SpecificFeeds

The Necessity of Habits for Productivity

Habits require little thought or planning because we’ve done them repetitively over a period of time and have become second nature. Simple domestic habits might include making a cup of coffee, opening or closing curtains, taking a shower, or brushing teeth. Only when we think about it do we know that we have performed these actions; but at the time we were probably on auto-pilot, paying little attention to what we were doing.

Habits are essential for productivity for that very reason. Activities that have become habits require little in the way of planning or mental energy. We don’t have to think about the possible ways of accomplishing tasks that have become habits, nor do we need to analyse the potential outcomes. We don’t have to learn tasks each and every time we tackle them. We just complete them the way we always have, giving us more time to get on with other things and leaving our brains to function more freely. Habits make scheduling and planning easier as we can build our days around established rituals.

Shifting: Altering Our Perception of Information Overload

It’s time for the next part in our series on strategies for coping with information overload, and this week we’ll be taking a look at ‘shifting’. Defined as ‘changing one’s perception of situation by accepting it as part of the job,’ shifting means accepting that the world we live in is fast-paced and data-rich, and that information overload is a fact of life.

Whatever industry you work in, and whatever your position is, you will have to cope with information overload. Employers expect us to perform a variety of tasks at lightning speed and to deal with whatever is thrown our way. Failure to keep up in the workplace can have serious consequences.

The Productivity Diet: what you eat affects your productivity and concentration

You've probably heard the phrases "you are what you eat" and "healthy mind, healthy body," yet when it comes to being more productive at work, we're more likely to look at external factors, like how we plan and organise our work, rather than internal ones, like how we're fueling our body.

In fact, diet, along with exercise and sleep, is one of the most important factors when it comes to getting the most out of yourself. Like a sports car, if you want to achieve optimal performance, you need to put in the right fuel. If your brain is running on a diet of soda and junk food, you're never going to achieve your highest potential.

Refusing: How to Say “No”

Some have a problem with saying “no.” You can recognise them easily: they work late every night, spend all their weekends helping friends and neighbours with DIY projects, and have permanent shadows beneath eyes and a face that ask‘how can I help you?’

Refusing is an important coping strategy for dealing with information overload. Learning how to say “no” to more tasks when we’re already over-stretched will help us to become more productive.

Overcoming Fear: How To Conquer Public Speaking Anxiety

Productivity is not only about time management, avoiding distractions, and having well-structured To-Do lists. Sometimes the problem is at a more fundamental level: our fears. They can prevent us from taking action and realizing our goals.

In this post I'd like to analyze public speaking anxiety, which is frequently identified as people’s greatest fear:

“According to most studies, people's number-one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
– Jerry Seinfeld
 

Understanding the Problem

In order to understand the problem, I’ve tried to illustrate the different elements of Public Speaking Anxiety and how they are connected:

(Click on picture for full page view) 

Let’s examine the root causes of public speaking anxiety one by one: