5 Habits Which Prevent You to Become More Productive
Stop doing this for boost your productivity
Most people believe they will be more productive while they do everything in a rush such as go through endless meeting without taking a break or do a different thing at the same time. Many of them believe doing more will lead them to become more productive.
People think when they have busy life, it will increase their productivity, so they add more activities to their calendar related to work, hobbies, family time, relationship, etc.
However, the truth, is the opposite.
Busyness becoming new “word” for productivity to the most people. They try to push themselves so hard to reach it and the result is always contrary. The truth is, getting more stuff done, is never been easy and always more challenging.
People have limitation for their attention and energy in a day, but sometimes they waste their resource on activity which is unimportant for them. So, it’s better to get rid of unnecessary tasks and focus on important things.
Here are 5 habits you need to stop doing to make you become more productive in life.
1. Checking Phone in The Morning
What are we doing after wake up? Exercise, meditate, reading, journaling.
The first thing that most people do in the morning after they wake up is checking their mobile phone. According to research from IDC Research Report found:
“Our interaction with each other through our phones begins as soon as we awake. Within the first 15 minutes of waking up, 4 out of 5 smartphone owners are checking their phones and among these people, nearly 80% reach for their phone before doing anything else. These statistics alone drive home the utility of and reliance on smartphones.”
Checking your phone first thing in the morning is unhealthy habit because it will impact your productivity, focus, and attention. You’ll be bombarded by notification of new emails, social media, and etc. And they will put you in reactive mode: you will be distracted for the rest of the day and hard to focus in a task. According to stated from Dr. Nikole Benders-Hadi, a psychiatrist at Doctor on Demand:
“Immediately turning to your phone when you wake up can start your day off in a way that is more likely to increase stress and leave you feeling overwhelmed.”
So instead of scrolling your Instagram or reading the news on your phone in the morning, give yourself time for 15 minutes to do some activities to boost your mental, psychical, spiritual or emotional such as stretching, reading, praying, having conversation with your partner, meditating. Do whatever you like except checking your phone first.
If you feel hard to resist the temptation of checking your phone in the morning, leave your phone in the other room. So, it’s hard to reach out it when you wake up. Design your room environment to help you stop this habit.
2. Multitasking
Most people think they are good at multitasking whether its checking email while scrolling social media or listening to someone while checking phone as common habit in modern life. No matter how hard you try, it will make you struggle to maintain your focus and attention because we are terrible at multitasking. According to research “Multitasking: Switching Cost” from American psychological association found:
“Doing more than one task at a time, especially more than one complex task, takes a toll on productivity. Although that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has talked on the phone while checking E-mail or talked on a cell phone while driving, the extent of the problem might come as a shock. Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking.”
Regardless how smart or competence you are, you will never get things done at the same time. The point is our brain and mind perform better on a single tasking.
You can train yourself to minimize the distraction around you by switching your device on silence mode or close all unnecessary tabs on your browser while you are working. It will help you to maintain your focus and attention on single tasking for a long term. The less distraction you get, the more focus you are.
“The more we multitask, the less we actually accomplish, because we slowly lose our ability to focus enough to learn.”
— Dr Kubu
3. Perfectionist
Being perfectionist is a recipe to avoid productivity come into your life and instead of beneficial, it will be harmful. If you constantly try to be perfect all the time without making any mistakes, you will feel stress, overwhelming, and burn out.
It is impossible to be a perfectionist because everything is not under our control. For examples, your meeting appointment could be canceled at any time, your deal could be rejected by your client, your laptop could be off suddenly while you give presentation or whatsoever.
Instead of expecting you could control everything, accept that some things are beyond your control and it’s okay to be wrong because no one is right all the time.
Productivity will never come from trying to be perfect, but from our reflection to avoid doing the same mistake again. Be compassionate to yourself because in the end we are just human being.
“Perfectionism is 20 shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from being seen and taking flight.”
— Brené Brown
4. Low Quality Sleep
Many young people get trap in hustle mentality. If they want to accomplish more, they have to cut down their sleep.
However, the truth is lack of sleep will lead to less productivity, more stress and underperformance. According to stated by Lawrence Epstein, MD, medical director of Sleep Health Centers in Brighton:
“Recent studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to feeling awake and alert, maintaining good health and working at peak performance.”
Good quality of sleeping is essential to reach productivity and maximize to be in full potential. when you neglect it, it will significantly harm your mental health and your physical state.
If you want to get the peak performance, you must start prioritizing your sleep by sticking to regular sleep pattern either when you wake up or go to bed on the same schedule. It will help you to fall asleep faster and wake up more refreshed.
“You will perform better, make better decisions, and have a better body when you get the sleep you require”.
— Shawn Stevenson
5. Overworking
Most people work late to finish their work. If you work constantly without downtime, your last few hours won’t be good anyway because you have limited cognitive abilities to concentrate. According to studies from the 1990s suggest:
“We can concentrate for no longer than 90 minutes before needing a 15-minute break.”
If you want to become more productive, you can start to spend your golden hours on important task and when you feel less energy, it’s a sign to take a break for couple minutes.
Based on research, here’s what happens when you take regular break: it will increase your productivity and creativity, and it will help consolidating memories and improve learning.
Here is lesson to remember: we have more time but less energy in our daily life, so it’s better to focus on managing your energy instead of your time.
Takeaway
- Stop checking your phone, social media, emails first thing in the morning. Give yourself time and space to make you alert naturally by stretching your body, meditating, reading book or etc for 15 minutes.
- Stop multitasking, focus on one task at the time and organize your work environment to minimize distraction, so you can maintain your attention and energy for a long term.
- Stop being perfectionist, just remember we are just human being which it is okay to make mistake and accept some things are beyond our control.
- Prioritize your sleep by designing your sleep pattern regularly. This habit is essential for your wellbeing and productivity throughout your days.
- Stop working before you are exhausted and burn out. Take a regular break when you feel your energy declines, it will help you re-energize and re-focus.
