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10 Reasons You’re Always Unproductive And What You Can Do About It

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Always unproductive?

Overwhelmed?

Stressed out?

Busy?

Boy, do I understand.always unproductive - hit that snooze button

I understand hitting that snooze button in the morning and waking up 2 hours later.

I understand intending to workout only to look at the time, turn over, and sleep “just a little bit longer”.

I understand planning out your year,

your semester,

your business,

your blog,

your book,

your social media content,

your digital product,

only to find January a few days away.

What!? How did that happen?

A new year approaches and you’re no closer to your big goals than when you started.

Always Unproductive and Busy

Always unproductive and busy — the story of my life.

We live in a busy glorified society. We give more credence to multitasking and overbooked schedules than sleep, enjoyable living, and healthy relationships.

always unproductive - give me that luxurious lifeSure, we talk about “living the life” of travel, luxury, vacations, family time, and freedom.

BUT, it’s all hot air (and Instagram Stories) when you see how people ACTUALLY live.

How do they find time to do all that “living” when they’re always busy?

Take away the perfect layouts, the posed photographs, and perfect smiles.

What’s left?

Overwhelmed, always unproductive, stressed out, busy people.

Inside you’ll learn 10 reasons why you’re always unproductive.

You’ll also find the solutions or what you can do about it.

Are you up for it?

Do you really want to live the “4-hour work week“?

Do you really want to travel the world?

Do you really want to spend more time on relationships?

Okay! Let’s get started.

Reason #1: You spend your time on other people’s priorities

  • Whether it’s your own expectations, society’s expectations, or those of the people in your life, you place other people’s agendas above your own.
  • You neglect your top three [Your limited precious time, You, and Your close personal relationships]

You give all of your attention to everybody else and to all the world’s false emergencies and to all the world’s needs and all the messages and the texts and the timelines and all of a sudden your day is gone and you had no sense of peace or progress or vitality. - Brendon Burchard

Here’s what you can do about it

Learn to say NO and mean it. It’s simple, right? Say NO. Two letters (English) but so very hard to say, unless you’re a toddler. 😉

Practice saying it now.

Go on.

I’m not kidding.

Repeat after me:

  • No, I have to check my calendar.
  • No, that time is reserved for my daughter.
  • No, I don’t work on Fridays.
  • No, [insert your own phrase].
I'm learning to say NO. No, I do not like robotic DM's. NoNoNo Want to join? #inspiredactionClick To Tweet

Reason #2: You spend your time on tasks with low priority

  • You’re always unproductive because “busy” work (repetitive-rote tasks, social “networking”, logo design, chore threads etc.) does NOT earn you money. What does? Do that instead.
  • Low priority tasks rarely ever get done. If they do, you’re likely procrastinating to “feel” productive. Either automate it, outsource it, or eliminate it. Get it out of your mind and off your to-do list.

Here’s what you can do about it

Stop the busy work. If you’re in business and making zero profit, you aren’t in business.

Commit to tracking everything. Ask yourself, Is it beneficial? [income, prospect list, customer care, etc.] No? Then, either change it or stop doing it.

There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all. Peter DruckerClick To Tweet

Reason #3: You spend more of your time sleeping or lounging than productively working

  • You’ve heard it before, get 8 hours of sleep but 10 or 15 hours of sleep is overkill. A Gallup poll in 2013 revealed that Americans average 6.8 hours of sleep. - source
  • You’re lounging on the couch watching television or Netflix or maybe, you’re gaming. Whatever it is, do less of it and get to work. [Free PDF: track your time to see how much and where you really spend your time]

Here’s what you can do about it

Wake up at a set time each morning and go to bed at a set time each night. Dr. Caitlin Faas Psychology Professor and Productivity Coach shares the benefits of adjusting your sleep habits. She recommends starting with small adjustments. She transformed her sleep schedule and now wakes up at 6 am, goes to bed at 10 pm, and rarely uses her alarm clock.

Reason #4: You spend more of your time on entertainment than productively working

  • Leisure activities and entertainment such as television, gaming, social media, take up far more of your time than you think. In a 2015 American Time Use Survey found that people 15 years and older spent an average 5-hours each day in leisure activities.
  • With vacation (unpaid and paid), snow days, holidays, in-service days, religious holidays, etc. time spent on non-work activities adds up.

Here’s what you can do about it

Eliminate or decrease time on entertainment “only” activities. Instead, add focused, single tasked work in its place.

