Ah productivity.. It’s something we all struggle with.
We make commitments and don’t stick to them. We promise ourselves that tomorrow we will workout, eat healthier, and wake up earlier. We promise we will complete that task that we have been telling ourselves that we would for the past month. We do things that are a lot lower on our priority list, before getting to the important things, that if we did them, we would feel a lot better, and be a whole lot happier.
We want to get better each day, and each year, but we don’t do the everyday things to get us there.
LifeDaily suggests 10 Habits You Need To Give Up If You Want To Be Productive:
1. Watching TV before bed
While I’m sure you have a couple of TV shows that you absolutely love, maybe spend some time over the weekend watching them, rather than right before you are going to bed. Before going to bed, you should be focused on evaluating your day, and writing down your thoughts, dreams, and goals in a journal. This is also a great time to read a book, which will help you unwind, and chances are you’ll have a whole new outlook on life and your day from reading something interesting.
2. Spending a lot of time on social networks
Social networks are great for staying in touch with family and friends. However, when spending too much time looking at various photos, and videos, it’s easy to lose sense of the time, and hours wind up being wasted. Most of us will often check social media before going to bed, just to see if there’s anything new on there, and in the moment, we don’t realize how unproductive we are being. We wind up going to bed later, and we don’t feel good about ourselves in the morning. A solution to this is to create a blog, and provide information and entertainment to others in a productive way.
3. Not working out
People neglect physical activity because of their busy schedules, but who doesn’t have 20 or 30 minutes a day to dedicate to their health? Even if you don’t have time to get to the gym, there are plenty of workouts you can do at home in your living room. 20 or 30 minutes dedicated to working out in the morning will make you more productive throughout the entire day. Not to mention you will feel better, look better, and be healthier.
4. Going with the flow
Going with the flow is great on a weekend, or when you have free time, but not during the work week. When it comes to work management, we should all organize our time well, and when you are going with the flow during work, the work just keeps piling up. A chaotic schedule leads to decreased productivity, and usually failure, so make a good working plan in order to improve your chances of success. Leave the spontaneity for your days off.
5. Striving for perfection
A person who is extremely dedicated to their work will always strive for perfection. However, perfectionists are usually so focused on the minor details that they start over-analyzing things, leaving themselves with unfinished work and a lot of stress. Don’t waste time, talent and effort on minor things that won’t affect the outcome of your task. That is what you need to think of when you are driving yourself crazy over minute details.
6. Multitasking
Most of us are proud when we say we are multitasking, “Oh my god, I’m doing a million different things!” We feel proud because it gives us a sense that we are busy, and busy feels good. But, the negative side of multitasking is that if we are multitasking, we are not dedicating our full attention to one thing. Which means that not every task will be completed on time, and the results won’t be so good. Practice focusing on one thing at a time, and see how much better your results are.
7. Trying to be productive during the whole day
It is impossible to be productive and focused the entire day, and everyone has times that they are more productive. For e.g., some people are really productive in the morning, and some are night owls. But for the most part, everyone will have high and low points throughout their day. Remember, we are all human. The solution is utilize the hours that you are most productive to the max.
8. Giving yourself more time to finish some tasks
How many times do we say “Tomorrow I’ll get to it,” “Yes, tomorrow I will do that.” When we tend to postpone finishing tasks, it’s usually because we need time to think about how to get the best results. This is our mentality, but 9 times out of 10 this leads to procrastination, which decreases productivity. If you want to be productive, trust yourself- your instincts, your talents, your knowledge, and don’t question your success.
9. Doing every task alone
Many people think that they can save money by doing everything themselves, but they are wrong. Instead of being able to work on demanding tasks, they get lost in doing unimportant things that only waste their time. Smaller tasks should be outsourced, and outsourcing will pay off, and you will be able to finish your important tasks successfully and on time.
10. Being negative and stressed out all the time
Negative feelings decrease your willingness to want to perform certain tasks, and you end up doing them unsuccessfully. The secret recipe here is to just be happy. Avoid stressful situations if you can, and learn how to cope with them when they do present themselves. When you are happy, you can do things with less effort, and you will notice that you don’t get exhausted after every task.
[Featured Image Credit: huffingtonpost.com]