10 Unproductive Things to Stop Doing – TPW347

Sometimes in order to make space in our lives for the good and productive things, we need to weed out the unproductive things--things we do habitually that don’t serve us.  In this episode we’ll talk about how we can be more productive by stopping some unproductive practices. Unproductive habits can prevent us from making a life that matters and making the most of our time I have come up with a list of 10 unproductive things that we should stop doing, and I offer some suggestions on what we can replace them with in order to be more productive on a day-to-day basis. Some of these are practices, while others are mindsets.  1. Multitasking. Multitasking is doing more than one thing at a time, such as replying to emails and listening to a webinar or talking to someone and cooking. We think we’re being more productive, but in fact it’s likely to take longer (as our brain switches back and forth) and we are more likely to make mistakes, both of which are unproductive. This isn’t an issue if you’re doing one thing that requires attentiveness and one that’s mechanical (e.g., listening to a podcast and folding clothes), but just be aware of the impact of multitasking. It’s much better (and more effective) to do one thing at a time, focus, and be present.  2. Constantly changing your tools, systems, or routines, looking for the “magic pill” that will solve your productivity problems. There’s always a learning curve when you try something new, even if the new thing is good. One of the benefits of creating and sticking with a system or a tool is you get familiar and you develop muscle memory, so you can move more quickly, complete the task more efficiently, and thus be more effective in a shorter amount of time. 3. Dropping items somewhere "for now". We all do this to one degree or another, and it shows up in various ways. We come in the door from work or a trip or an errand and drop our purse, keys, packages, the mail on a counter “for now”. We change for bed or get ready in the morning and leave our clothes or pajamas on the floor “for now”. We finish with a tool in the kitchen or our office or elsewhere and leave it on the counter or our desk “for now”. We put the clean laundry on the bed (or leave it in the dryer) “for now”. Once in a while it’s not a big deal, but if it’s habitual, it leads to clutter, time lost searching for items we can’t find when we need them, etc. The more productive alternative is to identify a home for everything that comes into the house and establish the habit of taking the few extra seconds and steps to put things where they belong right away. You'll have less clutter and all the benefits that come with that, which we’ve talked about before. If you always put things where they belong, you always know where they are.  4. Overscheduling our lives--scheduling events and activities back to back with no downtime or white space between them. Doing this can create more stress because of the potential for being late if one event runs long. It also makes it more difficult to be prepared mentally or otherwise for one event if you’re going straight into it from something else (and no time to process the information from the one you just left if it’s a class or a meeting). It's especially difficult if days are filled with meetings and events and activities and no time is blocked out for that “deep” work--the work that requires creativity or problem-solving thinking. The more productive approach: leave space in between scheduled events or activities--and not just travel time, but downtime--to make notes about the meeting that just ended and jot down your action items; to take a quick walk or stretch; to get a drink of water or use the bathroom; to return a phone call; or just to close your eyes and breathe for a couple of minutes. It's also valuable to intentionally block out times each day or week for your “deep” work,