Nowadays, a topic much sought after by society is how to improve productivity. Whether at work or in studies, this is a search for most people who want to have more efficiency in what they do, but have some difficulties, such as lack of attention, interest or concentration.
Habits that should be avoided to increase your productivity
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What are mind traps?
Excessive meetings, carrying out several tasks at the same time and high demands are some examples of true enemies of our productivity. In addition, there are also mental traps that, according to psychologists, are habits present in the routine that take up a lot of space in our head and drain our energy without producing anything of value.
One strategy to increase your productivity is to recognize these pitfalls and “disable” them. Thus, it is possible to reduce procrastination and accomplish tasks with less effort and more focus.
Main mental traps
Know now the main mental traps:
false planning
According to the American Psychological Association, a planning false happens when we underestimate the amount of time and effort required to complete a task. This is due to over-reliance on high performers to fulfill all activities.
Miscalculating the time needed to do an activity can lead to an overload of tasks, as you try to compensate for the lack of time with high performance. That way, you take on more tasks than you're capable of in a single day, which can take a toll on other areas of your life.
All this results in physical exhaustion. By giving up hours intended for leisure or rest, with the aim of meeting the demands that were lacking, you will be emotionally and physically exhausted.
So, evaluate your schedules and your daily goals well, and don't make plans that you won't be able to fulfill. Make lists of necessary tasks and set a time for each one.
moments of distraction
These are those moments when you are waiting for a program to open on your computer and, in order not to be stuck, you access a social network on your cell phone or open another tab. The problem is that, after we get distracted, we have trouble getting back to work, and then what was just 30 seconds becomes 5 minutes.
At the end of the day, you end up being out of focus for a long time, and this generates an anxiety spike in which you try to make up for lost time.
To resolve this, when you feel like checking notifications on your phone, wait another 10 minutes. When that time passes, it's likely that your desire to check social media will also pass. This rule is also useful when you want to search for something in the Google while you wait, or watch an episode of a series.
Urgency effect
This effect refers to when we place more importance on doing urgent tasks with lesser results instead of more important tasks with greater results. That is, this is what happens when we prioritize finishing a simple task of 5 minutes instead of a project that will take hours of work.
One way to solve this is using schedules, reserving a certain time for important tasks, in which you will be unavailable for other activities. This will also let you know when you're getting distracted, because if you're doing something that wasn't planned for that moment, it's a task that should be done later.
Ashamed of not having done everything
First, take it easy, after all, you are not a machine and it is normal for you to get tired and have your limits and moments of low productivity. Feeling embarrassed about not being productive will make you feel bad, so be fair to yourself when you hold yourself accountable.
This happens when you sleep a little too late and don't do your workouts in the morning, or when you can't turn in all your work on time. Self-blame will only make you feel worse, so try to catch up instead of blaming yourself for being late.
To deal with this problem, the tip is: self-compassion. Take responsibility for your actions, but don't be ashamed.
Self-compassion makes you more resistant to disappointment and more prepared for the future. Talk to yourself, try to see the truth behind the situation, recognize when you did your best and when you didn't. Thus, it is easier to see things genuinely and without putting your feelings ahead of everything.