Habits That Are Killing Your Productivity: (7 Really Bad Habits)
This new article will show you everything you need to know about bad habits that are killing your productivity.
Productivity is among the key ingredients in a recipe for achievement. The better you use your time during the day, and the more organized you are, the more you can do and realize.
Unfortunately, every day many of us limit our productivity because we have bad habits. They cause us to waste valuable time rather than acting effectively and efficiently. We don’t move forward with our plans, our work, our goals, and the different responsibilities that are on our to-do list.
What habits limit productivity? Many bad habits destroy your productivity, but amongst them, there are seven bad habits that you should particularly avoid.
What Are Some Bad Habits That Are Killing Your Productivity?
1. You don’t plan your day
It’s hard to have a productive day if you don’t plan it. It’s like trying to assemble LEGO bricks without instructions. Yeah, you’re gonna fold those bricks. But the time you spend on it is going to be much longer than if you had a plan and knew in advance what to do and in what order.
Planning every day can be an incredible motivator to focus on your goals and the tasks you need to complete. If you don’t plan a day, time will run out quickly. It’s much more likely that your day will be stuffed with every kind of distractions and unproductive activities.
If you want to improve your productivity, buy yourself a planner or take a piece of paper and begin writing down what you want to do and achieve on a given day. Set yourself goals for each day. You may be surprised how many benefits this easy procedure will bring you, like planning a day.
Better yet, plan not only every day but also every week. For example, you can do it on the Sunday before the next week. Sometimes you may not know what you’ll be doing exactly every day. But you can set a goal and plan what you want to focus on this week.
This is important because if you only plan day after day, you can easily lose sight of what you are striving for in the long run and what you are attempting to attain.
2. You haven’t any priorities
Do you sometimes feel like you’re doing a lot, you’re still busy, but you’re not moving forward with your goals? The reason may be that you don’t prioritize. You do everything, but you aren’t doing what you should be doing.
If everything is equally important, nothing is important. If you don’t do the tasks that matter most, you waste your time and don’t get closer to achieving your goals.
Mark Twain once said that “if the first thing you do in the morning is eat a live frog, you can go through the rest of the day, knowing that the worst is behind you. Your frog is your worst task, and you should do it first. Once the most critical and challenging task is behind you, the next one will be easier to do.
3. You have no self-discipline
Another bad habit that negatively affects your productivity is a lack of self-discipline. Self-discipline is one of the most important features that distinguish all successful people.
Without self-discipline, it is almost impossible to achieve more than the minimum of what is required of you. Do not expect great results and above-average results if you lack self-discipline.
A lack of self-discipline (1) can be challenging to overcome. As people, we are inherently lazy, but with the right effort and commitment, working on our habits and willpower, we can strengthen our self-discipline.
If you are consistent and persistent, you will even “force yourself” to give more of yourself. You will make an additional effort, work on yourself and your habits, and over time your self-discipline will grow. As your self-discipline increases, your productivity will also increase.
4. You sleep long
Of course, sleep and proper regeneration are critical. If we sleep too short in relation to our needs, it can hurt our health and efficiency. However, if we sleep longer than necessary, this also affects our productivity.
Depending on our preferences and genetics, we can work better in the morning or evening. However, for many people, the most productive hours are in the morning. The efficient use of the mornings can translate into a better mood during the day and higher productivity.
However, if you sleep too long, you lose the chance to make good use of these early hours of the day. Your morning is likely to be chaotic; you’re in a rush, you’re stressed not to be late for school or work.
To better start each day, start getting up early. It’s best at this time when most people are still sleeping, and there are peace and quiet around. Take advantage of the benefits of these early hours. It’s among the best ways to start doing more and improve your productivity.
4. You’re wasting time on the Internet and social media
The Internet and your smartphone are probably the most significant sources of distractions and time-consuming. Of course, the Internet and mobile solutions are great inventions of humanity. You can use them to extremely increase your productivity, but they also make it easy to waste your precious time and concentration.
Unfortunately, the Internet often makes us less productive. This is because rather than focusing on the important things, we have quick access to every kind of entertainment and distractions that we succumb to. It’s easier to watch a funny movie on YouTube, look at photos on Instagram or Facebook, read gossip about celebrities than to get into productive work.
Social media is free for a reason. Your attention, time, and data are what you pay to use them. In a way, you’re a product. These platforms are designed to maximise the time you spend in them and are addictive.
To increase your productivity and reduce distractions, turn off notifications on your phone that send installed applications. Uninstall applications you don’t need.
Monitor how much time you spend on the Internet and your smartphone, and set limits that you won’t exceed. When you’re working on a task, turn off your phone or turn on airplane mode.
Better still, put your phone away, so you don’t have it on hand if you can disconnect totally from the online world and concentrate fully on what you’re doing.
6. You’re complaining
Another bad habit that keeps you from being successful and more productive is complaining. Complaining and procrastination, i.e., postponing what you must do, are mutually reinforcing.
The more you complain a few task you must do, the more likely you are to delay it and postpone it as much as you can.
This also works the other way round, the more you procrastinate, time passes, and you start complaining that you won’t make it, that you don’t have enough time, that it’s too complicated, and so on. This is a vicious circle that has a destructive effect on your productivity.
A positive attitude and avoiding complaining is greatly important for achievement in what you do. It will only lower your productivity and make you feel worse. You will only lose time and energy, which you can better use for work.
7. You are afraid of failure
If you allow the fear of failure to stop you from acting (2), your productivity also suffers. Fear of failure is a killer of success. The quickest way to guarantee 100% failure is never to try for fear of collapse anyway.
Unfortunately, the fear of failure is an genuine problem that keeps many people from the life they dream of. But the fear of failure is not rational. Error, failure, or misfortune is not something you should be afraid of.
The stories of successful people show that many of them have suffered a whole lot of failures before they succeed. If you have the right attitude of transition difficulties or even failure won’t stop you from achieving your goals. On the other hand, the fear of failure will hold you back every time.
Find courage in yourself, overcome doubts and concerns you may feel.
Thank you for reading this article about habits that are killing your productivity and I actually hope that you take action my advice.
I wish you good luck and that I hope its contents have been a good help to you.
