3 Steps to Increased Productivity - Just Say NO

I'm Working on 3 Things to Improve My Productivity

It’s always difficult to admit you do certain things that get in the way of being more effective and productive. No doubt most of us have something we do that prohibits us from getting as much done as we could or should, either business-wise or personally. Identifying those little issues is the first step...awareness is the key to making change. If you don’t know what you need to change it’s not going to happen.

Working on eliminating those issues, or at least minimizing their interference, is the next step.

Here are 3 things I am working on (it may always be work in progress) to improve my productivity.

Number 1 – I tend to be a bit perfectionistic at times. I see it in emails I write to clients, in marketing pieces I create, in advertising I develop, and sometimes the posts I write, and more. What tends to happen is that I keep working on something, revising and editing, rather than just accepting it as being good enough and moving on to the next thing. I have adopted a “done is better than perfect” focus on these things – there’s even a reminder taped to the top of my laptop. The point is to get it done and move on rather over-analyzing and editing over and over, which takes precious time, and worrying that whatever I am working on is not perfect. That’s not to say I am not careful, but one can ruminate too much and you get nothing off your plate!

Number 2 – Just Say NO! I have a bad habit of not saying no. Sometimes I let things interrupt me when I am busy.

Or I get asked to do things, personally or business-wise, and rather than saying no, I agree and end up spending valuable time I could put to better use.

Or I regret that I did not say no as I really wanted to and end up feeling guilty about it. It’s another reminder on my laptop. And I have a big NO button on my desk.

Number 3 – Email. Oh, that’s a big one. I have a bad habit of checking it too often during the day (and of course having an iPhone and iPad makes it easy to do whenever I want even on the road!). Much of the time there is nothing that I need to worry about right then and there, but when there is something it rewards me for having checked it – see, I DID need to check it again! It can distract me when I am focusing on a task that needs to get done, and before long I have spent several minutes looking at emails that really do not need my focus right then and there. It ties into item 2 above – I am working on saying NO to checking email at times when I really shouldn’t.

Will it ever be perfect? No, I doubt it. And I don’t expect it to be. But progress has been made and as long as I keep focused on these habits I find myself being more productive. It’s when I slip up that things get out of hand.