Today, we’ll cover the 3 toxic myths about Productivity that all beginners MUST break away from in order to become more productive.
Getting your mindset right is the #1 thing you have to conquer if you want to succeed in being more productive. As the popular saying goes, “You are your worst enemy and best asset”
From serving many clients and students from all walks of life over the last years, I can tell you that the best and most successful customers are those with the right mindset and attitude, who have the right beliefs about Productivity.
It’s myth-busters time, my friend! Time to re-align your perspectives and make things right!
Myth #1: “You can get highly productive without planning.“
Let’s clarify first what I mean with planning: It consists in WRITING down (by hand) in your diary (on paper) the activities you will do the next day / week / month in advance. This also includes blocking out hours during each day when you will do the highest impact activities in all areas in your life (not just work).
Most people believe that by having an outlook calendar on their PC / phone which contains the most important meetings during a day, plus some private appointments (like birthdays) will do. They will see the rest once they open their email. Nothing can be further from the truth. If you do it like this – you will be the passive “victim” of others, of circumstances, of your boss, of all the many “urgent” things suddenly appearing during a day, of your mood and personal circumstances. You have to take the time for proper planning as described above, each evening for the next day (because your mind starts working on these tasks while you are sleeping) , on a Sunday for the week (month) ahead.
Furthermore, the simple act of writing your appointments down on paper engages multiple senses at the same time, this requires more work from your brain. You are forming new neurological connections and therefore engage more with what you write down. Again, it’s your subconscious mind which is affected and which will attract to you what you focus on. You don’t have this experience by using a keyboard or any other electronic device.
By also considering other areas of your life like health/fitness, social/relationships or self/spiritual you ensure that you develop in more than just your work. All areas influencing and reinforcing each other. By making time for exercise or prayer/ meditation you will see the positive impact on your work or family life.
Myth #2: “You need to be efficient first to reach your goals”
This is SO not true. First of all – do you know the difference between efficient and effective? In short, being effective means: doing the right thing. Being efficient means: doing an activity with the least amount of time, resources, energy (effort).
Therefore being the fastest in accomplishing any task does not make you automatically a winner. It depends on the kind of task you do. For this you have to differentiate between imperative (high life time value) activities like planning, inner work (meditating, setting intentions, gratefulness..) exercising, calling clients, training your team and important tasks (writing an email, doing internet research, finalizing a proposal). First, you have to plan (see above) and do the imperative tasks to be effective, then you can search for ways to do these with less effort / resources.
Also be aware of “urgent” tasks which may steal your entire day and make you feel exhausted and drained at the end of your day. Most likely, by better planning, delegating, training your team, setting up procedures you can reduce these activities.
By making sure that you are effective first you will feel a sense of accomplishment and increased self-confidence every day, because your imperative tasks will get you closer to achieving your goals. Using all available technical means and working with laser like focus will ensure that you are efficient as well.
I have personally had customers who just tweaked their main activities a bit and reached phenomenal results. They made it work, so I know that you can too!
Myth #3: “In order to feel like a super achiever you should do several things at the same time.”
I can totally understand why someone would believe in this as I’ve been there myself, but I have seen time and again that multitasking is not a viable option for highly productive people.
Train your mind. Say goodbye to multitasking.
Most likely, you can rarely turn of your phone, instant messages or close these browsers while working on something important. The addiction to multitasking is the problem. You interrupt yourselves often by other thoughts, which divert you from the task at hand. It happens from the inside. Of course, when you watch TV and you do at least one other activity.
Note: It takes about 20min to get back to the original task. You lose your focus.
In order to focus and deliver high quality work you need attention and will power. the amount of will power you have is limited. Continue to free / reclaim your attention. When you focus on too many things at the same time you pay a large price in form of an increased stress level, poor work, exhaustion and loss in efficiency.
Therefore, clean your desk, close the door (or put headsets on in your office) and do one thing at a time. Tell others when they can reach you and become a master of saying “No”.
Why is believing in these 3 myths problematic?
Because believing in these 3 myths will stop you from becoming productive and taking the right action. Your confidence gets affected, and subsequently, you don’t transform your business and family life as a result.
As someone who works with clients in the area of productivity for a living, I have seen breakthrough after breakthrough and I know that is not difficult for you to achieve the same.
You just don’t have the full picture right now regarding how to succeed when it comes to finishing your work in less time, winning additional free time for yourself or having boundless energy all day long.
Many people search for information online fruitlessly, and when that doesn’t work, they give up. I don’t want you to give up because I know you can do this!
How else will there be millions of [people who have become the master of their time if it was so hard? So they are all geniuses? No… they did it by knowing and applying the right strategies and through consistent, daily application.
So take heart. You can do this! Don’t for a second doubt yourself. That’s all I have for today!
