We’ve all heard the standard tips for productivity: get enough sleep, eat right, create a pleasant atmosphere at work, and so on. And all of this really works. But today we are going to go in a different direction.
1. Give Up
We are constantly on a quest called “Staying Productive” or “Keeping Motivated.” Japanese psychiatrist Shoma Morita thought this was the wrong way to think about personal effectiveness.
Instead of looking for motivation, accept all the negativity, fear, and dread that the task is causing you. Say to yourself, “Yes, I don’t feel like doing my homework right now. And then take action without trying to change your feelings and emotions. Or if you have the alternative of turning to custom essay writers, take advantage of it and don’t get yourself worked up.
2. Procrastinate
Productivity experts usually advise focusing on the most important task right from the morning. In real life, when we see this item at the top of our to-do list, we want to do anything but that.
The key is to give in to your reluctance to do the most important task. Instead, tackle the simple projects that don’t cause discomfort first. With this trick, your brain will begin to perceive the easy tasks as more important, which means you’ll find it much easier to force yourself to take on the most important task. You will no longer be afraid of it.
3. Working less
What if working more is not the answer, and there is another solution? The idea is simple: distribute your energy, not your time. If you start working less, you’ll have to think more about which tasks you’re devoting your energy to.
4. Stop saying “yes”
This is the best way to regain control of your time. Of course, saying no is much harder than saying yes. So you need an effective strategy to help you stand up for yourself.
One of the most curious studies on this topic showed that it’s the small details that matter. Its authors asked participants to say “I can’t do something” or “I’m not doing something” instead of outright refusal when faced with some sort of temptation under the terms of the experiment.
In the end, those who said “I can’t eat chocolate” still chose a candy bar when they left the classroom 61 percent of the time. And those who said, “I don’t eat chocolate,” only picked it up 36% of the time. Simply changing the wording helped participants make healthier choices.
There are two simple ways to say “no” easily:
- decide in advance what you will and will not do. for example, “I don’t drink” or “I don’t go to bed after midnight.” this makes it easier to avoid any potential temptations.
- take responsibility for carrying out the decisions you make. Write them down, tell family and friends about them, or hang them as a poster over your bed.
5. Getting rejected
That’s what it’s long past time to stop being angry and frustrated about. It’s better to welcome rejection into your life with open arms and work on your reaction.
An experiment conducted at Johns Hopkins University confirms this. The participants were divided into two groups. They were asked questions to determine their personality type and then told that they might be considered for inclusion in a new study group. Two weeks later, the participants returned and were asked to complete several of the same tasks. Only the first group was told before that they had been selected, and the second group was told that they had not.
You may have guessed by now what the result of the study was. The participants who were “rejected” did better than the participants who “got in” to the new group. And the most impressive successes were shown by those who were described by the scientists as “independent”.
According to study author Sharon Kim, social rejection can inspire us to think figuratively. This is especially evident among people with a strong sense of independence.
6. Use at least five social networks
Blocking social media in the workplace is not a good strategy for productivity. Monitoring hundreds of Fortune 500 companies showed a correlation between social media use and productivity. Employees who were logged into more than five social networks had a 1.6 percent higher sales conversion rate than others.
Of course, correlation and causation are not the same things. However, scientists believe that people with good knowledge of technology are not only much more productive but are also able to stay in one place of work longer.
The secret of such people is not the number of social media accounts at all, but the fact that they are more technologically savvy and think more about what motivates them to be productive.
7. Check your email every morning
Productivity experts unanimously oppose spending time checking email. But the most successful people in the world, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, start their mornings doing just that.
Of course, it all depends on your position. You may not have to check your inbox early in the morning at all. But if it makes your life a lot easier, it’s better not to give up the habit.
