloaded it. It's called, Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind. (Can you see why it interested me?). It is edited by Jocelyn K. Glei, and is published by 99U. I found it on Amazon. I'm spending some time at work (while my intern is using my computer), sitting in the window, reading these recommendations, and then taking notes in my traveler's journal. This is part of my "use work hours for work" focus, and it's been interesting to read through some of the resources that I have available to me.

This collection offers ideas from many different people. The "chapters" are quick reads and take many different formats - some are interviews, some are essays, others are lists. There are many different thoughts, but I've seen some trends, and I'm taking some of them to heart.

1. The process of creating is more important than the creation. Every piece that I've read about being a creative person states that creativity has to be routine. It has to be practiced like any other skill. 
2. Manage distractions. Oh. This recommendation is one of the most difficult for me. I get so distracted by my work email, which is absolutely ridiculous because nothing that comes in my work email is time framed OR important to what I do with my job. I've been closing my email completely during my observation sessions of my intern, and it is amazing how much I have been able to do during those times. I also get distracted by the stuff that surrounds me. This is a constant problem for me. I need to work on this more than anything else in my environment.
3. Frequency leads to familiarity which leads to routine which leads to creativity. Whoo. This speaks to my little structure-craving heart and brain. 
4. You cannot be available all the time and expect to have uninterrupted focus. Oh. This statement is one that is pretty important to me. I want to be focused on things, but I also have a job where I have to be available to my clients and my intern and my co-workers at all times. So, at work, I am not expecting to have uninterrupted focus. I am expecting to be available to others all the time. This is one of the reasons that I keep my Saturdays as people-free as possible. I like having time to sit down with my paper pieces to make things. I can't do that at work, and I now have a pretty good idea why.

This week, I'm turning off my work email during observation times. I am spending time focusing on writing TMEs and coming up with new ideas for my sessions. I am still opening up the email program several times per day (I really don't have to do that - I could probably get away with looking at it only twice a day), but I'm not finding lots of time-relevant messages coming up. I'll spend time next week on my environment.

What things do you do to be more productive in your life? Are you someone who has specific times to work on specific things? Do you go to Panera to work on specific tasks? Do you save things to do in different environments? What works for you? I am fascinated by what other music therapists do to be the best music therapists that they can be.