Being busy is not bad, if one is being productive. You need to ask yourself the question “Am I just being busy or am I really being productive at accomplishing what I want or need to?”
The technology we have at our fingertips we can be used to become more efficient, but it also allows us easy access to a world of interruptions with social media and constant interactions with others.
Technology is not the only thing that we allow to “suck” up our time. There are a few other things that will cause us to be busy, but not productive:
Poor planning – Flying by the seat of your pants just does not work if you want to be productive. You need to have a plan for your time.
Overburdening yourself – We have all been given the same 24 hours in a day, be realistic at what you can produce.
Procrastination – Spending more time complaining and contemplating what needs to be done than actually just doing it.
We may feel like we are really accomplishing what we need to, but when we take a good look at what we “really” have achieved we may realize a lot of time has been wasted on things that are not on our agenda to move us forward.
If you find this is your situation there are a few things that I have found that have helped me to stay more focused on what I need to do and not follow the “shiny light.”
Assess the current situation – What are your hang-ups, time-sucks, and distractions?
Adjust what needs to be done – For example I need to keep my phone in my purse while working. Set up time limits for email, blogs, or surfing the internet. Give yourself timelines, block times and deadlines.
Act to implement a new course of action – Finding your high productive time and doing bigger or harder tasks during that time. A recent study showed that people who were early birds were more productive than night owls. Find what works for you and then set your course of action around it.
Allow yourself the freedom to revisit, adjust and implement often if needed. Things change and what works today may not tomorrow.
It is easy to blame “things” for getting in our way of being productive. What we need to do is realize that no matter what, we own the results of our productivity every day. There are no excuses. We need to own it. When we do this, we are more likely to say “no” to the things that become distractions.
The article below has some useful tips that you might want to take a look at to help with improving your productivity.
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