{"id":5398,"date":"2021-07-10T17:58:57","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T12:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/?p=5398"},"modified":"2021-07-10T18:01:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T12:31:46","slug":"productivity-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/productivity-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Common Productivity Mistakes And How To Overcome Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>While you tend to put in your 100%, you still can\u2019t achieve what you aim for! That\u2019s because you are making these productivity mistakes that can affect your work and life goals<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As the world is becoming more competitive with each passing day, success is becoming synonymous with productivity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">For most of us, work is defined yet we often struggle to reach our goals, falling prey to distractions and procrastinating more than needed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Even though we are aware that we could do better to manage time more effectively, it gets difficult to identify the common mistakes that we make in our daily lives while aiming to reach our goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In this article, we shall help you to identify those common mistakes and provide you with tips that you can use to overcome them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Productivity_mistakes_and_tips_to_overcome_them\">Productivity mistakes and tips to overcome them:<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Mistake_1_8211_Not_Emptying_Your_Brain_Before_Getting_Started_With_Work\">Mistake 1 &#8211; Not Emptying Your Brain Before Getting Started With Work.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_2_8211_Not_Knowing_Where_To_Start\">Mistake 2 &#8211; Not Knowing Where To Start.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_3_8211_Trying_To_Multitask\">Mistake 3 &#8211; Trying To Multitask.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_4_8211_Taking_Up_More_Work_Than_You_Can_Actually_Do\">Mistake 4 &#8211; Taking Up More Work Than You Can Actually Do!<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_5_8211_Working_Yourself_To_Exhaustion\">Mistake 5 &#8211; Working Yourself To Exhaustion.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_6_8211_Not_Taking_Enough_Breaks\">Mistake 6 &#8211; Not Taking Enough Breaks.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_7_8211_Lacking_Passion_For_The_Work\">Mistake 7 &#8211; Lacking Passion For The Work.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Mistake_8_8211_Not_Setting_Deadlines\">Mistake 8 &#8211; Not Setting Deadlines.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Productivity_mistakes_and_tips_to_overcome_them\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Productivity mistakes and tips to overcome them:<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_1_8211_Not_Emptying_Your_Brain_Before_Getting_Started_With_Work\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 1 &#8211; Not Emptying Your Brain Before Getting Started With Work.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">A human mind is a storehouse of thoughts and it&#8217;s necessary to empty our brains before we get to work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">According to the productivity expert, <strong>David Allen<\/strong>, carrying too much information in our head makes us think that we are in control, even when we are not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In order to be more productive, it&#8217;s essential that we start our day by decluttering our mind &#8211; either by writing down all our thoughts or by meditating. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This would give us more mental space to concentrate on our work, eventually making us more productive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_2_8211_Not_Knowing_Where_To_Start\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 2 &#8211; Not Knowing Where To Start.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It&#8217;s important to know where to commence from, to enhance our productivity. While most of us are more efficient early in the day and that&#8217;s our peak productive hours, many people prefer to start late and utilize the night time, when their concentration levels soar up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">No matter whether you&#8217;re an early morning person or a late night one, it&#8217;s important to set achievable goals and know where to start from, so that you can complete the important tasks in time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you lack a set plan, you&#8217;ll end up wasting time and that&#8217;ll hamper your efficiency &amp; productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_3_8211_Trying_To_Multitask\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 3 &#8211; Trying To Multitask.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">On today&#8217;s date, we all feel there\u2019s so much to do and so little time that we usually end up multitasking. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">But to say the least, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/multitasking-is-not-good\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">multitasking isn&#8217;t a good practice<\/a> and often lowers our productivity, rather than boosting it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">When we take up multiple things at one point in time, we can&#8217;t fully concentrate on any of those and end up in a mess, or even worse, leave things unfinished.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">According to a Stanford Research, multitaskers are terrible at filtering out irrelevant information, which means that even if we\u2019re making a mistake, there are chances that we might not just notice it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Thus, it is always advisable to take up one thing at a time, finish it and move to the next. This will ensure better results, always!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_4_8211_Taking_Up_More_Work_Than_You_Can_Actually_Do\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 4 &#8211; Taking Up More Work Than You Can Actually Do!