Productivity, Performance & Proficiency Lies and Your Solution

When it comes to productivity, you may think you have it mastered. You check tasks off your to-do list, multitask like the best of them, and stay insanely busy from morning until night. But it turns out, your so-called “productivity” may actually be a jumble of popular myths that make you think you’re getting more done than you actually are. Think you’re using your time wisely? Check out these four lies you might be telling yourself about being productive—and how you can free yourself from that false reality.

The Lie: My Day’s Full of Activity, So I Must Be Super Productive

These days, there’s no shortage of digital time-fillers that can make you feel productive. You can easily spend all day emailing, playing on LinkedIn, searching, instant messaging, texting, and whatever else it takes to stay in the online loop. But while your fingers are busy typing and your eyes busy reading, all you’re really doing is getting hits of information—over and over again—instead of working toward a goal.

Or, you might pack your schedule to the brim—coffee meetings in the morning and networking events after work—which forces you to spend all night responding to all the emails in your overflowing inbox. But are you really getting anything significant done?

The Logical Solution: The Done List
To make sure you’re actually accomplishing substantial tasks each day, keep a “done list”—that is, a list of tasks you’ve completed instead of things you have left to do. When you stop to recognize each day’s accomplishments, you’ll be able to reflect more constructively: Did you spend your time wisely? Did you make any significant progress today? Which allows you to reevaluate how you’re spending your time.

The Lie: The inspirational multitasking guru
Multitasking can trick you into feeling like you’re a productivity superhero. After all, if you have the skills to simultaneously compile a budget, listen to a podcast, and catch up on your email, you must be running circles around your single-tasking co-workers, right?
Actually, studies show that multitasking can make you perform worse in whatever you’re doing.

The Logical Solution: Dial in the Focus
Try focusing on one task at a time. Why should you work against what you believe are your natural multitasking talents? Yes, it might feel less productive to work on one thing at a time, but extreme focus will bring out your best.
To help you get out of your task-juggling habits, work in ones:

• Keep one simple to-do list.
• Complete at least one significant task toward the beginning of your day.
• If you’re really up for a challenge, try working in only one browser tab!

When you single-task, you’ll boost your brainpower and since you’re not spending partial attention on multiple tasks, you’ll get the task at hand done faster.

The Lie: Go with the flow? Planning & Schedules
Don't hold everything in your head. You may think that having a flexible and open schedule can be conducive to creativity (and it can be, to a certain extent), but that doesn’t mean all forms of scheduling should go out the window. A little structure can help you clarify your goals and think more clearly—so you won’t waste time trying to figure out if you overlooked anything from your mental to-do list.

The Logical Solution: Rhythms & Timetables
Create a reliable rhythm for yourself. Instead of scheduling your day down to the very last detail and task, try working with broader goals in mind.

With this strategy, I still recommend to-do lists—but not necessarily filled with specific tasks. Instead, list categories of what you’re working on.

This will allow you to work productively toward your goals without locking yourself into turn-by-turn directions. Then, set aside a dedicated block of time for you to work on each category, so you can minimize distractions and focus on actually producing.

The Big Lie: The Tomorrow Excuse
The power of procrastination is a powerful monster. Without much thought, the top task on your to-do list can get pushed to tomorrow, and then to the next day, and then to the next. And in your mind, you truly believe you’ll get to it eventually—but “eventually” keeps getting pushed further and further away.

The Logical Solution: Find an Accountability Ally
The root of procrastination is often a lack of accountability—if no one knows what’s on your to-do list, no one knows that you’re not actually making any progress on it. To stay on track, partner up with a co-worker or group of peers—people who are committed to helping each other do what they say they’re going to do—and plan to check in with each other at least once a week.

If you can’t find an accountability partner, technology can help you become your own coach. Check out apps like iDoneThis, Lift, and Email Game, which keep you updated on your progress toward specific goals and which can help keep you on track and motivated to stay productive.

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