“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today.” – Nolan Bushnell

7 Habits That Kill Your Productivity

Productivity for me is a difficult battle that has taken me many months and years to make headway on. It’s a roller coaster filled with many ups and downs, and sometimes a bit of motion sickness. One morning I will have a to-do list 3 feet long and I will accomplish most of those tasks. Other days I have a to-do list 4 items long and I can’t even get half of them accomplished because I am completely unmotivated. I am quite sure I am not alone here and you can relate to these days very well. Productivity is a concept that’s hard to grasp for some people, and even harder for others who have no self-discipline or small habits that kill productivity. In the reading below I will discuss 7 habits that kill your productivity, and tips on how to increase productivity to make your days more fulfilling.

1. Too Much on Your Plate

Having too much on your plate is a complete recipe for disaster. This is one I am extremely guilty of and have the second hardest time with. I will create my mind-mapping for the day or week and it looks great, but it’s full of large lists with tasks within that seems endless. While I start off super productive and knock out task after task, a short time later I crash, and I am no longer productive. I also still have what seems like a million tasks left to-do, making me feel as though I didn’t accomplish much. The reason for this is because I have too much on my plate and it’s impossible to get through all of the single tasks in a day.

The solution is removing some tasks from your plate each day and prioritizing your tasks to make your plate smaller but more productive. Doesn’t make sense? Well, it will make you more productive because you will actually accomplish all of the things you need to accomplish and feel triumphant at the end of the day instead of unless or not good enough. Because you’ve put important tasks on your plate that are achievable.

2. Being Distracted by Electronics and Notifications

It’s 8 am and you’ve been up since 5:30, working since 6:00 am, on your second cup of coffee, and your phone starts going off. You hear your phone buzzing or ringing and you reach over to grab it and see a FB notification. Suddenly that great stream of concentration has gone out the window and your phone is right in front of your face as you start replying to messages, checking comments, and for some, getting stuck in the infamous Pinterest world where no one can seem to pull back from.

Social media, texting, pictures, and fun websites are one of the most infamous offenders to killing a great productivity stream so it’s imperative you take steps to ensure you’re not distracted by them. Also, throw in there television and video games. So, how can you stay focused? I’ve learned that not shutting off my notifications is one of my major habits. Maybe it’s one of your habits that kills your productivity as well.

Here are a few tips to keep you focused and on track:

1) Turn your phone on silent – NOT vibrate
2) Put your phone in another room entirely. IE. If you’re in the office, put it in the bedroom. This will stop you from wanting to check it every 2 seconds.
3) Unplug your video game and tv, preferably, even hide the remote or batteries to make sure you’re not tempted to put them on.
4) Use a site blocker to block out sites that will keep you distracted like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Pinterest, and any other website you frequently go to.
Remember that it’s only for a few hours. Think of your time working as a job in a hospital where you literally don’t even have the time to take a restroom break let alone check your phone. I promise you can do it. It will be okay.

3. Being Unorganized

Organization is an important part of everyday life and comes in all forms including home, school, electronic, and even work. Your work desk/station should be as organized and clean as every other part of your home for maximum concentration, as our brains tend to become too lethargic from mess and clutter.

Clutter and not being organized comes in many forms. A few examples are:

 Information spread across multiple platforms and websites on your PC
 Tens of hundreds of files on your desktop
 Tens of tabs open on your screen when you’re working with no clear path of what you’re doing and what tabs you really need open
 Pens, pencils, markers, erasers, etc. all over your desk
 Water bottles, papers, food, candy, cigarettes, books, etc. on your desk or workstation

What To Do With These Items

These physical items should be tucked away or put in proper places to eliminate clutter on your desk. Doing so will give you a smooth, empty surface to work on. You don’t want to be distracted by looking out a window or staring at the artwork on the wall. To help with that, limit yourself to only looking out the window for a minute every 20 minutes. 

