Building good habits is so important to developing daily routines that improve your productivity. We've all got bad habits, that sometimes we are fully aware of and others not so much but one thing is for sure, getting rid of these bad habits, these productivity ticks - is the best way to take full advantage of your time and allow you to focus more on achieving your goals.
In today’s post, I am going to be discussing a list of 5 habits which can be damaging to your health, wealth and overall success, explaining why they are bad for us, and how they can be avoided to create a better version of yourself.
1. Doubting your potential One of the most difficult burdens to bear in life is self-doubt. Feeling unworthy, unqualified, unintelligent can really keep you from taking advantage of so many life-changing experiences. It all stems from limiting ideas you acquired over you lifetime whether consciously or subconsciously. Addressing these negative thoughts and limiting beliefs you may have about yourself is the key to placing yourself on a path to unlocking your full potential. You have to make the choice to actively replace these thoughts and feels by noticing when the first surface, what triggers these feelings and then replace them with words and thoughts that empower you. Try positive affirmations every morning to replace negative self-talk. You may find it difficult to speak them at first, but you will get used to it.
2. Saying 'yes' to everything This habit is one of the major toxic habits that many of us possess. Saying yes to everything or at least more things than you can handle is a certified way to damage your productivity and ensure that you won't be able to achieve your goals or even work on your dreams. If this is something that you know you're guilty of doing, you'll need to quit while you're ahead if you want to make the most of your days. It's so simple and easy to say yes to things when they're first offered, but you'll kick yourself later when it's your day off and you have to spend it working toward other people's goals. Now, I am not saying you can't help others out if you can but don't burden yourself with the responsibilities of others especially when you have so much on your own plate. Recognizing what is important to you is the best way to ensure that you prioritize your time. It takes some time and definitely some getting used to, my best suggestion is to examine how you use your time and how you may make better use of the 24 hours you have each day. Determine which of your poor behaviors is having the most negative impact on you and get rid of them ASAP.
3. Procrastination This is a crime I am certainly guilty of committing. In fact, we all have this bad habit. I love being productive but sometimes when I should be ‘getting things done’ I either get totally sidetracked and distracted, too tired to even complete the task or just end up catching up on episodes of a new series (currently hooked on Jessica Jones, btw). The truth is however, that procrastinating from time to time is not the end of the world and is perfectly human but there's always room for improvement and let's be honest - we all know we could be procrastinating a little less. I was actually watching one of my favorite youtuber sadiealdis , who did a video on productivity and she said something that really resonated with me, " motivation is personal" and she is 100% right. Many of us need the motivation to get things done and when that motivation isn't there we tend to procrastinate. A really great way to counteract this is to just redirect you energy to your tasks by trying methods and choosing the one that suits you the best. It may take some trial and error to find the productivity strategy that works best for you, but one of my personal favorites is getting notifications from my Google Keep and Notion. It sends a reminder to my phone, laptop and my email, so these constant reminders always ensure I get the tasks done. I also love using the Pomodoro method for productivity. I set my timer for 15-30 minutes depending on the task and then take 5 -10 minute breaks between each one. This method really gives me the momentum to complete everything I need to in one go instead of well, procrastinating.
4. Not using a planner or printable calendar You guys have probably seen me mention a zillion times but I swear by the importance of using a planner or a printable calendar( once you actually use it, lol). Planners are quite useful for not forgetting important tasks and for establishing regular habits that will help you manage your time more efficiently. I love using my planners and please notice the 's' on the end because I love them so much and their ability to just keep me on track that I have one for all important aspects of my life ( a life planner, business planner and budget planner). However, like everything else in life, planners are what you make of them, and taking time each week to plan out your week can help you avoid getting caught up in craziness and losing a whole day. I started using the Blush Pink Drip Monthly Planner with budget tracker (check it out here) pretty recently and it has been so helpful for keeping me on track with my personal and business finances. I'd say it's a total life saver plus I love how it helps me to also be more productive and efficient everyday. I'd definitely say this is a productivity habit, I strongly encourage everyone to adopt. It is also important to remember that using a planner is only half of the formula to increasing your productivity and breaking a bad habit. If you want your planner to work for you and to results you need to actually use the planner and I mean every single day.
5. Perfectionism As a business owner, you want to make sure that you are professional. That your website, content, freebies, and everything you put out there are of high quality and from any perspective that is understandable but there is a difference between being professional and being a total perfectionist. This is a trait that I can say I have for as long as I can remember and honestly it's quite draining. The thing about perfectionists is that we set unreasonably high standards for just about everything. It all needs to be done correctly - perfect. Unfortunately, in seeking to make everything perfect you often make no progress. You spend hours focusing and trying to perfect things that are often times so mundane, imagine not posting your blog post on time simply because your fonts don't align with you theme( totally guilty of doing this!) It can be hard to understand but is definitely a reality for many and a great hindrance to productivity. The best way to overcome this bad habit is to focus on just doing your best. Instead of focusing on society's standards of perfection regardless of what part of your life that is simply focus on getting it done and if it's not perfect that fine because at the end of it all you only really fail if you don't try.
Becoming more productive can be an overwhelming process, it's not a sprint but a marathon and there will be trials, tribulations and obstacles to overcome along the way. When you commit to being more productive, you will usually find that you have more time in the day to work on becoming a better version of yourself and creating the life you always dreamed of. The best way to do this is to identify and learn about your bad habits so that you can then in turn become your most productive self.
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