The 4 Greatest Productivity Killers

Every day is a new day that brings with it the potential for getting so much done!

But each day that starts with the best of intentions can just as easily be hijacked by the 4 greatest productivity killers:

• ineffective relationships,
• a bad attitude,
• lack of quality sleep, and
• (not surprisingly) the weather.

PRODUCTIVITY KILLER #1: Ineffective relationships.

What if I told you more than 50% of your productivity and success depends on your ability to build effective relationships with others?

Well, that’s actually the case. Your friends and professional allies do so much more than open doors for you that might otherwise remain closed or that would take a considerable amount of time and effort on your part to break through.

They can keep you going when your head is screaming “Quit! And quit now!” They touch your heart with their faith in your ability to succeed when your spirits are down so low you don’t want to take that next breath. And they teach you a thousand things you might not otherwise have the time to learn.

The time you spend building solid relationships with others is always time well spent. It’s an investment you make in yourself as well as in others. So, to improve your daily productivity, improve the number and quality of your personal and professional relationships first.

PRODUCTIVITY KILLER #2. A bad attitude.

Who hasn’t heard the phrase “attitude determines altitude?”

Start your day with a bad attitude and performance automatically plummets as self-inflicted discouragement sets in. Not to mention negaholics tend to attract one another while simultaneously repelling positive folks.

That’s not to suggest bad things won’t happen to you from time to time. Everyone has to deal with that. The good news is you get to choose your response to it. It’s in making the better choice that you take back control of your day. (This is a learned skill.)

Bottom line? Bad experiences don’t have to derail your day, but a bad attitude about those experiences always will.

PRODUCTIVITY KILLER #3. Lack of quality sleep.

You must discipline yourself to prioritize high quality sleep if you want to be your most productive. You can’t push yourself through day after day of being physically exhausted from lack of sleep and expect to deliver peak performance.

Some people don’t give themselves enough sleep; they go to bed late or get up too early. Others are in bed the right number of hours but aren’t getting the quality of rest needed because they’re overwhelmed by stress or physical distress.

When you don’t have control over your days, toss and turn with worry all night, and don’t give your brain a break from technology and television prior to going to bed you interfere with the body’s ability to experience restorative rest. This makes it nearly impossible to be as productive as you could be the following day.

These are all habits you can (and should) change. Immediately, if not sooner, if having a productive work day is your goal.

PRODUCTIVITY KILLER #4. The weather.

Like many of you, I do prefer sunnier days to dark and gloomy ones. Unless it’s a writing day, in which case I’m more productive (and less resentful) on the dark rainy ones. Which simply means weather is not the reason for not being your most productive; it’s really just a story you tell yourself. A convenient excuse perhaps.

Awareness of the weather is practical—especially if you have to be out and about that day and need to dress and plan accordingly. But obsession with the weather can easily steal away your opportunity to have a wonderfully productive day. IF you let it. And there’s no reason you have to let it.

At the start of the day it all about the possibilities, but at the end of the day it's only about your results. Productivity is not about ideas and how many you can come up with today or tomorrow. It’s about what you're doing to make those ideas reality right now.

Procrastination is a thief! Don't let it steal your dreams.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Linda M. Lopeke, Founder of SMARTSTART, helps entrepreneurs, experts and professional services providers rise above the noise, make competition irrelevant and join the 1% who succeed in business online.

She also leads a $50M philanthropy program that helps digital business owners build their dream with access to world-class expert professional guidance made possible through corporate sponsorship. Learn more about this innovative program and apply here.