Lack of Productivity or Getting Things Done is really about lack of progress or growth.  When we aren’t progressing or growing, we are maintaining the status quo… left too long, this is a great way to become bored, unhappy, and unfulfilled.

Here is what I think are the 4 Major Contributors to lack of productivity… in essence, this answers the question:

WHAT causes me not to get things done?

1. Time ‘Vampires’ - low impact activites that suck lifeblood (seconds) away slowly but surely. 

• Socially Acceptable Time Wasters with Unclear Time Limits and/or Objectives (ie. meetings, lunches, golf tournaments – yes, I belive even golf tournaments should have some purpose in them other than a free day away from the office)
• Responding Reflexively to Interuptions as they happen (ie. e-mail alert gongs – YEAH!  I HAVE 1 NEW MESSAGE! SWEET!, unscreened phone calls)
• Ridiculously Unproductive Habits that Resemble a Crack Habit (like checking E-Mail 50x per day… seriously, you might as well just buy heroin) 
• General Go-To Time Wasters with No Objective or Time Limit (mindless tv, web surfing, blog reading, social media networks – start doing this and try to stop… you can’t… bring some potato chips while you do this.)
• Number and Length of Set/Scheduled Commitments (5 mins before it starts, how pumped are you about attending your 9th scheduled meeting of the day?)

2. “To Do List” Problems

• To Do List is non existent - you exist completely in reactive mode.
• To Do List is not ranked by Importance (too long, lacks 80/20-ing, no connection with overall goals)

3. “Next Steps/Actions” Problems 

• Overestimate Time to Complete - (‘That’s pretty important so I should have it done by 2019.’) 
  • Parkinson’s Law (we attribute more time to completion as items increase in importance… usually, this just causes a delay in getting started)
• Next Action not clear (without this, it’s really easy to see a steep mountain in front of you called ‘Mt. Do It Tomorrow’)

4. USER (ie. YOU and ME) Issues

• Lack of Overall Energy
  • Sleep, improper nutrition, sporadic exercise, lacking renewing or recharging activities (not fueling yourself with high grade gasoline will cause a transmission failure)
  • No Downtime – constant action/motion leading to energy depletion.

• Distracting and Debilitating Mindsets

  • General Negativity/Cynicism/Discontent (not knowing what the heck you are doing is like a mind cancer)
  • Mind distractions/drains (thoughts focused on your poor health, relationship struggle, or debt suck up motivation and productivity like a sponge)
  • All or Nothing Thinking – 1 thing goes wrong so the whole day is shot (throwing away a whole day, week, or year over a failure makes absolutely no sense)
  • Stacking – a disruption (lack of morning routine, traffic) or conflict that stacks (like a teapot ready to blow due to pressure)  
• Environmental Roadblocks 
  • Cluttered home, office, desk, computer, or e-mail (look at your desk or e-mail inbox and confidently tell me that these are 100% organized)
  • Lacking, broken, or inappropriate tools such as computer software, phone, etc.  (Is there stuff in your home or office that doesn’t work because you haven’t changed the batteries??!!)

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing a series of posts on what I think is even more important than the ‘WHAT?’ list above… which is ’WHY?’:

WHY do we let productivity zappers prevent us from achieving and moving forward in our lives?

Feel free to comment below on WHAT causes lack of productivity in your life.