It might have been fun to watch Netflix in your free time, but the feeling of not working on your project is definitely stressful.
That feeling leads you to think you are a highly unproductive person. By understanding and knowing your problems, you can better handle them.
Here are some habits that make people unproductive and how to stop them.
1. Physically Disorganized: Have Trouble Keeping Track of Things
The number one thing to notice in yourself is whether you keep things neat and organized or have piles of things scattered everywhere.
How much time does it take you to get something you used months ago? Your answer may indicate you are physically disorganized, given how long it may take.
What to About It
Whether you’re at home or office, if you have everything within your reach, it can reduce the amount of time you’d spend finding it. And thus, you can start doing the essential job that needs to be done instead of wasting your energy on trivial tasks.
Here’s an app that can help you do it with ease.
FamilyWall: It can help you keep everything organized at home and office. From scheduling to cleaning your room to office meetings, you can plan and track almost everything with it.
Download: FamilyWall for Android | iOS
2. Mentally Disorganized: Their Minds Keep Wandering
Have you ever found yourself rambling on for 30 minutes about something when a few sentences could have done the job?
If so, you're likely mentally disorganized. There is no clear understanding of what you want at the moment, which may cause you many problems. For example, you couldn't get someone to do something the way you wanted because you were too busy explaining why it had to be done a certain way.
What to Do About It
It's essential to communicate clearly, not just for personal, but also for professional relationships. Here’s an app that can help you focus better and keep your mind relaxed.
Moodfit: The app is made to shape your mood better and help you understand your feelings and what you’re experiencing better. This way, you can have better and clear communications and get things done on time and achieve more in life.
Download: Moodfit for Android | iOS
3. Never Plan Ahead: Planning Is a Hassle for Them
If you never plan your day and like to go with the flow, then it’s improbable that you’ll get anything done. Not planning is one of the worst habits of unproductive people.
Because when you don’t know what to do next, you usually end up on the couch watching a funny cat video. And the cycle repeats itself.
What to Do About It
If you're serious about achieving your goals, make a to-do list first thing in the morning or plan your days in advance. Use the following app to manage your time effectively.
Toggl: It’s a wonderful app to track the time you spend on each of the tasks on your to-do list. This way, you can always stay organized. And when you work on a timer, you usually get more done in less time as you’re more focused.
This way, you can finally have more time to spend on things you like. How about watching that funny cat video without any guilt of having an incomplete project?
Download: Toggle for Android | iOS for free.
4. Often Miss Deadlines: Never Show Up or Submit on Time
Another sign of a highly unproductive person that usually leads to failure is missing deadlines.
You just don’t know where the time went, and now you need an extension on tasks that you could’ve done easily within a few hours. If that’s happening with you, it’s time to change something.
What to Do About It
Not submitting the work on time can make other people lose their trust in you. Plus, you can also lose your business or job because of this. Hence, keeping track of your tasks and getting them done on time is essential.
Here’s an app that can help you do it.
Any.do: It’s a desktop app that can easily sync with your G-calendar, iCloud, and Exchange. It enables you to add tasks, notes and share them with your co-workers.
Download: Any.do for Windows | Mac | Android | iOS
5. No Real Life Goal: The Struggle to Be Productive
If you want to be productive, you must have goals, priorities, and something that you want from life. If, for example, you think, "If I could complete this task within two hours, I would have more time to practice my guitar."
However, if you don't have any such goals and priorities, and everything is equal in importance, getting things done on time won't be so important to you.
What to Do About It
Now it's your turn to decide your life goals. If you don't want goals, no problem. You probably have some hobbies or sidelines that you want to pursue, don't you? Make a list of them.
Then use the app to finally become a more skillful person.
GoalsOnTrack: The app helps you create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) goals. Additionally, it allows you to add milestones to prevent procrastination and make achieving your goals easier.
Download: It’s web-based software. You can access it here for a limited free trial. Once the trial is over, you’d need to pay $68 per month.
Time to Break Your Unproductive Habits
If you could relate to any of the habits mentioned above, you must have got an idea of what’s holding you back from living the kind of life you always wanted.
But now you know what you can do about it, and you have the resources too.
So, no more waiting. Get up and get rid of the root cause, the habits of highly unproductive people, that’s keeping you from becoming a better version of yourself. It’s now or never. Life’s short. So pick up the resources and get back to your work!