7 habits that are killing your daily performance

Some days you are more productive, while other days the only thing you can focus on is your weekend plans. What influences our productivity and possibly even kills it?

To get the best out of your day and to be the most productive as you can imagine, you need to be conscious about some of the factors that determine your performance:

1. Not having enough time for your morning routines

Even forgetting to brush your teeth in the morning can lower your productivity at work. (Source)

During the morning, our bodies are still trying to wake up. Experiencing a lot stress—running around the apartment trying not to forget everything you need to take to work, and at the same time brushing your teeth and trying to make coffee—causes us to be less productive during the rest of the day.

Mornings should be constructive and not stressful. If you see that you don’t have enough time in at the start of the day for all of your activities and routines, try to wake up earlier. Your body will be truly grateful, and you will feel the benefit in a week.

2. Not eating breakfast

Don’t forget to eat your breakfast too if you want to do well throughout the workday. (Source)

A lot of people skip breakfast because they don’t have time and think they can wait until lunch break at work. They say they are simply not hungry in the morning. However, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. During the night your body is in a so-called “fasting period” and it is important to get some fuel for it in the morning.

Breakfast also has a lot of health benefits, such as reduced obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and so on. Of course, don’t start your day eating last night’s pizza—that’s bad-quality fuel for your body, especially in the morning.

Oatmeal is a better option—just heat it while you’re in the shower and it will be ready once you’re done. Another great option is fruit, which you can eat even on your way to work.

3. Having your phone in front of you at work

Even placing your phone in front of you as you work can put a dent in your productivity. (Source)

This sound so innocent, doesn’t it? What if there’s an emergency, or there’s something urgent? When you’re in a good flow and you decide to check your phone, you are ruining that flow, and it will take you a long time to get back if you manage it at all.

On average, it takes a person around 30 minutes to get into the flow they were on before checking their phone. Of course, from time to time everyone needs a short break in their work day, but you have to be conscious about it.

Don’t keep your phone on a table next to you. For the sake of your productivity, resist the urge! Turn off even the vibration, and check your phone only on planned breaks.

4. “Innocently” peeking at what’s new in your social media feeds

Just a glimpse at your social media feeds can disrupt you out of your workflow. (Source)

“There’s a new notification. I will only look at what’s that about.” You might have probably thought this a thousand times. Well, here’s the thing: the only person you are lying to is yourself. How long did you spend on there this time around?

Yes, keeping in touch with your friends and family is important, but the hours we spend on our phones within a day should also be cause for concern.

Avoid this performance-killing habit by reducing the time you devote to social media.

5. Working through your lunch break

Do not work while on your lunch break to give your mind some time to rest. (Source)

We are not machines. It is important to plan your breaks and have one. People sometimes do not take their breaks seriously and still work on something else rather than have lunch or take a few minutes off to rest. During this period your body just gets more tired.

Imagine how your body is feeling after you have been sitting for the whole day. This is not good for you—your metabolism is decreasing, and you have a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Do yourself a favor and use your lunch break for a real break. What would also help is to stand up and have a short break at least once in an hour—drink some water, or simply walk around the room.

6. Being an owl on the weekend

Do not forget to have enough rest on the weekends to keep your body’s rhythm intact. (Source)

For our bodies, it is critical to have a rhythm and a schedule. If you wake up every day at 7 AM, after a while it will become natural for your body to wake up at that time. The same goes for your sleeping arrangements. If you go to bed every day at 11 PM, your body will get used to it, and you will start being sleepy around that time. This is great—routines makes it easier for your body to know at what time of the day you need to be the most concentrated and productive.

So what happens on the weekends when you stay up late? There’s a big possibility that you will ruin the whole routine that your body worked for and to which it got used to. It might think that the routine is changing and it’s confused as to which routine to follow.

7. Using your phone in bed at night

Using your phone before bedtime can make sleeping a little difficult because of the light from the phone. (Source)

You might be one of those people who can’t go to sleep without checking their phones first. It’s not wrong; after all, this time is for you, maybe even the only time in your busy day when you can honestly forget about all of the problems that occurred throughout the day.

But what happens is—this kind of activity not only consumes way more time than you think, but the light from your phone which you are exposed to prevents your brain from releasing a hormone that tells your body that it’s night time. