It is easy to find top 10 lists online with suggestions about productivity. Most of them offer similar advice, such as to tune out distractions or focus on one thing at a time. Marie Kondo, founder of the Konmari Method, recently shared her top five productivity tips. However, they featured items not normally found on the common lists.

For instance, her first tip focuses on the power of morning rituals.

I usually wake up around 6am with my children. When I get up, I open all the windows to let fresh air in and then burn incense. I strive to keep my home comfortable and filled with clear energy throughout the day, so starting my morning with these rituals keeps me on track.

Another tip that I found useful was about the importance of coordinating with your partner.

Sharing and discussing to-do lists is a productive habit for partners. When we got married, my husband and I wrote out every household chore in a shared spreadsheet. When I finished a task, I would put a check next to it – and when my husband noticed it, he would send a simple thank you note (and vice versa). This process helped us realize the number of tasks necessary to live comfortably together, and what kinds of tasks are best suited for each person. 

Read the other three tips on the Konmari website.

Even though we now have far more tools at our disposal to be productive in the office, more and more people are finding it hard to actually get work done. This may seem like a paradox, but there is an important reason why this is so.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Ray Smith titled, Workers Now Spend Two Full Days a Week on Email and in Meetings. In it, Smith points to a survey done my Microsoft that outlines worker’s concerns.

Researchers found that the 25% most active users of its apps—in other words, people who use Microsoft’s business software for much of their online work activity—spent an average of 8.8 hours a week reading and writing emails and 7.5 hours logging meetings.

Those figures don’t include time spent instant messaging, on the phone or in other, impromptu conversations with co-workers. In all, the average employee spent 57% of their time using office software for communication—in meetings, email, chat. The remainder of time, 43%, they used for creating things, such as building spreadsheets or writing presentations.

Smith shares how this workload affects a worker’s ability to think big.

In a separate Microsoft survey of 31,000 people worldwide, nearly two out of three said they struggled to find time and energy to do their actual job. Those people were more than three times as likely as others polled to say innovation and strategic thinking were a challenge for them.

The study found that despite our assumption that more communication and collaboration lead to a better outcome, it seems this is not the case. Smith points out that one of the biggest hinderances to a productive workplace comes from not setting priorities for meetings and clearly considering who should attend.

Too often, meetings are scheduled without clarity on what they are supposed to achieve, said Rita J. King, executive vice president of workplace-consulting firm Science House. “The key is to not invite someone to a meeting unless you are absolutely certain that they belong there, and you can tell them why,” she said.

Learn more about the concerns expressed in the Microsoft survey and some strategies to solve them by reading the full article.