5 Things Holding You Back From Being Your Most Productive

There are many ways you can begin to improve your productivity, but no matter the hacks you find and the playlist you listen to, unfortunately, there can be some really simple reasons why you’re still struggling to get into your productivity zone.

So you’ve got started on your project but things keep popping in your head that you need to do. It could be from putting the bins out, or the need to book some train tickets. Whatever pops into your head, before you know it, you’ve dropped your project and you’re doing that one thing. Frustrating isn’t it.

If you keep finding this happening, my one simple trick is this. Write it down.

Keep a notebook by your side and note down anything that pops-up.

This way once you’ve finished your project you can then move on to any urgent tasks.

We all know the importance of surroundings when we’re trying to be our most productive. So learn to know your productivity environment.

Unfortunately, this does take time to master but experiment each day in a different place to see where your mind feels at its most focused.

As magnificent as they are at keeping us connected they are also our biggest distractions, and as soon as we feel bored or demotivated we’ll unconsciously check our phones, scroll through social media and then remember we’ve got a project to finish.

Put your phone away during dedicated productivity time.

Whether it’s that blank white space before writing or the pressure of making something perfect, we all get the fear before we embark on a project. But what we need to do is eradicate the fear and instill an attitude of “I Can Do This!”.

It may sound silly but walk around saying a simple mantra out loud. Such as “I am strong, I am focussed and I will complete this project”.

Words hold deep meaning to our minds, and by saying them out loud we move our minds from a place of restricted negativity, to free-flowing positivity.

It’s true that we all live our lives by the clock, and when a big project looms the time seems to disappear from us. But in order to allocate real productive time to something we need to assign a minimal amount of time so that it forces our minds to focus and think clearly.

Rather than spending entire mornings or afternoons on a project, first of all, spend 1 hour on it. And time it. That way you’re forcing yourself to focus and know there’s a limit to how much you can procrastinate.

You may already be aware of these five areas holding you back, but use some of the tips given during your next project and see if they help you to feel more focussed and productive. It’s about finding what works for you more than anything, so if one thing doesn’t work, move on to the next thing.