There are certain habits you have formed overtime and have classified as a normal part of life. But little do you know that they are habits that prevent you from moving forward and doing great things with your life.
When Jon bellion sang “I begin to realize, my only enemy is me, Kingdom come”
I felt that because I realized that in this life, you might find yourself blaming your parents, your upbringing, your society, the system, the government, and everybody else about your predicament, but yourself.
Without realizing that the only person, or thing, or circumstances that can stop you from being all that you want to be is YOU.
Nothing else! No one else but you!
And this is because you have subjected yourself to habits and mindsets that have prevented you from growing and becoming a better version of yourself over the years.
I will be highlighting some of these unproductive habits in this article.
These are habits you need to stop now before they stop you from being all that you want to be.
What are these Unproductive Habits?
Lack of money discipline
In this age and time, maintaining financial discipline is key in growing and aging well. If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life regretting and wishing, you must learn how to spend wisely, manage your money, save, and invest.
If you’re the type that never plans your money until it finishes, then you will never have sustainable wealth.
It’s not ‘evil’ befalling you when you find out that the moment you get money you finish it in a short amount of time. No!
Most times, it’s your lack of money discipline.
What to do:
- Learn the art of budgeting.
- Plan how you will spend your money before it comes.
- It’s great to save but also learn how to invest. You must not limit your money to saving alone but also learn how to grow your money passively.
- Don’t spend or buy on impulse. Properly plan your spending and make a list of what you want to buy before going shopping.
- Have a money planner. It really helps. You can get a physical one or a digital finance planner. Coming soon on The Avid Planner Shop
Not setting boundaries
One habit that really affects everything else is not setting boundaries. You should set boundaries with people, work, friends, family, with everything and everyone.
Ensure everything is happening on your time and terms.
If you never set boundaries, you will not be able to tell when people are hurting you or affecting your plans.
Setting a boundary is knowing that this is what I like, this is what I don’t like. This is what I expect from you and this is what you should expect from me. By doing this, people will not feel disappointed when they have high expectations of you and you don’t meet up.
Don’t be selfish but don’t please others at the expense of yourself.
Related Posts: How to Plan a Productive Month
The Problem of Productivity Culture: When Productivity Becomes Bad
Stressing yourself
Almost everyone finds themselves in the stress zone every now and then, and somehow, stress is now becoming a normal thing.
People talk about stress like it’s something you have to go through if you’re really hardworking.
Not at all! Stress is not a good thing and it kills.
What to do:
- If you can’t help but feel stressed, take a break every now and then
- Have a great planning strategy for your day-to-day life that includes you taking a rest and doing things you want to do (hobbies)
- Take yourself out of stressful situations (be it family, friends, work, or things). Take a distance from them or avoid them when they get stressful and get back to them later when you’re much better.
Doing a lot of things at once
Many of us are fond of doing many things at once and being boastful about it. But it’s an unproductive habit that must be stopped.
Doing a lot at once will cause you to share your attention with many things.
It will also cause you to feel worn out at the end of the day without achieving anything.
What to do:
- Focus on one thing. Don’t stop until you finish it before going to do another one.
- Plan and schedule your time around 3-4 activities instead of planning to do so much that will eventually make you exhausted.
Not doing the things you love
People will tell you that you cannot relax by watching tv or playing games or doing other fun things but that’s a lie.
Now, it is possible to get addicted to these things and there are times they get too much and become unproductive, but if you do them moderately, it is not bad to love watching tv and playing games.
If watching movies or playing games is your thing, do it. Don’t let anyone tell you how to relax.
If it’s reading a book for you or all of the above.
Do it. Just do what makes you feel relaxed. Something you love and you don’t mind doing for hours. Your mind needs it. Your body needs it.
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This will be the first part of the Unproductive habits articles. Ensure you not only read this but start working on your mind and making changes.
Be on the lookout for the second part of this article soon…
