5 Common Productivity Killers

In few weeks’ time we’ll all bid goodbye to 2015 and wave another welcome to a new year – 2016! But before this year ends have you checked your MUST DO list for 2015? How many things on your list have you already accomplished? Have you started and maintained a hobby that makes you more productive or perhaps enriched you creativity this year?  Well, if looking back on your past ten months calendar is like reading a chaotic map don’t worry I believe most of us can actually relate. Even me, is not that happy when I review my check list. However, I remind myself not to wallow over the spilled milk as they say, instead I ask myself, what are the things that I did or did not do that causes me to fail from meeting my calendar goals? So here are five things that surface the number of reasons.

#1 PROCRASTINATION

This is one of the worst reason everyone deny but definitely do. Thinking that you can always do it tomorrow or when you are in the mood, is the most common way of ruining your own plan. It is as good as saying that one of your priority has lost its importance. So how to cut procrastination? Ask yourself why you suddenly lose the interest doing the task at hand? Have you realize that there are other far important things to do? Are you tired that’s why you don’t have the energy to complete it? If your reason is the first one then take note of that. That a shift of priority arise and make sure that the changes that took place do not compromise the value of your time because you did something productive. Just my take between working out every morning and enrolling for a blogger boot-camp for a month. Yes, one of my priority is to get fit and lose weight but my passion is to write and I believe that taking this crash course will enrich my skills so it's not really a waste of time, just a little shift of priority. Besides I also found waist trainer that can help me to continue trimming down specific area of my body that needs a little sculpting so even though I cut my workout time to half I still able to achieve my goal in physical fitness. Therefore, this only proves that changes with our priorities doesn't always mean abandoning completely our previous plan which is also beneficial for us.  Now if your reason is the latter - you're tired and lack energy- then adjust your schedule accordingly, take a rest but make sure to pick up where you left off after.

#2 YOLO – You Only Live Once – Attitude

This is not completely bad but living for a moment and dropping everything else to chance is a bit extreme and will eventually hurt you when reality kick in. So it is very important to set time for yourself when to put down your guards and feed the nerves of spontaneity in your system. Even psychologist suggest to reward yourself with free time or time off AFTER successfully completing important task. That way you will also train yourself to set your eyes at the end of the project so you won’t lost your drive finishing what you have started, just like your workout plan that until now you put on hold.

#3 Presence of “YES PEOPLE” in our lives.

These are the people who don’t mind to interrupt you at any time of the day and ask you to do favor for them, and you on the other hand would not think twice and do as what you are told. These are the people who ask you to jump and the only question you come up to is “how high?” and do it. Smiling? Then you probably get the idea. It’s not entirely wrong to have these people in our lives because we may be part of the same group in theirs. But then ask yourself how often these people drag you out of your timetable? It’s good that we have these people who can actually push our skills in time management but when their pressure compromises your personal agenda then try to reconsider your limitations. Besides if these people truly value you, they will also understand that you have your own life to keep then saying “NO” once in awhile won’t hurt. In fact it actually develops mutual respect, for you too will give certain people allowance to say “NO” to your requests without getting offended for you understand that they also have priorities to keep just like you.

#4 DIGITAL INTOXICATION

Have you tried to do a digital detox? It is when you turn off your phone, your laptop and your television to literally disconnect from social media buzz. The idea might sound so easy but believe me, I tried it and it’s not that easy as it sounds. Most of us start the day checking our social media account or while having your coffee it is your routine to check your emails. Some may say they’re not into internet but breakfast time means turning their television on to watch morning news. We often thought that multitasking make us productive but the truth is, it’s not. Get real, how often do you catch yourself browsing over the Facebook feeds within the day when you are supposed to finish a report? Or how often do you update your social media profile within the week when you should spend some time outside and breathe fresh air? It’s crazy but I am also guilty of this, staying up late and too absorbed by my computer without actually doing anything, as in nothing. Because when I ask myself in the morning what I did the previous night that keep me up until past midnight, guilt gushes in because I did absolutely nothing. And with this realization I come up to the idea of digital detox, surprisingly though it’s a really tough twenty-four hours it’s one of my most productive day. I was able to reorganize my closet, clean the house and leave it spotless, finished a good book I bought months ago and spend more time outdoor walk my dog to the park and watch the walking zombie – people that are too focused with their cell phones, people like me :P – and it’s really liberating.  Having said all these, I am now determined to set time of the day when to turn off my phone and logout from my social media accounts to finish first valuable things that land on my priority list.

#5 DYSFUNCTIONAL Work Plan

Here lies over commitment and poor time management. Sometimes we tend to charge ourselves with things that we cannot do. So before you blurted out another YES to that new project look at your calendar first and ask yourself, will a normal MORTAL being like you can afford to add another task in there? If your answer is still YES without imagining yourself transforming to Wonder Woman or to someone with that effect then go ahead, accept the project. BUT if accommodating this new project means striking out two to three things on your list then bite your tongue and tie your hands to keep off from that new task and repeat this to yourself, DO NOT ENGAGE! In my previous article EMBODY Your Schedule, we have talked about how we can maximize our energy and how we can effectively work with our body clock for the entire month. Because there are ways to avoid our mood from killing our schedule, so one should not think of her body as her opponent to accomplish more, instead we have to develop a strong partnership with our body system and its genius processes.

Check it here: EMBODY Your Schedule

Now that I have shared with you these five reasons why I personally haven’t accomplished too much in the past ten months, I hope it can help you do your own personal check. Are you as lost as I am? Well, we still have over a month to at least make up a bit. Over a month of properly managing our priorities can definitely change the result of our productivity level. Remember it’s good to live in the present as long as we don’t lose our vision for the future. It is true that living means enjoying your entire journey but it is also rewarding to know for sure that your journey will lead you to a specific destination, and the little steps we took every day is leading us to that goal.