For electronic clutter, create folders and organize the files on your computer. This will make it easier to navigate and find what you need at a moments notice. Use Onetab to keep your tabs minimized into a single tab instead of having 35 open at once. You can open all of the tabs you need, save the Onetab, then pull them up as you need. This will also save you RAM on your PC so it works faster.

Lastly, keep your notes, research, and questions all in one place online using Microsoft Onenote. You can copy and paste information from the web to Onenote, add pictures, and do a myriad of other things. You can also save your Onenote to the cloud so you can view your information anywhere, on any device.

4. Multitasking

Out of all the habits that kill productivity, multi-tasking is the main culprit and my greatest downfall. Multitasking is just a term for producing incomplete, less than perfect work disguised as hard work.

When you start to multitask, you trick your brain into thinking you’re completing a number of projects at one time, which gives you the illusion that you’re coming out on top and getting a lot accomplished. But in reality, you’re giving brief, partial focus to one task while spending the majority of your attention between switching tasks. Essentially, you’re spending more focus on the switching tasks aspect, not the actual task at hand. This is a drain on your mental resources and contributes to brain fog and concentration breaks.

So, how can you stop this? Check out our tips and implement them into your life and see the difference!

 Group similar task — Start off slow by grouping similar tasks. Gather 2 or 3 tasks that are similar to one item on your list and work on those together. You can multitask between only those tasks. Since this is a smaller task, you won’t waste mental resources multitasking between them.
 Complete what you start — Start your new task when you KNOW that you have the time to complete it all at once. Do not switch between multiple tasks. If you think of something else to do, jot it down in a notebook and continue with your tasks. Once you’re done, look at what you remembered and decide if it can be worked into your day or week. Although hard at first, over time your quality of work and focus will improve, which will give you positive feedback.

5. Electronics

Nowadays we have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat and tons of other distractions on our phone that constantly have us checking our phone to read our notifications and see what’s being posted. This does absolutely nothing to help your productivity. The best way to handle distractions from your cell phone and other electronics is to TURN THEM OFF and PUT THE PHONE AWAY. If for any reason you cannot turn your phone off, turn it on silent and turn off notifications, then place it away from your work area like in a drawer or a table behind you. Out of sight out of mind.

6. Being Unorganized

“Organizing is what you do before you do something so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up” – A. A. Milne

Being unorganized is a great way to set yourself up for failure when you’re trying to be productive. Not only do you waste time and mental resources, but you stress yourself out trying to find things and locate the information you need because nothing is in a proper place.

There are four main things you should keep organized every day.

 Your Desk – Your desk should be clutter-free with only the most important items on it like pens/pencils, notebook, light, folders, or anything else you need to work on a daily basis.
 Your paperwork – Your paperwork should be neatly organized in a binder or folder and organized by category, type, or with dividers to keep all of your information in one spot and easily accessible.
 Your electronic files – The files on your desktop or mobile phone should be organized properly into main folders and subfolders. Folders help you find what you need quicker. 
 The room your desk is in – You want to make sure the room you’re working in is clean, crisp, and clutter-free so you’re not distracted. Preferably, work near a window so that you can get some great natural light. Also, ensure the floor is swept and mopped daily and clutter-free. 

7. No Plan / Work Routine

“Fail to plan, plan to fail” – Winston Churchill

Winston is spot on with his quote above. If you fail to plan, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Before you start your day, you should have a clear and concise plan of action. Your plan of action should consist of what you will be doing that day. in what order, any subtasks, and a proper estimate of how long it will take. Going with a daily plan is a daily work routine. If you have a daily work routine your mind and body will know when to be in its focus mode. This will give you fewer issues being distracted. Also, determine what time is best for you to work. Some people are great workers first thing in the morning, while others focus better in the evening. Pick a time that works for you and is distraction-free.

I hope this list of habits helps you identify those habits that kill your productivity that you are guilty of. Now you can correct them and help yourself become more productive. In our next post, we will go over HOW to become more productive, and what tools can help you.

Are there any other bad habits that you can think of? If so, what are they and how do you fix them? Leave a comment below to add your input!