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8 Productivity Mistakes You Might Be Making Everyday
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Treating cheating as a reward
If someone treats themselves to a dress after a week of saving, this undermines the achievement they have made.
Try to view the act of you achieving your goals as the treat.
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Planning unnecessary meetings
Unnecessary meetings can severely deplete productivity out of someone’s working day.
Instead of arranging a meeting, see if you can speak with the person in another way. Skype, texting, emailing and phone calls are all efficient ways to communicate on important matters, while still focusing on your own projects.
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Multitasking
Research has discovered that most people become less efficient while attempting to multitask.
Try concentrating on one task at a time for great, productive results.
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Browsing the web
It can be easy to get side-tracked and find yourself online. Many people plan on briefly checking social media or checking the answer to a question, but end up staying online for much longer than intended.
Write down what you wanted to look at online, put it to the side, and then finish off the task you were doing before checking.
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Putting off hard tasks
Saving the hard jobs for later in the day can mean they don’t actually get finished at all.
The best time to do the hard work is first thing, as that is when you have the most willpower. Getting your least favorite job out of the way is likely to put you in a great mood for the rest of the day!
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Over-planning
Planning every hour of the day in advance to fit everything in can make you stressed out if you start running behind schedule.
Try to plan about five hours of important work to do, and leave the rest of the day to deal with any other issues. This means you get both elements of control and flexibility.
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Hitting the snooze button
When you first wake up, your body starts releasing alertness hormones to get you up and ready for the day. Every time you go hit snooze, you slow down this process.
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Thinking about the big picture
Thinking about the big picture while you’re working can leave you feeling worried and overwhelmed.
Save the life planning for when you aren’t working, and while you are working, try to focus on the immediate task you are doing.
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Key Ideas
Multitasking
Those that do multitask the most are the worst at it.
Productivity is defined as, “having the power to produce.” By that definition, multitasking is the opposite of productivity becau...
Not Getting Enough Rest
- When we get tired, we make mistakes, which means more time and money must be put into correcting those mistakes.
- When we get tired, it takes us longer to do things, costing more time and money to do something that could get done in less time if we were fully awake.
Doing Everything Yourself
Either one of two problems: you don’t like delegating tasks, or you’re having trouble prioritizing which tasks deserve your time.
Figure out which tasks deserve your time the most (or those tasks that you do best), and outsource something that’s of low priority.
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Key Ideas
Not saying No
First, say yes to your core values, then say no to the situation. Finally, say yes to the relationship.
A not-to-do list or some predefined phrases will help you to say no in unexpect...
Not respecting your calendar
Treat the meeting with yourself as it was a meeting with a third party. It’s only you who can act on your most important tasks with priority.
Make sure that you set up boundaries for yourself and for other people. Remember to communicate with them clearly.
Such a boundary can be that you leave your office at a certain time each day because your family is your priority. It doesn’t mean, of course, that you can’t work later in periods of high workload.
Multitasking
Ringing phones, text messages, reminders, pop-ups, social media, email.
There’re countless studies demonstrating that multitasking will hinder your work both in terms of quality and quantity.
Resist the temptation to get in the loop and do one thing at a time.
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Key Ideas
Avoiding Distracting Websites
There are many tools available that help you block out the rest of the internet while you work, but you can easily r...
Reward Yourself
If you’re studying towards getting a scholarship, you may decide to reward yourself by stopping work for a day or so. This kind of reward can slow your progress and reduce your momentum.
Instead, pick a reward that does not affect your work. For example, once you’ve reached your goal, have dinner at your favorite restaurant with a friend.
Not Being Realistic
There are limits to your personal productivity. You may have health issues. You have unique demands on your time.
The best way to be productive is to work around these issues. Find out what works for you.