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Ok so it's Monday ... the one day of the week that seems to be viewed with dread by just about anyone who works for a weekly or monthly paycheck. For us here in this industry there's nothing special about Monday ....it's just another day of the week and when you work seven days a week then one day is much like any other.

Of course the longer you stay in this industry the more you tend to learn how to work smarter rather than harder so it is quite possible to take at least some time off but that tends to be a few hours here and there rather than a whole day or a weekend off. At least that's the way Steve and I do it and if we're around the house ... or even around town now that we have an office in town ... we'll spend a few hours working even on the days we're trying to take off.

For those of you who are new to the industry taking even a few hours off can be hard ... not only do you have the urge to keep on working day after day but you also know that if you stop you're going to lose valuable time in the cycle of building and submitting sites and galleries. Time is definitely money in this industry and you certainly don't want to stop making money.

However there are ways to improve your productivity to the point where you can take time off now and again. If you do want to learn how to work smarter rather than harder then here are a few tips.

Multiple screens
On Friday I made the move from two monitors attached to the computer I work with at our downtown office to three monitors. Now that may sound like a major wank if you're still working with just one monitor but you have no idea of just how much time you can save if you make the move from one to two monitors.

You literally save hours of wasted time every month and already I'm seeing that the move to three screens is saving me even more time. Of course there's a cost involved and you'll need a dual-head graphic card and a second monitor if you're working off a desktop machine but even when you factor in that added cost you will find that dual monitors more than pay for themselves over a year.

If you work on a laptop and using Windows then it's even easier ... just plug a second monitor into the monitor socket on the back of the laptop ... choose properties and settings ... click on the grayed-out second monitor and tick the box that says 'Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor' and your done.

Automate everything that you can
In this industry we do a lot of tasks that are repetitive and many of them can be automated. Look for free scripts that will automate the tasks that are repetitive and even go so far as pay someone to write a script for you if you can't find a freebie.

But there's a word of warning here ... while lots of tasks can be automated there are some that you really shouldn't. Just the other day I came across some text spread over a number of pages that had obviously been automated. The result was a jumble of words that were important to the sales process but did nothing to turn site visitors into sales. The text was so jumbled that no one would have stayed long enough to actually read any of it and when something like that happens you're not actually saving time ... you're just wasting it.

Get away from distractions
From time to time I see people in this industry who brag about being able to work all day in front of the television. I notice that they're usually newbies to this industry and they don't seem to stay around for very long.

If you want to be your most productive then do your work away from as many distractions as you can. Sure it's fun to have the television on and chat rooms and message boards open while you work but they distract you and once you're distracted it's hard to get back into what you were doing.

It's far better to cut off all those things that can distract you while your working and only go back to them when you need a break or you've finished your work. Steve and I do sometimes work in front of the television if something interesting is on but those times are rare.

A little change of pace is good
When you stay glued to your computer 24/7 burnout becomes inevitable and when you burn out you lose all productivity. When you burn out you just don't want to work and any work you do manage to get done is full of mistakes and not worth the time you put into it.

So it's important not to burn out and to prevent that a little change of pace now and again is good. Take a few hours off ... get away from the computer all together and go outside and be with real people and do things that normal people do.

You can also have a change of pace by changing where you work. Last week I wrote one of my columns from the back deck of our new house and mentioned that we're now doing quite a bit of work from out there of an afternoon. It's amazing how much longer we can work when we move out of our normal offices here at home and work out there in the fresh air.

Try it and see if you don't get a productivity boost simply by changing where you work on some days.

In fact try all the tips that I've mentioned here and you just might see your productivity go right through the roof. Steve and I have tried all these things and they certainly work for us and they should work for you too.