Mistakes People Make When Trying to Be Productive

Well mistakes that I once made and sometimes still make.

I’m obsessed with all things productivity. You can definitely find me watching a YouTube video on productivity, reading a book on productivity, and listening to a podcast… on productivity.

However, the most valuable lessons that I learn about productivity come from my own personal experiences. I’ve seen how increasing my productivity brought me closer to achieving my goals and making sure that I meet my commitments. BUT I’ve also noticed the mistakes that I’ve made when trying to improve my productivity. I was relieved to find out that I’m not the only one who have made those mistakes.

This blog post is all about the mistakes that people make when trying to be productive. I want to save you from making the same assumptions and doing the same thing to save you some time. We’re going to address how being productive does not mean sacrificing your own health, and how it’s not always about being busy all the time. I’ve also made sure to include what you should do instead.

1 – Never Taking A Break

I am really happy that now, society is leaning more towards taking breaks to be more productive. Because there was a time when taking a break and rest was really looked down upon, and honestly that was just such a myth in productivity that was not beneficial in any way.

The most obvious reason why NOT taking any breaks isn’t going to make you more productive, is because you lose the opportunity to reset and recharge your brain so that you can continue to work effectively.

I love using this analogy – we all have phones. Our phone does a lot of things for us from messages, to taking photos, to listening to music. But there will come a time when it needs to rest and charge, because otherwise it’s not going to work as effectively as it would if it was charged. To add on, you charge your phone even if it’s not even at less than 10% battery because you always want to make sure that the phone is always going to be charged and work effectively when you need it.

Same with us as human beings, we do a lot of things in a day to day lives. When we’re trying to be productive, we’re trying to work as effectively as we can, but we can’t allow ourselves to get to the point where our “battery” dies. So just like our phone, we take a break every during the day, after a certain amount of time of work, so that your “battery” is always charged and working effectively.

So instead of depriving yourself of not having rest and a break in between work sessions, take it. Just remember that you don’t want to fall into the trap of having your break be as long as your work session, so come up with a few ideas of what you can do in a short amount of time, that’s going to allow you to refresh.

A few examples include drinking water, walking around, going outside and get some fresh air, have a snack… as long as it’s not going to bring you to that trap of procrastination.

Read on how it’s okay to have unproductive days once in a while to understand more about taking breaks to maintain your productivity.

2 – Thinking Productivity is about QUANTITY not QUALITY

I will put my hands up and say that this is one “myth” of productivity that I had gotten wrong for so long.

I measured my productivity based on the number of tasks that I did that day.

Here was the problem with doing that…

I got so caught up with trying to do as many things as I can during the day, that I actually sacrifice the quality of my overall work.

Like with this blog, I was trying to have a YouTube channel, write blogs, write newsletters, do courses. Instead of separating them in different days, I would do them all at once. That in turn, sacrificed the quality for all of them.

Because at the end of the day, what matters most is how effective your work turned out to be, rather than how much you got done.

If you have many things going in your day, it may be worth considering separating them on different days. Because you want your brain to remain focus as much as you can, and it’s a lot harder to remain focus when you’re constantly switching to different tasks every time.

When it comes to planning your days, instead of trying to cram every single task that you possibly can, spread them out over different days. See what you can realistically do in one day that will allow you to work as effectively as possible. For example, instead of trying to cram 10 tasks in that one day, break it down into two tasks a day. The possibilities of how you can spread them out are endless, but your key takeaway here is to remember that productivity is not going to be by how many things you have done in the day.

Read about more things to remember when wanting to be more productive.

3 – Having a Full Schedule is Productive

This continues from our second myth. Just like with how productivity is not about quantity, being productive is NOT about having a full schedule.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those who have full schedules are not really being productive. If they filled up their schedule with tasks that are going to help drive their commitments and help them with their goals, then yes they are being productive… and that’s exactly my point.

Having a full schedule is good to have, but the more important question to ask is that if your schedule is filled with tasks that are actually going to make you productive.

Here is a question that I heard once that I could not stop thinking about:

Is this task making you productive? OR is it tricking your mind into thinking that you’re being productive?

Let me give you an example:

Let’s say that you have an important assignment that you have to work on for school. Let’s say that it’s best to work on it in the morning. But in the morning you decide that you’re going to check emails, do your chores, answer your messages… these are all important things!

