How to Improve Productivity:
Six Steps to Get Out of Your Own Way
by www.Sedona.com
Waking up and entering into each day with a purpose, then carrying out that purpose, is essential to your health and happiness. In fact, engaging in a challenging activity that your skills are suited for, using your skills to pursue a clear goal, then getting immediate feedback on progress toward that goal is a key secret to feeling satisfied … it’s actually called “flow.”
The feeling of “flow” is the one you get at the end of a really productive and useful day. When you then can breathe a sigh of contentment, feeling like all is right with the world, your mind completely at ease.
Unfortunately, many of us sabotage our own productivity and for one reason or another let days and weeks go by without accomplishing what we need and want to. This leads to feelings of frustration, stress, guilt and anxiety -- and is a perfect example of why we could all stand to improve our productivity.
How You are Getting in the Way of Your Productivity
“Most emotions -- except for courage, acceptance and peace -- interfere to some degree with productivity,” says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. “However, the emotions that get in the way the most are fear of failure and the stress and tension that comes from pushing ourselves to perform.”
We’ve all experienced it. Your good intentions for the day slowly get sideswiped by a wandering mind, a few minutes here and there of surfing the Web, a quick “break” to chat with a coworker or catch a TV show. What this scenario really describes is likely a combination of procrastination, laziness, perhaps a lack of organization, and self-worth issues (including your own fear of not being able to complete your tasks successfully).
How to Improve Your Productivity
To a large extent, improving your productivity is really about getting out of your own way. If you follow these steps, you’ll find you’re able to approach your tasks with a newfound attitude that allows you to be remarkably productive (perhaps more so than you ever imagined possible):
1. Release any and all distractions using The Sedona Method. Distractions quickly drain all usefulness from our days, and they don’t just come in the form of phone calls and lunch meetings. They come in the form of your thoughts.
“The best way you can produce better results or boost productivity is by doing the following: allow yourself to do what you do when you're doing it, and don't do what you're not doing when you're not doing it,” Dwoskin says. “Most of us are doing things and wishing we could be doing something else, or feeling like we should be doing something else.”
“This causes stress and tension and robs us of the focus we need to be productive. So if you find yourself being distracted, release and refocus,” he continues. “It is also extremely helpful to allow yourself to release on any feeling or emotion that's interfering with your thinking process or distracting you from concentrating. The more released you are, the more productive you are.”
2. Make sure you have time for solitude. Solitude -- simply being by yourself to do whatever it is you please -- is something that experts say is a basic need. Quite simply, constantly being around others can be exhausting and can overload your body. You need to take a “time out” now and then to recharge your body and your mind, and in so doing, boost your productivity overall. If you’re having a hard time justifying some “me” time, use The Sedona Method to let those feelings go.
3. Limit your choices. Choices, by their very nature, can be confusing. They bring up things to consider and decisions to make -- and they can actually hinder your progress. If a sea of choices is preventing you from taking action, choose the first option that fits what you’re looking for, and don’t worry about going through every other option that may be available.
4. Stop being impatient. Impatience is fraught with anxiety, haste, intolerance and even annoyance. You are constantly in a state of “hurry up,” either to yourself or to those around you. While this may seem like a positive for productivity, being impatient means you are completely avoiding the here and now, which actually hinders your productiveness. The solution? Let go of your feelings of impatience and come to the realization that it’s ok to focus on the task at hand.
5. Set time limits. When you’ve got all the time in the world to get a task done, it’s easy to put it off or stretch it out. However, if you know you have to get something done in one hour, you’ll somehow manage to pull it off. Plus, it’s easier to get serious and focus when you know in, say, one hour you’ll be done and can move on to something else.
6. Get organized. Do you spend three hours just looking for the materials you need to begin a project? Or spend half a day searching your e-mails for an important reference? If so your lack of productivity is likely related to a simple lack of organization. You can get organized at home and at work by reading these 10 key steps.
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