{"id":4617,"date":"2010-11-29T21:40:30","date_gmt":"2010-11-30T05:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2013-09-30T12:19:22","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T20:19:22","slug":"is-this-common-misconception-about-productivity-holding-you-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/is-this-common-misconception-about-productivity-holding-you-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Is This Common Misconception About Productivity Holding You Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

I was sitting at my computer. Time to be productive!<\/p>\n

So I browsed to my blog, ready to start writing a world-shattering blog post. Except I felt a bit tired, and decided to check my e-mail before starting writing. And then I checked facebook. And then reddit.<\/p>\n

Next thing I know, it’s two hours later, and I still haven’t done anything. Oops!<\/p>\n

I used to do this nearly daily for I don’t know how long. Then, one day, I got fed up with shooting myself in the foot like that, and decided to dig into my mind to figure out why I’m killing my productivity like that. And I found a… surprising answer.<\/p>\n

And then, talking to others, I found out that many people make exactly the same mistake. So I’m writing this post, in hopes that you can learn from my experience. Onwards, my friends!<\/p>\n

My erroneous belief about productivity<\/h3>\n

My whole problem stemmed from a deep-seated<\/em> belief that I need to be busy in order to be productive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, if you’ve been reading personal development blogs for a while, you will know that just because you’re busy, it doesn’t mean you’re being productive.<\/p>\n

But the converse isn’t true either! You don’t necessarily need to be busy in order to be productive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong> (If you have a grasp of elementary logic, you will know the two statements above aren’t logically equivalent. If you can’t see it, just take my word for it ;).)<\/p>\n

And so, when it was afternoon and I was quite tired, but still wanted to get some work done in the day… based on my beliefs, I sat down at the computer because I believed I needed to be busy to be productive.<\/p>\n

Which was stupid. <\/strong>I didn’t have the energy to do anything useful, and I only ended up wasting time.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, I should have seen it earlier. In high school, one of my least favourite classes was chemistry. Not because of the subject – I actually really liked it. But we often had chemistry late in the day, and our teacher always insisted on us looking<\/em> busy. She couldn’t understand that taking some 5-10 minutes to shut my eyes would let me recharge my batteries and do useful work for the rest of the lesson. Instead, she insisted that I be busy the whole time, which would leave me in a brain-dead pretending-to-be-doing-something limbo for the whole lesson.<\/p>\n

And unwittingly, I ended up absorbing that belief and doing the same to myself, years later. Shucks!<\/p>\n

Your time off is often more<\/em> productive than your busy-time<\/h3>\n

So what’s a more useful belief? That taking some time off to relax can be far<\/em> more productive than doing busywork<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

In my case, I learned that when I want to do some work but feel tired, the most productive thing is to get some rest. Sometimes I take a 20-minute power nap<\/a>. Sometimes I just lie around and think.<\/p>\n

Either way, my brain gets the rest it was demanding, and I can soon be back to doing productive stuff!<\/p>\n

The key point here is that the brain-dead limbo you find yourself in by forcing yourself to be busy doesn’t allow your brain to rest properly! You’re neither being productive, nor getting some rest.<\/p>\n

If you’re doing any mind-intensive work, the time off is often just as valuable as the time you spend working. There’s a reason the great minds of the past (like Einstein, or Newton) have spent a lot<\/em> of time just daydreaming and thinking about stuff. Your brain needs time to process and organize your thoughts.<\/p>\n

So take a deep breath, and allow yourself to relax.<\/p>\n

Because taking a break is often the most<\/em> productive thing you could be doing.<\/p>\n

Vlad Dolezal writes Fun Life Development<\/a>, a blog about making personal development fun. Check it out for personal development advice that’s fun and easy to implement, or follow Vlad on twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain On Twitter!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How To Increase Self Discipline<\/a><\/p>\n

How To Motivate Yourself<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now, if you’ve been reading personal development blogs for a while, you will know that just because you’re busy, it doesn’t mean you’re being productive.<\/p>\n

But the converse isn’t true either! You don’t necessarily need to be busy in order to be productive. 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