Hina Javed Malik
Habits are things we do unconsciously or with extremely little effort. But forming good habits and breaking the bad ones needs focus. Rewards are important when it comes to freeing ourselves from bad habits. We need to think how wonderful it will be to be free from the tyranny of doing something repeatedly we must not do.
Some people never pay attention to what they are doing, so in this ignorance, they form bad habits. But God has created us in an amazing manner that enables us to become good people by doing things that are best.
Following are the 10 bad habits we must break for becoming more productive. Here is how we can stop a bad habit permanently.
1. Phone:
Phones are far more important for working people than for those who stay at home. That is the reason we see most professionals clinging to their phones all day. But keeping phones at the bedside is not a good idea. The blue light from the phone stops you from sleeping and severely damages your vision.
2. Impulsive web browsing:
With easy access to the internet, it seems easy to jump onto Google for searching for the questions that come into our minds. We waste a lot of time searching for things that do not have any purpose. Therefore it’s better to first write down everything on a piece of paper, read it and then search for anything that is meaningful.
3. Too many meetings:
Most of the meetings are unnecessary and waste a lot of time. Until and unless there is a dire need to meet in person or an extremely important meeting to attend, avoid getting involved in general meet-ups.
4. Email:
Whenever we check our emails, we waste almost 25 minutes of our daily work time. To avoid this in the future, keep your inbox closed and your phone away in 30-minute increments.
5. Procrastination:
Change your habit of dragging important projects and completing them at the beginning of the day. Energy levels are highest at the start of the day but decline as time passes on. If you place important tasks for the end, it means they will never get finished.
6. Arrange walking meetings:
Sitting for long hours is not good for your health so arrange for meetings while you walk. Instead of coffee room conferences, walking meetings can help you to be more efficient without losing on your health.
7. Over-planning:
Planning every hour of the day is of no use especially when an unexpected event happens. Therefore always plan four to five hours of a workday so that you can have free time once important projects are done.
8. Under-Planning:
For long-term goals, the key is to plan your end goal. It is of no use to come up with the endgame when you are halfway through a project. It just wastes time and creates frustration.
9. Snooze Button:
It is good to have fixed timings for your sleep if you stick to them every day. Sleeping and awakening at reasonable hours can have amazing effects on your working efficiency.
10. Perfectionism:
It is not wise to run after perfectionism so start off with projects without dwelling on the details. It will help you get started much faster.
