Ban - 7 Deadly Sins of Productivity: Knowing is the first step to freeing yourself

The Seven Deadly Sins of Productivity

Knowing is the first step to freeing yourself

By Rey Ban

http://www.reyban3.com

Copyright 2015 by Rey Banasijan

All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced without permission in writing from the author.

Ever heard of the seven deadly sins? Well, bad news. The majority of us commit them every day, and whats worse is we know were committing them, but for the most part, we let them slip on by. Now, Im not claiming Im a saint, and I do catch myself slipping from time to time, but sometimes simply recognizing the sin is enough to say, Hey, what am I doing? I should stop insert your productivity sin and do something! I know what you might be thinking, Easier said than done, ReyBan. Well thats why I am sharing this little booklet with you. To give you some ideas about how we can control or eliminate these sins. Now without further adieu, lets see what these sins are all about and figure out a way to prevent them!

Ah, laziness, how I despise thee in many ways! (If Shakespeare were alive, Im sure he would hate on laziness, too.) Laziness, in my opinion, is part mental, part physical and maybe a little on the emotional side. What do I mean by this? Well, for starters, when we feel lazy, our body feels sluggish. And I bet a thought like this pops up in your mind, I feel sooooo lazy right now, and I dont want to do anything! Or I need to take a nap! This is absolutely fine after a nice, hearty meal, but when you have a deadline or a goal you have to finish, do you let laziness get the best of you? (Come on, be honest.) Unfortunately, most of us let our laziness dictate our actions, and believe me, Ive been there and done that! This refers to the physical and mental part I spoke of earlier. So what is the emotional component? Well, when we feel lazy, thats it! We feel it, right? Its almost an uncontrollable urge to act how we feel. If we feel angry, we act out in rage, and if we feel happy, we act out in kindness or silliness. But the gray area, such as laziness, isnt so easy to recognize. Why? Because we normally just act it out and do what feels right. (In laziness, we sleep it off or do something else were not supposed to be doing, right?) So you might be thinking, If I feel lazy, what do I do?

In order to prevent becoming lazy, I believe that we have to be in all three states of preparedness: physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared. The physical part is easy to prepare against laziness. Dont try to be productive after eating a big meal. If you feel tired, then by all means, take a power nap (no more than 15 minutes). One more thing: Be physically active! (This is, by far, the best way to combat laziness, in my opinion.) Think about it. The more physically active and fitter you are, the more stamina and strength you have. (And your body becomes resilient to the onslaught of physical stress and emotional feelings.) Why do you think military personnel go through such a brutal physical training in boot camp? Simple: to become active!

I have a few suggestions on how to be more physically active. Check out my workout routine booklet. But for now, do all the physical activity that you enjoy such as walking, running, or bicycling. Also, having a partner boosts morale and activity, so invite your friends while youre at it. Laziness may be the greatest productivity sin, but it is the easiest to prevent. Just go out, be active, and do the things that you love to do!

I have to admit, fear is a formidable foe when it comes to becoming productive. When were afraid of something, what do we usually do? We stay away from it, right? I mean, who wants to see their greatest nightmare face to face? But first you have to recognize what you are afraid of before you can confront it, let alone conquer it! Ok, let me be vulnerable for a minute and tell you my biggest fears. My two biggest fears are failing and giving a speech in front of a crowd. (If you put those two together, failing to speak clearly in front of a crowd, thats a recipe for disaster!) A paralyzing fear literally grips me (like a deer facing a headlight) and stops me from achieving my goal.

So what did I do? Nelson Mandela once said, "The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Im still not sure if I dont feel afraid every now and then when it comes to giving a speech, but I know I have to face it head on if I want to reach my goal and get past my fear.

What is doubt? And how does doubt prevent you from becoming productive? Self-doubt is more damaging than you think. Say you have doubts about something, whether its passing an interview or writing an essay. Doesnt it make you more worried when you start second-guessing your ability? The more you worry about it, the less confident you become in completing the job. Less job completion means less productivity. You follow me so far? Good.

You might ask, Well, now that I know I shouldnt doubt myself or worry about something I cant control the future outcome of, how do I stop myself from becoming such a worry wart? The answer is practice! Yes, practice makes perfect and heres why. Ever practiced something and you practiced so much and so hard that it became second nature? A good example I can give is driving. Obviously, when you have been driving for years, you are fairly confident that you can drive, right? You almost feel silly when you start to second-guess your ability because you have been driving for so long. Now lets apply this same train of thought for a skill that we dont feel quite as confident about. Ill use my previous example, which is passing an interview. If we want to feel confident about passing an interview, what do we need to do? We have to rehearse an interview, right? We have to rehearse what the interviewer might ask and rehearse our responses. We rehearse to the point that its second nature when we hear the questions an interviewer might ask. And heres my point: If we practice something, we feel more confident in accomplishing it, whether its passing an interview, writing an essay, or driving a car.

When was the last time you felt motivated enough that you didnt even have to think about it and you just did it? Do you remember why you were so motivated? If your answer is no, then welcome procrastination. Procrastination comes in many forms such as excuses, laziness, and being unmotivated. All of these thoughts and emotions come into play when it comes to procrastinating. There is no doubt in my mind that a person can accomplish anything if he or she is given the proper motivation. On the other hand, the opposite can be said for a person who is always procrastinating. They cant seem to accomplish anything they set out to do.

Heres the million-dollar question: How do you prevent procrastination? The answer might be so simple that it will cause you to feel disbelief. What is it? Its finding out what motivates you to do anything in the first place. It sounds simple enough, right? Its easy to say but hard to do. Before you can find your motivation, you must first know what your goal is then find the right motivation for that goal. Heres an example. Say my goal is to lose 7 pounds in 21 days. Its not a hard goal, but what could I use to motivate myself to achieve this goal? One motivation I could use is, If I lose 7 pounds in 21 days, I can finally fit into those jeans from back in the day. Thats one motivation. Another motivation is, I will look and feel great once I lose these 7 pounds. Once you find your motivation, stick with it, only then will you be able to easily forget about procrastination.