Overthinking Can Be The Demise of Your Productivity

When you create a plan, are you overthinking the steps needed to reach the end goal? Does your research go on forever? Does your plan need to be perfect before you take action? Are the tasks so complicated that you just don't want to perform them?

If any of the above questions resonate with you, you may need to rethink your planning process. Perfectionism and procrastination are the enemies of productivity. There is no such thing as perfect and good enough gets the job done. Think about what motivates you - listening to music, a reward as you complete a task, inspirational quotes, whatever it is for you to stay on track to avoid procrastination.

You have an idea of something that needs to be done and you know you need a plan. A plan is a roadmap of sorts to help you get from point A-creating a plan, to point B-the end goal. It's important to have a plan. When you go on a road trip, you wouldn't begin your journey without mapping out the route, would you?

When you create a plan, you need to start with an end goal. Think about what your idea would look like if it were complete, that's the end goal. You may not understand what tasks need to be done to reach that end goal, so you start researching the idea.

The research phase may continue longer than necessary if you're overthinking what needs to be done. When you keep the plan simple, it's more likely that you will reach the end goal in a timely manner. During your research you may find several ways to accomplish the same thing. Don't linger on deciding on an option, make a decision. Set a limit on the time spent researching the options.

At the end of the research phase, you will have a list of tasks required to reach the end goal, and you should have an idea of the priority of the tasks or steps. Decide on the start date; this is when your project will begin with the first step.

The research may not have provided the amount of time needed to complete some or all of the tasks. This could be problematic if you've never performed these tasks before. This is another area where overthinking can delay getting to the implementation piece of the plan. Factor in what you believe to be a realistic time to complete each task, then add some time as a learning curve.

Schedule all of the steps in a planner - paper or electronic, whichever works best for you. Your plan, or roadmap is now ready for you to put into action to reach your end goal. If it doesn't look perfect, or you're not feeling ready to start, remember that perfectionism and procrastination are the enemies of productivity. Stop overthinking the wonderful work you just completed and take action to reach your end goal.

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Win The Day

The concept of "win the day" has caught some attention in recent years. The University of Oregon and their former coach, Chip Kelly, used it to motivate their players to stay on task each and every day. It's really pretty simple, but for many of us, including myself, we struggle with the execution of it.

We struggle doing the small tasks daily, that will make a big difference for the goal we're trying to accomplish. But why is that? The only way to truly answer that, is to look at yourself right now, and to figure out what's stopping you from winning the day and getting you one step closer to accomplishing your goal.

Set a goal, create a plan to achieve it, then go to work. That's easy to say and even write, but for a lot of us, we fail at one of those stages. Maybe even all of those stages. We might do well at setting the goal but fail to create a plan on achieving it. Or we might create a plan but fail at executing it. That's where "win the day" comes into play.

Take a look at your day. What will it take today to win it? Keep in mind that to win, you only have to be 1 point or 1% better. So for example, if you break out your day into 10 actions, then you only have to complete 6 of those to win the day. And if you do that 4 out of the 7 days in a week, then you win the week. If you do that 16 days out of 30 days in a month, then you win the month, so on and so forth.

You can see how that will add up quickly and build up confidence on the goal you're trying to accomplish. We often think that success comes down to one big moment, but in reality, it comes down to thousands of smaller moments. Moments that you can either attack and try to win, or moments you can choose to skip and decide to tell yourself you'll do it later. That decision may not seem like a big deal, but it's add up, and eventually, it will bite you. Think about it as compound interest. Over time, if applied correctly, your daily actions will eventually build enough of a foundation that it's not possible for you to fail, at least in the traditional sense.

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." - Vince Lombardi

This is such a powerful quote from the late Vince Lombardi, who has coached, hundreds if not thousands of individual winners as well as created several winning teams. The power of winning and what it can do for your confidence is such an amazing thing.

Here's 5 habits all winners share:* 

1. Winners have positive self-esteem - Self esteem is a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth.
2. Winners are optimistic - Optimism is expecting the most favorable result from your actions. Winners not only think positively, they obsess about it.
3. Winners have positive self motivation - Focus on where you want to go instead of the obstacles in your path. Drive and persistence will take you to your desired destination. Don't allow fear to restrict or defeat your goals.
4. Winners have a high internal standard - With a high internal standard you're driven from within and not affected by what others think or the outcome of the situation.
5. Winners have positive self discipline - You may be motivated to succeed but you have to constantly work toward your goals. Practice, practice, practice. Excellence isn't a one week or one year ideal. It's a constant.

Everyone of us can be a winner, but you have to be committed to continuous growth and improvement. Athletes of all ages can be and should be taught this. We all know that for most of us, sports will eventually stop, but the value of learning to become a winner can be applied to all aspects of our life.

Losers complain. Winners train and gain. Losers seek attention. Winners earn respect. Losers blame others for their problems. Winners find solutions. Losers live in the past. Winners learn from their past to better their futures.

It's time to get excited about YOUR dreams and to take responsibility for YOUR decisions. Break out your day into smaller actions and start WINNING THE DAY!

*Some of this information was taken from SlideShare.net, "Psychology Of The Winner"

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Declutter Your Life, Change Your World

Decluttering and organizing your surroundings can be life-altering - lifting the weight of the possessions, papers, digital clutter and commitments that burden you can open your space and mind to opportunities that were previously obscured. This month I offer a few simple tips to help you start to experience the peacefulness that comes with decluttering some key areas of your life. Keep in mind that organizing for the long term involves more than just clearing the clutter, but experiencing some quick victories will most likely motivate you to dig in deeper and create a lifetime of benefits.

Possessions: Answer these questions about each item or category of items to decide whether or not to hold onto them:

· When did I use this last?

· Am I likely to use it again?

· Why don't I use it more often?

· Do I love it?

· What would happen if I got rid of it?

· Does this enhance my life?

Papers: For each paper (sorry but yes, you do have to look at each one - you wouldn't want to toss the birth certificate that got mixed in with the grocery store ad, right?), ask if it's a WASTE:

Is it Worthwhile?

Will I use it Again?

Can I find it Somewhere else?

Will anything happen if I Toss it?

Do I need the Entire document or magazine?

Digital Information: Declutter your digital life the same way as your physical life - make a decision about each item to determine whether or not you need it. Store similar information (you get to decide what that means to you) together. For email, unsubscribe from newsletters (except this one!), blogs, social media feeds, ads, etc. that aren't essential or don't enhance your life.

Commitments: Decluttering your commitments means saying "no" to demands on your time that aren't essential or beneficial. Evaluate your appointments and other obligations against your goals and note which aren't in alignment with who you are, who you want to be, or where you want to go in life. Create a plan to eliminate or minimize those commitments - make a call, send an email, find your replacement, resign at the end of your current term, find a way to do it more efficiently, etc. Don't just go with the flow - take charge and eliminate what's getting in the way of you living your best life.

Although creating and implementing a plan to get and stay organized is more involved than simply decluttering, I hope the ideas noted here will help you see that there is a path to a simpler, less burdensome life. I wish you success on your journey.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Declutter-Your-Life,-Change-Your-World&id=9453399