Another employee, a programmer, thought his online chats were eating into his work time. So he tested the theory: He looked at how long he spent chatting during certain periods, then looked at how much code he wrote during those times. But in fact, the more he talked, the more code he wrote. Gabbing online with colleagues and customers helped his work.
— WSJ, Employees, Measure Yourselves
Grow your awareness of how and what helps you work. Sometimes you’ll find that a lot of what the so-called productivity rules proclaim is wrong because they don’t take you into consideration.