Day 141: Unproductive Actions

We all desire to be productive, to be able to have a to do list and knock out every single item with a big check mark every single day. There are days when we are incredibly productive and days when we just are not that on top of things. However, are we honestly being truly productive?

There are a lot of actions that are performed that feel productive, yet when you look underneath the surface the wheels are just spinning. These actions can sneak into your days and you may feel so successful at the end of the day after seeing how many tasks you marked off your list.

Such actions, for example, as getting your inbox down to zero feels very productive, but what is it actually accomplishing? While it is important to make sure no one is waiting for your reply and nothing urgent is begging for your attention, the actual action of deleting unimportant emails accomplishes nothing to move you closer to your goals.

I have often had problems with "productive" actions that really lead to nothing extraordinary, they are so easy to slip into and stay in. You roll through your day knocking task after task off your list when in reality your wheels are spinning and you're going nowhere.

There are many reasons we slip into these habits and tasks, one of the biggest ones being that they are easy. You could often do them in your sleep and it takes no mental energy or accomplish them. That should be the first clue about whether or not a task is really productive, if it is easy it is probably not productive. Hard work is never easy and hard work is necessary to accomplishing your goals.

These unproductive habits will be the death of our dreams, we must be vigilant and aware of our actions. As you go through your day pay attention to the work you are doing, are you really accomplishing something or just spinning the wheels? Make the switch to doing the hard things and that is when you will see growth and change in the direction of your goals.

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt