Has it ever happened that you think you have been working too hard and too long for something, but were not able to accomplish as much as you wanted, or do as well as you wanted to?

This is a very common situation that most of us find ourselves in frequently. It may be because we had very high expectations or may be we were not as productive as we can or should be. If it is a case of low productivity, despite best efforts, then there are chances that we are doing something that is hampering or killing our productivity. We probably have some unproductive habits or traits that are not letting us reach our full potential.

We all know what good habits and bad habits are, and we try to avoid the bad ones. But do we know what unproductive habits are, which make our efforts and time go to waste? Today, let us look at some unproductive habits and see how they hamper our growth, harm our personalities and stop us from attaining success.

Worrying more than we should

We worry when we have a lot to do and we worry when there is nothing to do. This is especially true since the Covid-19 pandemic hit us a year ago and our lives changed in so many ways.

To worry is human nature, but to worry too much is being hard on ourselves. By over-worrying, we are only putting ourselves under stress and this eventually affects our growth and productivity. Worrying stops us from taking action as quickly as we should, it fills us up with fear when there is little to fear.

Some worrying is good, because it makes us be more cautious and make preparations well in advance, which ensures that we will not fail. But worrying about things that are not in our control, or those things that have not even happened, is only stifling our productivity. It can also make one pessimistic and gloomy.

So stop worrying about things beyond our control, which don’t affect us directly or which have not taken place yet. Let things take their course and then see what happens. Why worry now?

Trying too hard

Working too hard or pushing yourself too much can also harm your productivity. In a marathon, the participants do not use up all their energy at once in the start of the race because they know that soon they will be exhausted and left behind in the race. They take a steady pace that they can maintain, and when the finish line is within sight, they push themselves and give it their all and are able to beat those who have exhausted themselves by now.

Life is also like a race, if you work too hard for too long, you will soon lose steam and your productivity will fall. Maintain a good steady pace that you can keep for long and give that extra hour to your work or studies when needed. Do take breaks to relax and recharge yourself, it will put you in a better position to achieve what you are doing.

Not writing things down

Once, not too long ago, everything was done on paper. There were no gadgets in our hands and no digital reminders for things. People noted things down the old-fashioned way, on a paper and in notebooks. Now we have stopped doing that. Or the most we do it is somewhere in the digital world, from a gadget in our hands.

Our brain is a wonderful organ that is working all the time, it gives us many amazing ideas and there are very interesting thought running around in our brain. What most of us do is that we don’t note down the useful ideas that come to mind, relying on our brain to store it for us as memory. But later on when it is time to use that idea or work on it, we can’t recall it. Many great ideas are lost this way.

It is a good practice to keep a small notebook somewhere you can reach it easily, and note down things in it — things you have to do and want to do, ideas, messages, memories, etc. And even if you are not in immediate need of what you are writing down, later on when you are going through a phase when you don’t have new ideas, these old notes may give you inspiration for new things to aim for, or remind you of important ones that you sidelined for something else.

Keeping a journal or diary is a very helpful tool for creative people. It also serves as a record of you progress, what you thought, what you accomplished and what needs to be done still.

Checking things

While technology has made so many tasks so easy, it has also made it easy for us to be unproductive while still being busy. One of the most unproductive traits and habits that everyone of us seems to have these days is that of constantly ‘checking’ things — our messages, social media accounts, emails, updates, news and what not.

Come on, the world will not come to an end if we don’t read a message the moment it pops up, or someone’s status the minute it is posted. It will remain there till the end of the day, till tomorrow and till eternity. Don’t worry about it and waste your time on it.

Granted that some messages are important, you can open and read them. But while doing that you don’t have to open all the other messages that have arrived, because you know most of them are silly forwarded messages that you are likely to get from so many other sources too. And there is really noting worth responding in them.

Set timings for when and how long you will check your mail and messages or whatever you check. And avoid doing it while you are doing an important task as it will only break your train of thoughts and distract you.

Not having rules

There is a time in life, or maybe too many times in life, when question every rule we are faced with. Like in school, students hate a lot of rules and are always trying to bypass them, if not break them. At work too, some people hate the office rules and earn a bad reputation as rule-breakers.

Breaking rules and not following rules gives a sense of freedom to some people, it makes them feel liberated, which is fine. But when this leads to always going against the rules, people become unproductive and unreasonable, causing problems for themselves and others.

Rules are made to give structure, routine and discipline to things and institutions, even nations. Rules are made with a lot of thought. Without rules, life would be chaotic. There would be no accountability and no results.

Those who keep asking, “Why should I do this?” or “Why should I listen to that person?” are wasting too much of their energy and time in questioning and thinking of ways to break or bend the rules. If they focused that much energy and time on working with the rules, they would be far more successful and productive.

Sometimes being innovative and coming up with new ways of doing things is good and productive, but it is not right to challenge everything, every time.

Not saying ‘no’

This may seem the opposite of what I just said about following rules. But saying ‘no’ when needed is something different.

What I mean is that when we can’t bring ourselves to say ‘no’ to others when we want to, we waste a lot of time in pleasing others. When we do things half-heartedly, it is not done well, so it is better to tell someone that we can’t or do not want to do something rather than commit to it because we can’t bring ourself to say ‘no’.

We can’t do everything or please everyone. And when we are in such a position, we should clearly, though politely, say ‘no’ to the other person.

As Warren Buffet said: “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.”

So do not put yourself in a position you don’t want to be in, or do something that you don’t want to do, because it will not be very fruitful. Only commit to things you are comfortable with and you are sure to ace in that.

Besides these, there can be so many other things, depending upon people’s personalities, which make them unproductive. Take some time off from things, sit back and think about your habits that are not helping you or hampering your efforts. You are the best person to identify these habits, and then firmly try to eliminate them from your life if you want to be productive and successful.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 29th, 2021