8 BAD HABITS FOR PRODUCTIVITY

When you're trying to be productive there are some bad habits and distractions that can cut into your productivity. Here are 8 bad habits for productivity...

 

Cellphones have become a part of every day life for most Americans. Some would even say that they don’t feel "whole" without theirs. They are super helpful, but if you’re using them to text or randomly surf the web they really become a distraction above all else.

 

I use my phone to search for work related things all the time and that’s a part of running a business, but I try not to text while I’m working.

If you have the option to use your laptop, desktop, or iPad instead you should. That way while you’re doing research you don’t have to worry about a text message popping up or being distracted. Feel free to check your phone during breaks, but in order to truly focus put the phone away. I like to turn mines over so that I’m not able to see when a text comes in because its distracting to me.

 

Believe it or not, there are people who say that they work better when their TV is on. If you’re not one of these people be sure that the TV is not on, so that you can give your attention 100% to what it is that you are focused on.

Procrastination Station is REAL! Who here has laid in bed for hours thinking about what they’re going to do? I have. Especially in college! I had all my ideas in my head and sat and thought about the assignment, but I would wait to do it. I will say that towards the end of my college years I got a little better and was actually turning assignments in early.

 

Procrastinating will kill an idea quick. Its understandable to think of ideas in your head before you get started, just make sure that you start.

There are circumstances when leaving the biggest headache until the last is recommend, but this isn’t one of those times. Get the most time consuming thing out of the way, then begin working on the smaller tasks. You’ll be a lot happier that you did and you won't have to worry about that particular task anymore.

When you start something and you don’t have a plan you tend to waste time because somewhere in the middle of you starting you may realize that you forgot a step or need to do more research.

I usually have a plan, but even with a plan things could go wrong. For me I wanted to release a different product and although my process of creating that product worked previously, for some reason it didn’t work this time.

 

I had to go back and do more research, try different solutions, and when I realized that none of them were working I did more research. No matter what I tried I still couldn’t get it to come out right, so I scraped it (for now) and had to rearrange the product. So, remember that you have to be extremely flexible in case something goes wrong and ALWAYS have a Plan B and C (if possible).

You know how I said procrastinating will kill an idea quick? So will making excuses. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It comes down to how bad you want it. Don’t make excuses, make changes. If something doesn’t work try something new or a different way. If that fails, try again. THEN, if that fails you can say you tried, but at least you tried more than once before giving up.

If you have a hard time saying “no”, you may find yourself burned out, frustrated, and exhausted from all the extra work! There is nothing wrong with saying “no” and I think we as adults should get into the habit of hearing it.

Saying “no” is a part of self-care because if you’re stretched too thin, then are you really helping anyone?

I love playing music while I work. Sometimes its classical, other times its pop or super fast upbeat music. Me, being a lover of music I have realized that I can’t play fast upbeat music while I’m working because I’m going to be too busy singing, so sometimes I’ll play classical just to have as background music so that I’m not distracted. Find what works for you and check out the Planner Mode Spotify Playlist to see what we jam to while we plan our day.

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