One thing we all have in common is that we strive to be our most productive selves while balancing the various important pieces of our lives. But life happens and things get in the way. This week we’re looking at a few ways to overcome the most common (and frustrating) obstacles to our productivity.
Obstacles to productivity don’t have to stop us from accomplishing what matters most
All of us, me included, have lots of things we want and need to do. We have an idea in our minds of what it means to be productive: checking things off our to-do list (whether written or mental), achieving our big goals, making a life we can be proud of, or at least satisfied with. Whether or not we’ve intentionally thought about it, we have a picture in our minds of what a productive life looks like
Because we live in the real world, life and our circumstances don’t always cooperate with that vision. That vision doesn’t come into reality without getting past obstacles–internal and external, physical and mental. One way to boost productivity, in whatever sense you’re thinking about it, is to identify those obstacles that are getting in your way and then come up with a plan to remove or overcome them. This is a very personal exercise–what constitutes an obstacle for me might not be one for you. I thought I’d talk about a few of them this week.
These aren’t the only obstacles, but the ones I’ve been thinking about (and in several cases experiencing) lately. Some are physical/external, while many of them are internal, even self-created.
Physical/external obstacles
(I’m starting with the physical or external obstacles, which in many ways are easier to deal with!)
- Inadequate tools
- Uncomfortable chair or bad lighting,
- Poorly functioning cleaning equipment
- Slow computer and/or crummy software
The answer is to figure out what tools are necessary for the tasks you’re doing and budget as necessary to invest in the right tools for the job. (Note: This is not an invitation to use researching and shopping for “better” tools as an excuse to procrastinate!)
- Clutter
Simply put: clutter makes everything take longer. We’ve talked about this often in past episodes, so I’m not going into detail here. For more, check out:
The way past this obstacle is obvious: Make a point of decluttering your workspaces.
- Physical condition
To accomplish what we want to in life (whether specific tasks, work or personal projects, strong relationships, or anything else that’s part of a life that matters as we each define it) we need to be as physically healthy and strong as we’re able to be. We need to maximize our stamina to do the things we want to do. It’s hard to get through our days doing the things we want and need to do if we’re physically exhausted, sick, or weak.
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- Factors we should think about:
- Lack of sleep
- Poor diet
- Hydration
- Moving our bodies
- Factors we should think about:
This is absolutely relative to our individual situations. Productivity in any sense (getting things done or making a life that matters) doesn’t require perfect health and fitness and it is possible to be productive even with a chronic illness or serious injury. The point is we can maximize our productivity no matter our age or physical circumstances by doing what’s in our power to take the best possible care of our bodies.
Moving on to the internal obstacles
- Lack of focus
- We can have a lack of focus in the moment…
- Letting ourselves be distracted by thoughts (worries about the past, ruminating over the past) or other activities (shiny object syndrome).
- Constantly multitasking–it’s a proven fact that when we do this, we are less effective and less efficient than if we focus on one task at a time.
- We can have a lack of focus in life in general – going too many directions and not making much progress in any of them.
- We can have a lack of focus in the moment…
We can take various steps to overcome the obstacle of having a lack of focus:
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- Practice focus — meditation (not woo-woo, but simply sitting quietly, focused on breathing, etc).
- Removing distractions from our environment.
- Do a mind dump to get the worries, etc., out of your head. This can free up space for creativity and problem-solving.
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- Being reactive instead of proactive
- Not taking the time to plan. I saw a quote recently that I liked as a good reminder to me: “Take the time to plan your life or settle for what life gives you.” (Kai Kan). Whether big picture or moment by moment, if you have an intentional destination, you might not like where you end up.
A few steps to overcome this obstacle of being reactive:
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- Keep the big picture in mind – Keep your values and priorities in front of you; write them down, review them frequently, and evaluate how your day-to-day activities are lining up with what’s most important to you.
- Daily – have a plan! Know what’s most important to do each day, and when you’re going to do it; check in with it regularly.
- Adjust as needed – Life happens. We may have a plan but things can change daily.
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- Mindset issues (biggest category for a lot of us)
- Those that paralyze us, prevent us from taking action:
- Perfectionism (we don’t start because we’re waiting until we think we can do it perfectly) or imposter syndrome – if we identify this as an obstacle, we can take action to move forward, giving ourselves the grace to be less than perfect.
- Accepting a narrative of powerlessness, or taking on a victim mentality (seeing ourselves as a victim of circumstances or of another person). This is all about giving up your power to choose the direction of your own thoughts.
- Fixed mindset versus growth mindset (Carol Dweck’s teaching about this in her book, Mindset). The fixed mindset believes our skills and abilities are fixed and don’t change, so failure is a sign that we “don’t have what it takes.” A growth mindset believes we can grow and improve, so failure is a sign that growth and learning is needed in an area.
- “I’m not good at X” versus “I need to learn how to do X better”
- “I can’t” versus “I don’t yet know how”
- “I don’t know” versus “I can learn”
- Those that paralyze us, prevent us from taking action:
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- Those that can overwhelm us
- FOMO (Fear of missing out)
- How it manifests – Having an overbooked schedule because we’re not willing to pass up any “opportunity” out of fear it will never come our way again. It can also manifest by spending too much time on social media out of fear of missing some bit of news.
- Overcoming it – Learn to experience JOMO (Joy of Missing Out-a term I first saw in Instagram posts by Courtney Carver). Practice evaluating opportunities and requests before responding–ask yourself:
- How does this measure up against my values and the things I’ve identified as the highest priorities in my life?
- Will this move me in the direction of my most important goals, or is it a diversion?
- Is this the best use of my time, energy, and attention right now?
- FOMO (Fear of missing out)
- Those that can overwhelm us
- Comparison
“Comparison is a thief of joy.”
Comparison often leads to dissatisfaction with our life or efforts, which can distract us or lead us to overwork, in ways that don’t serve us, just trying to live up to an image of what we ought to be. Comparison takes our eyes off our own priorities. We can overcome this by recognizing that we can observe and learn from others, but measuring ourselves by others is never productive because it’s based on incomplete information. You are always, by definition, comparing their outsides to your insides.
The key with any of these mindset-type obstacles is to observe honestly but with compassion what’s going on in our own minds, and do the work of addressing those thoughts and patterns that don’t serve us. I’ve been listening to Byron Katie’s book, Loving What Is, which takes the reader through the process of identifying thoughts and asking four questions she calls “The Work”, which can be very helpful.
Final Thoughts
Focusing on the negative isn’t healthy, but it can be helpful to pause, observe, evaluate, identify obstacles AND THEN, rather than dwelling on them or surrendering to them, come up with a plan to address them.
What do you think?
What did I miss? What obstacles do you experience in your productivity journey? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below or in The Productive Woman Community Facebook group, or send me an email.
Resources and Links
Episodes about decluttering our homes
- TPW 203 13 Areas to Declutter in Our Homes
- TPW163 Clutter, Stress, & Simplicity
- TPW277 10 Things to Declutter
- TPW083 The Art of Decluttering: An International Conversation
Episodes with guests who have chronic illnesses
- TPW350-Prioritizing Your Passions, with Mary Sutton
- TPW152-Making Time for What Matters, with Sonia Harris
- TPW149-Productivity When It Hurts, with Mandy Hanson
Episodes about balancing multiple passions and priorities
- TPW253-When You Want to Do It All
- TPW190-Juggling Multiple Roles, with Coryne Forest
- TPW143-Managing Multiple Roles, with Jennifer Fleury
- TPW132-Herding Cats: Managing Multiple Projects
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