Last week we talked about the beliefs that support or get in the way of our personal productivity.  The article, 7 Popular Productivity Beliefs You Should Ignore, got me thinking about my beliefs about productivity. I shared my belief that a personalized productivity plan is what really works and, to do that, you first have to be sure your beliefs about productivity support you in achieving the results you want to achieve.  I said I’d share my beliefs with you this week so here goes.

Belief #1: Self-awareness of my style and preferences is the first step to being more productive.

I tend to be more productive in the morning. I don’t like to work under pressure. Creating a list of what I need to do helps me focus.  I get scattered when I haven’t taken the time to break down a project into smaller tasks. Knowing these things about myself and then setting up the work environment, schedule, processes, and behaviors that best facilitate “flow” for me is what supports my productivity.

Belief #2: I can control what I focus on in any given moment.

Focus is a learned discipline.  There are so many distractions that can grab my attention at any moment.  Learning to focus and direct my attention is a must for my productivity. Having goals, setting priorities, and making task lists helps me stay focused. If I don’t do these things, what I know to be true is that I will and do lose focus. Catching myself sooner rather than later when I am unfocused, distracted or unproductive and then knowing how to get back on track is a discipline and practice to be learned and developed.

Belief #3: When I’m being unproductive, I take time to step back, pause, and observe what’s really going on.

This belief builds on Beliefs 1 and 2. Sometimes my unproductiveness isn’t about my style or preference or focus. Sometimes it’s about what I’m working on and who I am doing it for. Sometimes my unproductiveness can be about the “other.”  That is not to say that I blame them for causing me to be unproductive, but I have learned that I can be impacted by another’s lack of personal productivity.

When this happens, I need to step back and pause for a minute to see what is really going on. Am I in reactive mode and not addressing an issue that needs to be addressed?  Is there something I need to say or do about the situation I am in or do I need to make a request that can set us both back on track? What I know to be true is that when I feel as if my work is being impacted by another, I lose motivation, get irritable, and I may become stubborn or passive aggressive. I can avoid this by paying attention to the signals and cues that I may be losing motivation, getting irritable, feeling stubborn, or numbing out, and I can then regroup by stepping back, pausing and observing what is really going on for me and then get back into action.

Belief #4:  My inner task master gets tired and needs a break every once in a while.

I used to be able to do all-nighters and drive myself to plow through work even when I was exhausted.  I can’t do that anymore.  Taking time to get away from work – resting, exercising or doing something to clear my mind is the best thing I can do sometimes. Relaxing the inner task master and giving her permission to rest or take a break is not just a kind thing to do, it increases my creativity, focus and results.

Belief #5:  Some days just are not going to be productive, and that’s okay.

I was an “all-or-nothing” kind of person for a long time.  What I mean by that is if I did something, I had to do it 100% of the time or I considered myself a failure at it.  One year, I set a goal to exercise every day. Guess how long that lasted?

I’ve learned to let go of the expectation that every day I “should” be productive. Some days I don’t feel like driving myself so hard. Some days I need to spend “down time” or research time to then be able to work on a task or project the next day. Some days are filled with unexpected issues, problems, and demands.  Some days, I am my own worst enemy, allowing one distraction after another to pull my attention away from work.  What is important isn’t that I get my task list done every day, but that I stay aware of the choices I am making in the moment and define a successful day not by only by what I did but also by how in tune I am with myself and to what really matters that day. If I do this, I typically get done what is most important, not what I think “should” be done.

So what are you beliefs about being productive?  Did you discover them last week? Which ones did you change, get rid of, or reframe? Share your beliefs with our Facebook community so that we can learn from each other.

Have a great week!