Momentum Monday: You are SO Busted – 7 Time-Sucking, Productivity Draining Bad Habits

Does any of this sound familiar? If so, consider yourself busted.

7 Time-Sucking, Productivity Draining Bad Habits

#1: Stop and Start – It’s ridiculous to think of starting and stopping everyday tasks because it makes no sense at all. You wouldn’t start cooking dinner to turn it off and wander off to do 10 other tasks for an hour and then come back to cooking.

What about all the times you start working on a project only to interrupt yourself by checking email, updating your facebook status, answering the telephone? We do it all the time because we are chronic multi-taskers. Set a timer and commit to finishing within that time block – no interruptions.

#2: Fake Work – You know. The pretend work you do when you are avoiding something really scary? The stuff that justifies you calling it a work day, but yet accomplishes nothing.

The difference between fake work and real work is the impact it has on your business. Fake work is a distraction disguised as work. Real work creates momentum, opportunity, and money.

#3: Wheel Spinning – The caveat to the stop and start rule is when you find yourself spinning your wheels either because you aren’t in the creative mood or you are missing critical information you need to finish up the task.

Give yourself a break and move onto different task – preferably something that you can finish and get yourself back into the flow or something so completely different that you return to your project refreshed and inspired.

#4: Administrivia – Beware of the false economy of doing everything yourself. Yes, it doesn’t cost you money if you do it yourself, but chances are, you could be more productive spending your time elsewhere.

Make a list of everything you do and identify opportunities to simplify, automate or delegate. Your goal should be to free up your time to focus on higher level, higher pay-off activities.

#5: Agenda-less Meetings – Meetings that start without purpose and focus tend to drag on and accomplish nothing. The rule is no agenda, no attenda.

Use an agenda to set goals and structure the time by dividing the meeting into time blocks and outlining the purpose and if necessary, the presenter. Give yourself extra time at end to wrap up and send out the action list.

#6: Endless Time – If you give something endless amounts of time, it somehow finds a way to fill it. And yet the same task done under pressure is easily done in half the time.

The rule: always give yourself half the time.

#7: Social Candy – Social media is a powerful business-building tool – yes, but it’s also a powerful distraction. The key is knowing the difference between social networking and social candy.

The warning signs that you are participating in social candy is when you stop actively engaging and start passively consuming. A clue is when you sit there hitting refresh in anticipation of the next reply or wander aimlessly through posts and profiles.

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