Ahmed Shaami
Every day we are all faced with challenges that require decision-making. The thing that makes a difference in the image of success or failure is how we meet our challenges. We sometimes create illusionary stress by obsessing over an outcome. We mostly worry about things that do not require worrying in actual. But humans make mistakes and not a single person is immune from making bad decisions. Anxiety, fear, and stress easily distort our choices. Luckily awareness is the key to avoid this decision fatigue.
There are 6 ways to prepare your muscles and become aware of the traps that you can fall into.
Leaving the hard work for the end:
We often start our day dealing with the easiest task first. But according to researchers, our willpower decreases as the day goes on so it makes it harder for us to perform difficult tasks later. Also, we are not aware of the uncertain events that can come up at any time during the day. Therefore, we must always perform our hardest tasks first.
Sticking to the inbox:
Being more productive requires us to stay away from checking our email again and again. Because once we check our email, we waste a lot of our time reading it and writing a reply. Therefore, we must turn off all the email notifications when we are working and designate specific timings to check and respond to the received emails.
Turning phone on vibration:
We usually think that by turning our phone on vibration or even turning it completely off will not disturb us during our working hours. But that is not true; studies have revealed that just the presence of your phone on the desk can impact your performance. The best way is to keep your phone out of your sight when you are working.
Delaying taking breaks:
Because of being high in energy in the morning, we often delay taking breaks thinking we will take when we are tired later in the day. but that does not help much as according to studies, breaks taken earlier in the day are more likely to replenish resources including energy, concentration, and motivation.
Listening to music:
Many people assume that listening to music while working make them work faster, but that is actually a myth. Research suggests that our performance on intellectual tasks suffers considerably when we listen to music. Music can only be of some help to those people who perform repetitive tasks for longer periods of time. A better way is to listen to your favorite music for about 10-15 minutes before starting your work it will then relax you and will put you in a better mood.
Staring at the screen all day:
Most of us think that looking at the screen for hours can make us more productive. But staring at the computer all day can cause digital eye strain that can result in dryness and blurriness. Practice 20-20-20 rule which means that after every 20 minutes; look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
