I must tell you that there are quite a few stressful things that make you less productive! I’m sure you are all familiar with most of them, so that’s why you should do everything in your power to get rid of those bad habits that can make you less successful and that can also interfere with your happiness. On this matter, I couldn’t agree more with Stephen King who said that: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”. It’s actually not that hard to get more organized and avoid certain things that can affect your productivity; you just need a lit bit of motivation and a bit of patience. Here are a few stressful things that make you less productive that you should definitely consider, so you can learn how to improve certain aspects of your behavior and how to not let those bad habits affect your work:
Multitasking is definitely one of the most important things that make you less productive that you should definitely try to avoid. Even though most people think they’re amazing at multitasking, they’re actually not, they can’t be. If you're constantly switching between tasks, you will lose your focus, you will become tired much quickly and you will be more prone to mistakes. By getting rid of this very bad habit, I’m sure you’ll notice a lot of positive results in a week or two, so what are you waiting for? When you have something important to do, just limit your Internet access, keep your door locked and most importantly, turn off your phone.
I must admit that this is one of the things I do much too often. It’s really distracting me and it’s making me less productive. Actually, most experts say that you shouldn’t check your e-mail first thing in the morning and that you should make sure you activate your brain and your body first, so you could be more productive during that day. You can do that by reading a book for half an hour, by meditating for at least 20 minutes or why not, by going for a run or by simply enjoying your cup of coffee.
Well, it’s actually not that hard to imagine how being a perfectionist can stress you out or how it can affect your productivity. Try to control your urges to be in charge of everything and just enjoy what you are doing. Being a perfectionist doesn’t mean that you’ll be more productive or more successful. In time, it will only exhaust you and you will eventually lose your focus. Don’t be afraid to fail, because failure can actually be the best teacher you’ll ever have! Learn from your mistakes and just relax from time to time!
I know this may sound a little bit weird, but I must tell you that if you sit at your desk working all day long without taking enough breaks, you will probably lose focus much quickly, thus you will decrease your productivity. By sitting down all day long, you will be distracted more easily and you might even spend more time doing a certain thing than you would normally do. Just get up from your desk every now and then, take a little walk or just move around for a little while and think about all kinds of things that are not related to your work. When, you come back and start working again, I’m sure you’ll see things from a different perspective and you will also be able to focus much better.
This tip is pretty close related to the previous one. You will definitely not be more productive if you work all day long without taking any breaks, because just like any other muscle, your brain will get tired and after a while, you will be more prone to mistakes. Instead of taking one big break, try taking a few smaller ones (5 – 10 minutes) just to get some air or stretch a bit and you will see what a big impact this will have on your productivity and on your well-being.
A lot of studies have shown that those activities that will offer you instant gratification like checking your Facebook account, having a snack, watching some TV or basically anything that will give you a boost of stimulation without having to put in any work beforehand, will decrease your productivity and you will lose your focus much quickly, since your brain will think that it shouldn’t work so hard in order to get its reward. Just lean how to be more disciplined and always stick to your schedule; no matter how tempting all the distractions around you might be.
This is one of the habits that can really affect your productivity and can also interfere with your happiness. You will have to learn how to say no from time to time, so you’ll be able to reach all your goals and not feel overwhelmed by everything. That doesn’t mean that you are not a nice person; you just have to learn how to prioritize and not let yourself be involved in more things that you can handle. Just remember: by saying yes to something you don’t want to do, you’re actually saying no to yourself!
This is definitely one of the most stressful things that can really affect your productivity! You should never postpone high priority tasks if you don’t want to feel overwhelmed later when you won’t have enough time to take care of them. Whether you fell like doing a certain thing or not, if you know it’s important, you should do it either way. Avoid procrastination because this is one of the most damaging habits that can affect your success and you shouldn’t let anything get in your way when you are trying to achieve all your dreams.
Whether you are afraid of success or you are too scared that you might fail sometimes, you shouldn’t let fear affect your productivity and stand in the way of your happiness! Even though starting a new project can be pretty scary sometimes, if you work hard enough and if you don’t lose your focus, you will manage to reach your goal without stressing yourself out. Just follow Theodore Roosevelt’s advice and: “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.”.
You shouldn’t let anything interfere with your desire to reach your goals, no matter how tempting they might seem at the moment! Just like Alexander Graham Bell said: “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”. Do you know any other stressful things that can make you less productive? How do you deal with them? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section!