5 Productivity Myths That Need Busting

I know what you're thinking. “Will I ever stop talking about productivity?” The answer is no. Productivity is one of my favourite things to talk about and, sometimes, even get a little aggravated over. Like the myths about it, for instance. Today, I want to debunk the top 5 myths about productivity that are wasting your time, money, and energy, and show you what you can do instead that's actually valuable.

👉🏾 Multi-tasking 

I think this is my favourite, and by “favourite” I mean I roll my eyes the hardest when this one gets suggested as an actual viable option to being more productive. The problem is, when it comes to multitasking in our personal life, we don’t really need to give 100% of our attention to the tasks. Some things will not get computed in our brain and some things won’t be remembered the next day. Nothing really is going to go to go wrong because of that divided attention. But it will in your brand. You literally cannot (it’s math, y’all) give 100% of your attention to more than one thing at any given time. If you are multitasking, then at least more than one thing (depending on how many tasks you’re trying to get done at the same time) is going to suffer.

Try this instead. I recommend batching if you truly want to “multitask”. You still aren’t really multitasking, but when you group similar tasks together you can work on more than one “project” at the same time. For instance, batch taking photos for your blog, writing subject lines for your emails, or emailing back clients.

👉🏾Tackling the biggest item first

We like to think that if we get the biggest thing knocked out for the day then we will feel super-powered to go through the rest of our tasks. Bananas. First of all, the biggest task often takes the most energy and leaves us feeling exhausted and ready for a break once it’s done. But, the biggest task most likely won’t actually get done in one day (probably because it’s the biggest) so we then don’t end up getting anything else done because the big task isn’t complete yet. Ugh, makes no sense, right? So then we end up working on the biggest task only for multiple days or weeks in a row and we’re flabbergasted when nothing else is getting done...

Try this instead. I recommend using the snowball effect. Knock out a bunch of tiny tasks right off the bat. If you start your day with 8 things and you’re able to knock off 5 of those at the very beginning or one right after another, you’re going to feel mega powered to keep going. I also recommend breaking that “big task” into smaller chunks if you haven’t already. Chances are you’re trying to tackle too many things already, so break it down. Then snowball those tinier tasks to see progress and pat yourself on the back.

👉🏾 Trying to power through

This, I think, is the number one myth that we all advocate (myself included). Whether you’re trying to power through lunch, a sick day, or late night, or when your creativity has shut off, it sucks. It leads to mediocre results that you most likely have to end up redoing anyways. We tell ourselves that if we “just get one more thing done” we can stop. That always leads to “one more thing” and “one more thing” to get done. It never, ever ends. 

Try this instead. I recommend giving yourself some grace by setting alarms for lunch and when you want to stop for the day. I know that a lot of you are working on your creative passions after your day job, but you need limits too. I know a creative who works a 9-5 and comes home to work in the studio. Once she realised she was staying up till 2am, she had to set some limits. She has an alarm on her phone now that goes off around 10pm that reminds her to go to bed. It helps her get out of the zone for a bit and take notice of how long she’s been working.

👉🏾 Being "busy"

Oh, this is a good one. The “I’m sooooooo busy” myth. We hear this from everybody, regardless of what they do. We think that if someone has 1,000 tasks to do everyday that they must be more productive than we are. It’s a flat out lie. Yes, there are busy seasons (I'm just wrapping one up now). There will be times when your schedule is more crazy than you’d like. Recognizing that this is temporary is key. Being intentional about getting out of it is important. We also like to kind of beat ourselves up when we don’t feel busy. Here’s a spoiler alert: the more organized and productive you are, the less you will feel “busy”, but the more you will actually be getting done. If you have free time in your schedule because you intentionally organize your day to get a lot done, that’s okay. Keep it free. Give yourself some space!

Try this instead. It may be time to see what a project management system can do for you. Personally, I love Asana as I'm able to keep my task breakdowns, in order and set achievable deadlines that I can confident work towards. 

👉🏾 Learning without the actionNo matter where you are with your brand, you'll always  feel like there’s something you need to learn that will make your life better. I get it. I’ve fallen victim to course overload too. Here’s the mistake: if you’re buying, buying, buying, but not taking action, there’s a problem. We like to look at everything that’s out there as the solution to our current issue. We think that next purchase will be the answer to our problems. It can only be the answer if you have time to soak it in!

Try this instead. I recommend that with every purchase, make sure you have time in your schedule to not only go through the program, but to turn around and actually implement the things it taught you. I also think you should truly gut check yourself and ask if what’s taught inside that thing you want to buy is in line with your end goals. Will it actually help you reach something that’s on your list or is it fluff?

Are you guilty of believing one (or all) of these myths? Don't be ashamed to say yes because we've all been there. When I realised this wasn't the way to do things, I saw a major increase in my overall productivity - and you can too!