Julia Neiman the Youth Entrepreneur Coach shares in Empowering Young Entrepreneurs to Jump the Second Hurdle: No Time…

By eliminating some of the time wasters, which usually include watching television, playing games, spending time on Facebook, over sleeping and so on, they [youth] can find the time they need to do the things that need to be done to create that business.

Reason #5: You do everything yourself and refuse to ask for help

  • Not only do you say YES to everything even if it’s inconvenient, you also refuse to ask for help. You feel like you have to “do it all” yourself. Delegation is not in your vocabulary.
  • You refuse help when it’s offered and then get angry “because of ALL the work you have to do”.

Here’s what you can do about it

Ask for help. Outsource it. Delegate it. Automate it. Delete it.

Reason #6: You’re easily distracted

  • Oooh, shiny object! I admit it, shiny things distract me. Do you fear you’re missing out when the latest fire sale or flash sale lands in your inbox?
  • How many hours are you connected to digital devices? You’re always unproductive because distractions like notifications, reminders, emails, alerts, etc. are competing for your attention. According to Nielson Company Audience Report 2016, the average American spends at least 10 hours staring at a screen.

Here’s what you can do about it

Discipline your focus muscle. Joe Buhlig admits that his biggest struggle is focus. [mine too 😉 ] Like training your physical muscles, you can train your ability to stay focused. He says:

The more you work at staying focused, the more you’ll be able to focus in the future. Your focus muscle gets stronger.

Reason #7: You multitask much and complete little

  • Do you believe the lie of multitasking? Studies show it to be inefficient, giving a perceived sense of accomplishment. Without intention, I can sit down at my laptop, start to write, open a research window and…
  • You take on too much, feel overwhelmed, get stressed, drink lots of caffeine and work long hours trying to decrease the tasks on your to-do list. Yet, at the end of the day, you’re always unproductive. Finally, out of exhaustion, you quit. Even the projects you do complete are sub par.

Here’s what you can do about it

Single task. Simply do one thing at a time. You can use time blocking or batching. You can train yourself by dedicating 25-minutes to one task and then take a break.

Reason #8: You have little or no systems or routines

  • Routines? After hitting the snooze button for the 20th time you get out of bed. You pour yourself a cup of dark roast and sip it on the porch. Evening rolls around and you feel fired up. You sit at your desktop to get some work done. There is no rhyme or reason for what you do. Each day is different.
  • Systems run businesses, not Ceos. Well, kind of. The best owners can step away confidently because the systems in place run the business.

Here’s what you can do about it

Develop a morning and evening routine.

Writers develop the habit of writing little by little. It starts out as a habit then turns into routine. They no longer need to “work” at developing the habit, it’s part of their subconscious much like brushing their teeth.

Reason #9: You let emotions dictate your actions

  • You’re easily swayed by the opinions of others. Did someone leave a 3-star review? Dang it, there goes this week. You halt all work and sulk.
  • You doubt yourself and your decisions because you’re constantly comparing yourself to others.

Here’s what you can do about it

Develop a “Can Do” Mindset.

Reason #10: You falsely believe the lie of “busy=productive”

  • I hate to break it to you, you’ve been lied to. Productivity is NOT based on hard work. There are plenty of people who work hard unproductively.
  • You wear busyness as a badge of honor. You believe life is all about the hustle. You refuse to take time off. You work 18-hour days.

Here’s what you can do about it

Stop believing the lie. Schedule time off, enjoy your weekends and the people in your life.

CONCLUSION

If you’re finding yourself always unproductive at the end of the day, month, year, stop. Take a break and listen to what your mind and body are trying to tell you. Busy-ness is not a life well lived. It is stress, obesity, mental illness, health problems, broken relationships, and the list goes on.

Dear Reader, did you recognize yourself in any of these reasons? Are you willing to take responsibility and take inspired action? Let me know one area you’ll commit to vanquishing in the comments below. [Type: Reason #___ then share your commitment]

Now, make a public commitment by tweeting: “I’m always unproductive BUT not anymore. @SaraAssistsYou I commit to vanquishing [add your reason here]. #inspiredaction”

This post is part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge July 2017 post 26.

More in this series:

 

10 Reasons Why and What to do About it. Includes actionable (and simple) solutions.

Comments

    • Hi, Roseann. Thanks for driving on by via the Blogger’s Pit Stop. I’m hoping to come to that point some day. Recently, I’ve had to say no to things I originally said yes to. It was hard, but as I look back, it was for the best. I wasn’t honoring them or myself.

      Reply

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