Often, people
compare being productive with being able to do many things parallelly and
consistently. A person who is extremely busy is the one who has no time for
himself. He will also end up many opportunities for fun and recreation. This
will make him sluggish and adversely affect his productivity levels. He might
feel less progress in the work due to the reduction in the level of
productivity. Despite being busy and working hard, his lack of progress will
only make him feel that he hasn't worked hard enough.
So, if work hard
endlessly makes someone unproductive. What are the actual factors that seem
lazy but influence productivity?
1. Getting enough sleep
Sleeping is often
considered as a lazy activity. Some people claim that working day and night or
for long hours sacrificing one's sleep is what brings success. But, the
reality is that sleep is an important prerequisite for a productive day. If you
do not get enough sleep you are most likely to be out of charge for the whole
day.
Sleep also
consolidates memory, enhances cognition, enhances your mood, and recharges you
for the next day. Studies show that ignoring the importance of sleep and being
sleep deprived in the context of "working hard" will only further
lower the cognitive ability of the person. So it is important that you get the
right amount of sleep even if it seems like you are wasting your time!
2. Taking time to think alone
Another consequence
we consider as "wasting time" is taking long walks or spending time
alone on the couch just to think about the ideas and the work you do will help
you relax and also generate new ideas.
Relaxation and
taking breaks just to think will refresh your mind. Your mind will get an avenue
to think clearly. Albert Einstein formulated most of his ideas only by taking
long walks alone just for thinking. It is ok to take time to think and produce
great ideas than consistently producing mediocre work.
3. Taking a nap
Again, sleep is
important. Unfortunately, most of us do not feel energized throughout the day.
We would require breaks in order to get our batteries up and running again.
Therefore, it is important that you take short naps (note that taking long naps
for more than an hour will only leave you feeling clumsy and will end up in wasted
time).
That is why it is
good to use some tricks to help you take only short naps. One option is where
you can use the spoon trick, where you will take a nap with a hand raised off
from the ground and holding a spoon. Once when you start to go into a deep
sleep, your body starts relaxing and the spoon will hit the ground and make a
"cling" sound that will wake you up.
You can also take
coffee naps. Coffee naps are where you have a coffee pre-nap. This will help
you in extending your wakefulness. Caffeine is known to keep you awake and
fresh.
4. Saying 'No'
People become more
occupied and busy because they take up so much of work. They put unwanted and
unnecessary work into their plate just by not rejecting them. Also, people who
work on so many projects/tasks at once will be able to give only their divided
attention to the tasks. Multitasking will further lower their productivity.
Instead, if people
started accepting tasks only that is necessary and if they start to say
"No" to most of the opportunities that do not serve them well, then
it will yield more focused productivity by working only on minimal tasks.
5. Take regular vacation breaks
Traveling to a
different locations and spending time there will rejuvenate your body and mind.
Even if you love the work you do, it may sometimes feel that you are constantly
stuck with the work. Therefore, it is essential that you free up your mind and
body. It will always seem like starting fresh and new after returning from a
good vacation!
6. Stop doing what you hate
All people who have
accomplished something in their life did the work that they loved to do. So,
there is no point in working so hard on something that you do not enjoy
believing that one day you too will become successful. Grinding in an
unsatisfying work is rarely a recipe for success!
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