<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">We often struggle to say &#8216;NO&#8217; to others &#8211; and if you are someone who always has a plateful of things more than what you can consume, I completely understand your struggle. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Having a super workload can lead to poor performance, stress, anxiety, and low morale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Or you might be someone who likes to control and manage all the work by themselves &#8211; being a micromanager &#8211; because you can&#8217;t trust anyone else to do it perfectly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Either way, you&#8217;ll feel burdened after a point in time, which will adversely affect your productivity, draining all your energy and leaving you with sloppy results. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Hence, it\u2019s sensible to take up only as much as you can handle, and put in your best efforts in completing that task.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_5_8211_Working_Yourself_To_Exhaustion\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 5 &#8211; Working Yourself To Exhaustion.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Drawing lines from the previous point, I have to tell you that when you take up more than you can do, you&#8217;ll lead yourself to exhaustion!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">To put it in the words of <strong>Jeff VanderMeer<\/strong>, &#8220;<em>Position yourself to succeed by doing the other things in your life that rejuvenate you. Exhaustion affects your quality and productivity.<\/em>&#8220;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">When you push your brain to overwork, it\u2019ll eventually zone out while you\u2019re still trying to use it! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Remember that our brain isn&#8217;t a machine, and it needs adequate rest &amp; reboot to function properly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you feel fatigued or struggle to concentrate, having a foggy-head and lack of focus, opt for a break &#8211; listen to some music, take a power nap, go for a walk or make yourself a cup of coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_6_8211_Not_Taking_Enough_Breaks\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 6 &#8211; Not Taking Enough Breaks.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While our usual work hours tend to stretch between 8 to 10 hours approx, it has been proved that a human brain can be fully productive for just 5 hours daily. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It is essentially impossible for anyone to continuously concentrate, keep the focus intact and produce high-quality results without giving the brain (and the body) adequate rest and time to recharge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While &#8216;break time&#8217; is often considered as the time wasted, I would say that it helps in rebooting your brain, enhancing your creativity and pushes you to start afresh. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If it gets hard for you to take breaks, you can schedule them for yourself by putting an alarm or a reminder. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Take a walk or a power nap, meditate or listen to calming music. Keep your phone away while taking breaks between work, because scrolling through the social media feed wouldn&#8217;t really help you in any way!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_7_8211_Lacking_Passion_For_The_Work\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 7 &#8211; Lacking Passion For The Work.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you don&#8217;t love what you do, you can never be fully productive. If you\u2019re dragging yourself in doing what you need to, maybe you\u2019re striving for the wrong goal? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Don&#8217;t sign up for a work which doesn&#8217;t align with your interests. Your parents might want you to become a doctor\/ lawyer\/ engineer etc., but if you wish to be a footballer, then you&#8217;d never be able to wholeheartedly work towards the path you&#8217;ve chosen to fulfil someone else&#8217;s dreams!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Find your passion and turn that into your profession, so that when you get to work, you&#8217;d enjoy every second while doing it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As <strong>Benjamin E. Mays<\/strong> once said, \u201c<em>The tragedy in life doesn\u2019t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Mistake_8_8211_Not_Setting_Deadlines\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Mistake 8 &#8211; Not Setting Deadlines.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Giving ourselves too much time can disrupt the flow of work. Without a time frame, it is possible that the completion of the task might just get delayed or extended unnecessarily. Thus, it&#8217;s essential to have a deadline for every task you take up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Having a deadline will not just give a push to finish the work in the given time, but also accelerate your time management skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Now that you have identified your mistakes, you know what exactly to do to be more productive if you want to progress. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Don&#8217;t strive for perfectionism, instead put in your best efforts and you&#8217;ll see the results to be as desired. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Also, choose goals you\u2019re passionate about, and don\u2019t let anything stop you from achieving them!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lifegram_org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Follow us on Instagram for more life motivation and productivity tips.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While you tend to put in your 100%, you still can\u2019t achieve what you aim for! That\u2019s because you are making these productivity mistakes that can affect your work and life goals. As the world is becoming more competitive with each passing day, success is becoming synonymous with productivity. For most of us, work is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189],"tags":[656,677],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5400,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5398\/revisions\/5400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}