Bad habits that distract people from productivity are based in some shape or form on procrastination.
Ah yes procrastination…the impact it has on an individual can be quite alarming, because a person who procrastinates knows he or she is putting tasks off with a false sense of reassurance by telling him or herself of getting back to it later…but we all know “later” doesn’t occur and will only lead to a feeling of guilt in further avoiding them.
So, what’s a procrastinator gotta do to kick procrastination aside and put the pedal to the metal to increase productivity?
Here are two quick solutions:
The 2-Minutes Rule
- If your task at hand takes less than two minutes, do it immediately! It will help you get into the zone of extreme focus. Also, when you start a new habit, try to do it within two minutes. It sounds ridiculous, but in 2 minutes a person can force themselves to create steps that successfully affect the progress. For instance, if you have a dissertation to be written, set yourself up for it by telling yourself “I’ll do my dissertation for me in two minutes” then get cracking!
Frogs Versus Elephants
- There is a popular saying in time management that goes “eat that frog” for those annoying but manageable tasks you can knock out of the way quickly by swallowing them. By the same token if you have to “eat an elephant,” it needs to be cut down and swallowed in turns; thus, you divide your huge task in parts and solve it gradually.
Let’s look at some potential bad habits to give up you might be doing if you want to increase your productivity.
Bad Habit 1: Staying in Comfort Zone
- The comfort zone is where everything is familiar to you. Usually, you have two ways to do something: one is where you’re used it to and another is the unknown, that can lead to better results. People who lack productivity always choose the easiest path that doesn’t require any effort, hence, doesn’t engage them fully.
Bad Habit 2: Wanting Perfection
- Maybe you think this is a desirable quality, but it seriously hampers productivity. Perfectionists always want things done perfectly so pay way too much attention to the trivial where they neglect important larger elements. Perfectionism is the biggest killer of productivity
Bad Habit 3: Waiting for the Perfect Plan
- This is an old habit of perfectionists. Time-management advice teach people to plan their work. However, perfectionists go way too with this, delaying initiatives.
Bad Habit 4: Comparing Yourself to Others
- Someone might do something faster and better affecting your confidence, but it should never be a reason to give up. Everybody has their own strengths and weakness. Stop comparing yourself to others!
Bad Habit 5: Reacting Negatively to critics
- Like comparing yourself to others, this makes people want to quit and kills more productivity than watching YouTube cat videos. You should react to criticisms like recommendations and convert them to motivation. When you are motivated by critics, you produce better progress.
Bad Habit 6: Hunting for Notifications
- Internet addiction is an old topic to dwell on. Email, social network notifications and news feeds are incredibly tempting when it comes to concentration on a task. Under most circumstances, people check emails on their gadget when they try to award themselves for the work undertaken. But once you have checked one message (like a drug) you want more! In this case, the only thing that is productive is you scrolling up and down your screen.
Bad Habit 7: Eating Just to Eat
- This quote from “Over the Hedge” accents the fact that people consume food not only when they’re hungry but because it’s a habit: “Animals eat to live. People live to eat.” Don’t deny that you have never told yourself “I will start writing after I drink a cup of coffee.” And then coffee leads to snacks that you can’t stop eating.
Are you starting to see how it’s not a coincidence that bad habits, which affect productivity, are based on procrastination? Destroy some of these bad habits, and you will surely notice an improvement in your productivity today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jeremy Raynolds is a blogger whose lifestyle credo is “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”