BUT are they actually making you productive? AKA are they actually contributing to your commitment to complete that assignment?

OR are these tasks just tricking your mind into thinking that you’re being productive, when in reality, you’re actually procrastinating your important assignment.

That’s why, instead of doing those things, you just procrastinate them to work on your more important assignment.. and yes you are still procrastinating, but you’re procrastinating the right way

Ultimately, when you make your schedule, ensure that it is actually filled with important commitments, meetings, deadlines, and other tasks that are going to move you forward and contribute to your priorities.

4 – Never Procrastinate

That example above deserved its own point, and it’s own blog post… and I actually have a blog post that is going to expand this very point.

But here’s the thing – procrastination is not just “one more episode on Netflix” or “just 5 minutes turned into 1 hour on social media”.

Just like in our last point with the little tasks (checking emails, answering messages), procrastination is also doing those lower value tasks over doing a high value task such as that assignment. Hence, we are tricking our mind into thinking that we are being productive.

There’s a reason why the advice you may hear to “never procrastinate” doesn’t exist. It’s because, it literally doesn’t exist. Everyone procrastinates.

The question is, are you procrastinating the right way?

The more beneficial way to procrastinate, is to procrastinate the lower value tasks for the higher value tasks. So instead of checking your emails, and answering your messages, you’re going to procrastinate that, so you can work on your more important assignment.

As you can tell, you are still procrastinating. The only difference with the known procrastination (Netflix & social media) to this creative procrastination is that you are more self-aware when you are procrastinating. You know exactly what you need to procrastinate, so that you can work as effectively as you can.

5 – Sleep, Eating, & Exercise (pretty much anything related to taking care of your physical & mental health) doesn’t count as being productive

From personal observations, I’ve noticed that people associate productivity with tasks, whether they are office tasks, business tasks, homework tasks… work tasks in general.

You may see people who have made their schedule filled up with a whole bunch of work tasks, but exercise, eating, and sleep is no where to be found in that schedule.

When you fill up your schedule, you’re not considering your work tasks. You’re considering everything that is a priority in your life that is not work-related. Whether that is health, family time… if those things are contributing to your physical and mental health, it counts as being productive, and here’s why.

What do you think is going to happen if you didn’t get enough sleep, you didn’t eat well, and you didn’t make time for exercise? You can imagine how much that it would affect your productivity.

And if your schedule is filled with just work, work, and work, you’re not actually being productive. This is because you will lack that energy and maybe even motivation to work as effective as you should be.

Sleep, exercise, and eating is going to contribute to how well you work. It’s going to have an impact on your productivity. So by sacrificing those three things in your schedule, you’re actually costing your productivity.

And if you have poor health… no matter what type of health it is, it’s going to be hard to work as effectively anyway. So you mind as well just prioritise that in your schedule.

Just remember that you have nothing to lose by putting those priorities in your schedule. You absolutely have nothing to lose by putting your health first.

Read here about the essential habits for personal development which includes health habits, mindset habits, and productivity habits!

Productivity is just a tool, not a lifestyle

Okay, you may be wondering what I mean by this.

What I mean here is that productivity, “being productive” is simply just a tool to help us achieve our goals, work on our priorities, and do our commitments effectively in our daily lives.

However, our life is not going to always be about being productive. While we should be productive so that we can accomplish what we want, there are days where we should allow ourselves to be unproductive.

At the end of the day, our worth is not determined by our productivity. It’s not determined by what we did or didn’t do in our day. It’s okay to rest and take a break. It’s okay if our schedule is not full. It’s 100% okay to put off those low value tasks so that you can use that time for your higher value ones. Most importantly, if most of your time is spent taking care of your health by exercising, sleeping, and eating healthy, you are still being productive.

This doesn’t mean to never stop trying to improve your productivity. You certainly can and should. But don’t sacrifice your physical and mental health for it. Remember to prioritise yourself.

-Lauren 😊

Share This Blog Post Here:

---

Related Articles:

Similar Articles You’ll Also Enjoy:

5 Ways to Enhance Productivity

Why it’s’ okay to have non-productive days

Things to remember about being more productive

How to Procrastinate the Right Way

Essential Habits for Personal Development

---

---

CONNECT with ME!! 🗯

Instagram:

@laurenlbarri (blog Instagram)

---

---