8 Things You Should Not Do Every Day
It's for your own good. Cut these
things out of your day and you'll see gains in productivity--not to mention
happiness.
If you get decent value from making
to-do lists, you'll get huge returns--in productivity, in improved
relationships, and in your personal well-being--from adding these items to your
not to-do list:
Every day, make the commitment not
to:
1. Check my phone while I'm talking
to someone.
You've done it. You've played the,
"Is that your phone? Oh, it must be mine," game. You've tried the
you-think-sly-but-actually-really-obvious downwards glance. You've done the,
"Wait, let me answer this text..." thing.
Maybe you didn't even say,
"Wait." You just stopped talking, stopped paying attention, and did
it.
Want to stand out? Want to be that
person everyone loves because they make you feel, when they're talking to you,
like you're the most important person in the world?
Stop checking your phone. It doesn't
notice when you aren't paying attention.
Other people? They notice.
And they care.
2. Multitask during a meeting.
The easiest way to be the smartest
person in the room is to be the person who pays the most attention to
the room.
You'll be amazed by what you can
learn, both about the topic of the meeting and about the people in the meeting
if you stop multitasking and start paying close attention. You'll flush out and
understand hidden agendas, you'll spot opportunities to build bridges, and
you'll find ways to make yourself indispensable to the people who matter.
It's easy, because you'll be the
only one trying.
And you'll be the only one
succeeding on multiple levels.
3. Think about people who don't make
any difference in my life.
But your family, your friends, your
employees--all the people that really matter to you--are not. Give them your
time and attention.
They're the ones who deserve it.
4. Use multiple notifications.
You don't need to know the instant
you get an email. Or a text. Or a tweet. Or anything else that pops up on your
phone or computer.
If something is important enough for
you to do, it's important enough for you to do without interruptions. Focus
totally on what you're doing. Then, on a schedule you set--instead of a
schedule you let everyone else set--play prairie dog and pop your head up to see what's happening.
And then get right back to work.
Focusing on what you are doing is a lot more important than focusing on
other people might be doing.
They can wait. You, and what is
truly important to you, cannot.
5. Let the past dictate the future.
Mistakes are valuable. Learn from
them.
Then let them go.
Easier said than done? It all
depends on your perspective. When something goes wrong, turn it into an
opportunity to learn something you didn't know--especially about yourself.
When something goes wrong for
someone else, turn it into an opportunity to be gracious, forgiving, and
understanding.
The past is just training. The past
should definitely inform but in no way define you--unless you let it.
6. Wait until I'm sure I will
succeed.
You can never feel sure you will
succeed at something new, but you can always feel sure you are committed to
giving something your best.
And you can always feel sure you
will try again if you fail.
Stop waiting. You have a lot less to
lose than you think, and everything to gain.
7. Talk behind someone's back.
If only because being the focus of
gossip sucks. (And so do the people who gossip.)
If you've talked to more than one
person about something Joe is doing, wouldn't everyone be better off if you
stepped up and actually talked to Joe about it? And if it's "not your
place" to talk to Joe, it's probably not your place to talk about
Joe.
Spend your time on productive
conversations. You'll get a lot more done--and you'll gain a lot more respect.
8. Say "yes" when I really
mean "no."
Refusing a request from colleagues,
customers, or even friends is really hard. But rarely does saying no go as
badly as you expect. Most people will understand, and if they don't, should you
care too much about what they think?
When you say no, at least you'll
only feel bad for a few moments. When you say yes to something you really don't
want to do you might feel bad for a long time--or at least as long as it takes
you to do what you didn't want to do in the first place.
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-things-you-should-not-do-every-day.html?cid=em01013week15a
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