r/productivity rules, stats, and what to post

This is a community for tips and tricks for being more productive. People come here to talk about productivity, how to improve it, and subjects that are closely tied to it, like habits, focus, workflows, and getting more out of their day. The rules say posts must be on topic, so the room rewards real discussion about working better, not posts about products. The people posting here are everyday workers, students, and founders who want practical advice they can use, and they respond to honest experience shared in a civil and positive way.

The rule that decides almost everything for a founder is “No Advertising”, because it bans soliciting or surveying products or services of any type and says self-promotion is not allowed in any form, even if someone asks for recommendations, and it covers DMs and referral codes too. “No Listicles” removes anything shaped like a numbered or bullet-pointed article, so a top ten list is out. “No Isolated Links” means any link you share needs a description, explanation, or discussion around it. “No Off Topic, Spam, AI-generated posts, SEO Farming, or Low Effort Content.” is the catch-all, and it matters most for marketers because it names promotional link farming and AI-generated posts as removal reasons. “Be Civil and Stay Positive” sets the tone, so keep your posts and replies polite even when someone pushes back on your idea.

A good post here is a plain story about something you actually did to be more productive and what happened. Write it as normal paragraphs, not a numbered list, because listicles are banned. If you want to share a link, wrap it in a real description and your own take, because links without context get removed. Never pitch your product, never drop a link to your site, and never slide into DMs with an offer, because self-promotion is banned in every form here, even when someone asks for recommendations. Write the post yourself in your own voice, since AI-generated posts are explicitly banned. Ask a genuine question about how other people handle a productivity problem and join the discussion in the comments.

The fastest way to get removed is self-promotion, because “No Advertising” covers it in any form, including when someone asks for recommendations, and it includes advertising through DMs and referral codes. Listicles get removed under “No Listicles”, so avoid numbered or bullet-pointed list articles. Bare links get removed under “No Isolated Links” if you post them without a description, explanation, or discussion. Anything off topic, spammy, AI-generated, SEO farmed, or low effort falls under “No Off Topic, Spam, AI-generated posts, SEO Farming, or Low Effort Content.”, and asking for upvotes or donations counts as spam there. Being mean, insulting, or disrespectful breaks “Be Civil and Stay Positive”, and hate, discrimination, or slurs lead to an immediate ban. NSFW content, or anything that even vaguely resembles it, is strictly forbidden under “No NSFW Content”.

The thing that jumps out at me is the AI rule. Plenty of communities quietly tolerate AI drafts, but this one names AI-generated posts as a removal reason, so anything you post here has to be written by you, in your own words. I also like that the rules spell out what a listicle is with an example, because that tells you exactly what shape to avoid. My honest read is that this is a room where a plain, honest paragraph about what worked for you beats any polished pitch.