10 bad habits sabotaging your productivity
Some productivity-killing
habits you should avoid
Being more produc tive is
about work ing smar ter, not harder, and making the most of each day.While this
is no easy feat, getting more done in less time is a much more attainable goal
if you're not sabotaging yourself with bad habits. Following are 10 things you
should stop doing now to become more productive.
1 Prioritising work over sleep
Arianna Huffington says in
her sleep manifesto, The Sleep Revolution, a good night's sleep has the power
to increase productivity, happiness, smarter decision-making and unlock bigger
ideas. As she explains, a recent McKinsey study shows the direct correlation
between getting less sleep and workplace inefficiency. The trick for getting
enough sleep is planning ahead and powering down at a reasonable time.
2 Impulsive web browsing
Since most of us have
access to the internet at work, it's easy to get sidetracked looking up the
answer to a random question that just popped into your head.
That's why Quora user
Suresh Rathinam recommends writing down these thoughts or questions on a
notepad. This way, you can look up the information you want later, when you're
not trying to get work done.
3 Skipping breakfast
Our minds and our bodies
are connected in a number of important ways, and getting the fuel we need
doesn't just mean resting up. Your first meal of the day is what kickstarts
your metabolism and replenishes blood-sugar levels so you can focus and be
productive throughout the day. When blood-sugar levels are low, it's harder to
focus and you're likely to feel tired, irritable and impatient.
4 Putting off your important work until later in the day
People often start off their
day by completing easy tasks to get themselves rolling and leave their
difficult work for later. This is a bad idea and one that frequently leads to
the important work not getting done at all.
5 Checking email throughout the day
Constant internet access
can also lead people to check email throughout the day. Sadly, each time you do
this, you lose up to 25 minutes of work time.What's more, the constant checking
of email makes you dumber.Instead, strategy consultant Ron Friedman suggests
quitting Outlook, closing email tabs and turning off your phone for 30-minute
chunks of deep-diving work.
6 Taking too many meetings
Nothing disrupts the flow
of productivity like an unnecessary meeting. And with tools like email, instant
messenger and video chat at your fingertips, it's best to use meetings for
introductions and serious discussions that should only be held in person.
7 Multitasking
While many people believe
they're great at doing two things at once, scientific research has found that
just 2 per cent of the population is capable of effectively multita sking. For
the rest of us, multitasking is a bad habit that decreases our attention spans
and makes us less productive in the long run.
8 Failing to prioritise
Some people think having
lots of goals is the best way to ensure success -if one idea fails, at least
there are plenty more in reserve to turn to.Unfortunately, this sort of
wavering can be extremely unproductive.
Billionaire investment guru
Warren Buffett has the perfect antidote. Seeing that his personal pilot was not
accomplishing his life goals, Buffett asked him to make a list of 25 things he
wanted to get done before he died. But rather than taking little steps toward
completing every one of them, Buffett advised the pilot to pick five things he
thought were most important and ignore the rest.
9 Over-planning
Many ambitious and
organised people try to maximise their productivity by meticulously planning
out every hour of their day. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned,
and a sick child or unexpected assignment can throw a wrench into their entire
day. Instead, you might want to try planning just four or five hours of real
work each day, that way you're able to be flexible later on.
More often than laziness
the root of procrastination is the fear of not doing a good job. The only way
to overcome procrastination is to abandon perfectionism and not fuss over
details as you move forward. Pretending the task doesn't matter and that it's
okay to mess up could help you get started faster.
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businessinsider.in
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ETP10MAY16
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