10 habits negatively impacting your productivity

To be balanced and engage in a long-term, satisfying career, ridding yourself of unproductive habits is an important investment.

Your productivity may be suffering and you may not even know it. These 10 habits are killing your productivity, courtesy of Thomas Oppong, founder at Alltopstartups.

1. Multi-tasking

Of all the bad habits, multitasking is among the worst and most common. You can actually achieve more in less time when you single task and focus on getting one thing done well.

2. Working from your inbox

How many times have you checked your email today? Too many of us spend most of our day in our inbox: reading and answering emails instead of getting real work done. The more emails you send, the more you seem to get.

3. Not delegating

You don’t have do everything yourself, get help and outsource if you can.

4. Not knowing how to say “No”

Saying “no” means you have time to focus on your own needs, rather than constantly serving other people.

5. Not tracking results

Use an app, there are hundreds of productivity apps out there to keep track of what you’re doing each day.

6. Working for too long…without breaks

Sometimes you just need a break. Listen to your body. You can only focus on tasks for a certain amount of time. Split your tasks into small chunks and take (10–15 minute) breaks in between.

7. Filling to-do list with too many tasks

Don’t be overzealous and fill your to-do list with dozens or more tasks. You will most likely be unable to complete them all by close of the working day and you will be depressed and think you are not being productive enough.

8. Your super connected habit

If you can be reached via smartphone, email, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, you’re way too available and all these outlets are possible connections that can distract you from your purpose. Disconnect occasionally.

9. The news reading habit

Reserve time slot for reading or watching news. Use critical mind set and think what you see. Use quality media. Stop clicking headlines and reading short news—read quality news articles instead or even blogs of experts you have chosen.

10. Your indecision

The usual problem is that people have long to-do lists, but no idea what they intend to tackle after that extensive meeting. Prioritise on what needs to be accomplished for the day and get started.

Read the full article at observer innovation here: http://goo.gl/1M9EO1