“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” ~ David AllenEverything begins in your mind. Thoughts and ideas roll around in the space called your brain. If you believe it, your chances of achieving any goal you set become that much greater.
And so, it is with becoming more productive.
Having the right mindset will take you far on the productivity scale.
A lack of productivity can have a negative impact on your wellbeing and mental health.
Productivity is about mindset.
A productive mindset lets you use your resources–your time, your energy, your efforts–in the best way possible. With a productive mindset, you realize the futility of trying to be everything to everybody or doing things in the quickest instead of the best way. Sometimes things take time, and you understand this with a productive mindset.
Everything is Negotiable
To put yourself into the right mindset to get more done, realize that everything is negotiable. This takes you out of the victim mindset where you think things are being done to you rather than you are in control of your time.
It’s easy to say, “it wasn’t my fault,” or “I have too many meetings I have to attend,” or “I haven’t had a minute to myself to think”. This victim mentality can leave you feeling hopeless. You’re just a victim of circumstance, after all.
Have you ever gone to a meeting that lasted an hour (but it seemed like forever)? I have. During that meeting, all I could do was swish around in my seat because I couldn’t wait for the meeting to end.
Once the manager released us, several of my colleagues remained behind to chit chat about non-work-related things and then when they returned to their desks, they often remarked how there weren’t enough hours in the day to clear their desk. Or when the boss gave them one more thing to do, they would cry that they didn’t have enough time to do it all.
I’m not knocking taking time to connect with coworkers. We need that connection. But it shouldn’t put you into a space where you feel as if you don’t have time to do the things you need to get done.
A tactic a boss shared with me was if the conversation with my coworker was going to take more than my allotted break time, say something to my coworker like, “I want to continue this conversation, what are you doing at…” and give them a few times where the two of you can get together again to finish the conversation.
This puts you in control of your own schedule, which we’ll discuss in a later post.
This helps in two ways:
It gets you back to your desk and being productive, and,
It helps your coworker not feel as if you’re blowing them off.
It’s all in how you look at it.
Takeaway
When your mindset is productive, you make the best and most of what you have, and you enjoy the process.
Affirmation
I won’t let negative, inefficient habits influence my ability to succeed.
I am solution-oriented and can overcome challenges to accomplish my goals.
I have the capacity to free myself from doubt about my abilities.
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When you’re feeling overwhelmed with your To-Do list or life, you need a little positivity. Head on over to my website and grab my free Positivity Journal: https://patriciabumpass.com/
