3 ways you should spend your day, according to Google's top productivity expert

Choose your top priorities for each quarter, Martin advises in an interview on a Google blog. (I might try setting priorities for each month, since things can change quickly.) Write them down on a piece of paper and display that paper prominently near your desk. Then, whenever you're asked — or tempted — to do something that doesn't help you achieve those specific goals, say no. Having the note in front of you will make that no easier to say. Practice helps, too — the more times you say no, the better you'll get at saying it gracefully and without getting uncomfortable.

It's important not to clutter up your calendar or your workday with things that don't move the needle on what you care about most. "The more you say no, the more chances you have to say yes to something that really matters," Martin explained.

When a Google blogger asked Martin to name a habit that makes her successful, this is the answer she gave. She said she spends 30 minutes at the start of the day when she allows no interruptions, which she calls the "Laura 30." What important tasks does she accomplish during the Laura 30? "I just drink my coffee, meditate, journal, or play the piano," she explained in the blog. The point is to ground her and start her day with a calm and focused mind.

Speaking of a calm and focused mind, Martin believes that everyone who wants to be more productive should practice meditation. People find the concept intimidating, she acknowledges. But, she said, "if you had to cut a thousand pineapples, wouldn't you spend some time sharpening the knife?" In the same way, taking a few minutes for meditation makes your mind sharper and aids concentration throughout the day.

A day spent sprawled on the couch watching Netflix is a productive day, Martin told Quartz, if that's how you intended to spend it. Why would you plan to spend a day that way? I occasionally plan a day like that for myself when I'm feeling particularly tired or burned out and need to do something completely effortless. And when I do take a day to be lazy and self-indulgent, I usually find my productivity picks up when I get back to my desk.

But Martin's larger, and very insightful, point is that productivity is really about intent. If you intend to spend the day writing a proposal but wind up watching Netflix instead, then that's lost productivity — but that's also true if you spend the day answering a thousand emails or sitting in meetings that aren't directly helpful for your job. And if spending time with your kids is one of your priorities, then driving them to school is time spent productively.

The secret is "knowing what you want to do, intending to do it, and doing what you wanted to do," Martin explained. That may be the smartest definition of productivity you'll ever hear.