What does productivity mean to you? Is it completing a lengthy to-do list? Is it streamlining workflow? Is it bringing in new business?

Depending on your industry, productivity may be measured in truly objective standards, such as whether employees produced the assigned number of widgets at the end of the shift. For sales, it may be about achieving quarterly goals. Those in more creative industries certainly measure productivity in financial terms and whether new business is rolling in the door, but it’s also tough to measure the process that leads to good ideas – everything from group brainstorming to sitting outside for two hours thinking through a new idea.

Often increased productivity is achieved through small changes in how you approach your day.

• Spending the last 10 minutes of the day organizing your desk and preparing for the following day.
• Using the “one touch” rule for e-mail so it doesn’t backlog in your Inbox.
• Scheduling only critical meetings and then adhering to the meeting agenda and allotted time.

We found an interesting article in a recent issue of Inc. magazine about Charles Best, the CEO of DonorsChoose, a New York City nonprofit. Best calculated that he saves 2 seconds every time he uses a keystroke shortcut, for example Control + Enter to send an e-mail. The article estimates Best saves about 50 days worth of time over a 40-year career using just that keystroke.

It may take a little time upfront to set up shortcut keys, e-mail file systems or Twitter application, but those time-savers certainly add up in the long run – just ask Charles Best.

Whether you’re working widgets or writing ad copy, we want to know your best productivity tip.