11.20.2013

The Secret to Breaking a Bad Habit and Being More Productive

We all have them, those bad little habits that suck up our time and energy.

These habits don't just appear, they are developed over time and become part of the way we work.

I have a recent bad habit of playing games on my phone. I get obsessed about winning or beating my last score and don't want to stop till I do. It has really become a time sucker and on the top of my list of thing I need to change.

The good news is that with awareness breaking these habits only requires a few simple steps.

Recognize you have a bad habit or habits
Make a list of some of the bad habits you would like to change, writing them down makes them more real.

Identify how this habit negatively impacts your work
I know with my game obsession it takes away time I could use working.

Brainstorm positive results 
How would turning this habit around impact you, your family, and your work?

Break down your bad habit into steps
All bad habits are made up of a series of steps. Identifying these steps will make it easier to make the changes needed. I know for me every time I sit down I pull out my phone

Create alternative actions
Once you have the steps identified what are alternative actions you can take to avoid the bad habit. To break my phone game habit I am going to start leaving my phone on my charger base. That way I will have to get up to answer it and it will not be as handy to start playing.

Now that we have the steps to break a bad habit, it's time to break the bad habit cycle and become more productive. 

Do you have any bad habits that make you less productive?


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7 comments:

  1. I'm not sure if mine counts as a bad habit, but I really can't get any work done, if I know there are dust bunnies everywhere. So intead of being productive for my shop(s) I start cleaning ;-)

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  2. Yes I do, but it's called the Internet and Facebook. lol

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  3. lately, Pinterest! I lose hours there.
    I start off going there for inspiration for my blog, but then an hour goes by and I have been just so sidetracked.

    Having said that, I just closed Pinterest, and now going to shut down the computer and get some stuff done! Oh, after I check all 3 of my emails.....

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  4. I confess that I am a puzzle fanatic and start each mourning solving the puzzles in my newspaper - Sudoku, the Cryptogram puzzle, Word Wrap, and Word Jumble.
    I also find myself online playing Sudoku, Mahjong, Shapes Inlay and other puzzle games. It does eat up time that I could be using to do more constructive and productive things with. Guess I need to work on a way to break this addiction or at least minimize the amount of time that I spend on feeding this addiction.

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  5. Good advice! getting off devices and enjoying life a bit more is always a good thing!

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  6. Great post! My bad habit is stressing about things I can't control. That takes my mind away from focusing on what I need to be doing!

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  7. This is such a good post. We all have habits that hinder our productivity in one way or another. You've listed some excellent steps to recognize and work on breaking the habits that slow us down! Thank you!

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Your thoughts and ideas are an important part of the conversation, thanks for sharing!