Almost every one of us wants to be productive, get stuff done and achieve all the goals that we have. However, only a small percentage of people really succeed at it. Most of them struggle despite of the best intentions.
I have seen this repeated over and over again with plenty of my clients. After having worked with clients with productivity and performance issues for so long, I have come to ONE conclusion:
High-performing, productive individuals engage in healthy habits consciously or unconsciously. Unproductive, struggling individuals engage in unhealthy habits consciously or unconsciously.
I have seen some clients who are very sincere about the changes they want to make. But they struggle to make those changes even though the path is very straightforward.
When I looked closely, I found that even though they want to consciously develop constructive habits, they have unhealthy, destructive habits on the unconscious level that they are not aware of.
If you’ve been struggling to sustain your focus, concentrate on key projects, then it’s time to look at your health habits and find out whether they are constructive or destructive.
With that said, here are 4 mistakes that you are probably making right now that is ruining your productivity…
Overdeveloped Sweet Tooth:
Sugar screws with your metabolism and causes weight gain.
In India and many countries all over, it is the culprit that is contributing to the country’s skyrocketing health issues. It has also been linked to cancer and heart disease.
The worst part about sugar is that it can play with your emotions and affect your mood.
When it plays with your emotions and affects with your mood, you will struggle to regulate your behavior and develop new, positive habits.
And as a result, you’ll end up doing the same things you’ve been doing all along.
Unregulated Chronic Stress:
If you look at the lives of corporate executives and many entrepreneurs, you’ll find that they are telling themselves this one thing over and over again:
“I feel stressed. I’m just not able to keep up. I’m struggling to… Blah Blah Blah”
There’s a difference between normal stress and unregulated chronic stress.
Normal stress is the stress that you normally feel before delivering your presentation. If your presentation was on Monday, it’s normal for you to feel worked up through the weekend.
But chronic stress, on the other hand, is completely different. It’s something that throws your life out of balance.
When you don’t have enough time for play, rest and relaxation on a daily and weekly basis, the stress builds up overtime and causes you to crash at once. Before it brings you down, it’s important that you take responsibility and make some changes.
Information Overload/Multi-Tasking:
There are some executives who think that multi-tasking is the way to go. They feel that checking their email, reading the newspaper while they eat their lunch makes them a modern master of productivity.
The problem with multi-tasking is that it’s impossible for your mind to function in a parallel way. It can only focus on one thing at a time.
And in order for your mind to be fully focused on the activity you’re doing, it will take you at least 10 – 20 minutes.
So when you’re constantly shifting your focus every now and then, you’re only draining energy.
On top of that, multi-tasking and excessive internet abuse can choke the parts of your brain that help you focus your attention and manage emotions.
Insufficient Sleep:
When you sleep for less than 6 – 7 hrs every night, you increase the likelihood of health risks by 50 – 60%. Many of my clients fall into this category.
Insufficient/poor-quality sleep can contribute to serious health issues in the long-run. But in the short-term, it can affect your focus and make you inefficient.
If you’re in a continual state of sleep deprivation, there’s a strong chance that most of the activities that you do are taking you much longer than you think.
The right amount of sleep for each person tends to vary. But there’s one incredibly easy way to find out. Just check how you feel for the first 1 hour after waking up.
Do you feel light and alert or heavy and groggy? If you’re already dozing before lunchtime, then you’re not sleeping well enough and you need to fix it.
If you’re guilty of committing these productivity sins, then go here right now…
Working with a professional coach who can listen to your frustrations non-judgmentally and support you can help you get results faster. Go here to sign up:
Strategy Call
Besides working with clients 1 on 1, I also engage with corporate teams through my Group Wellness Sessions.
Through these sessions, your team will learn how to make powerful changes to their current lifestyle, so they can tremendously improve performance. In my personal Intervention, I will teach them how to…
- Work on their biggest health challenge, which is weight management
- Improve their physical and emotional well being
- Channelize their energy and improve their productivity
Are you an executive who’s looking to increase your team’s performance? Then go here right now to get in touch with me…
Strategic Intervention
Yours Sincerely,
Satish Rao
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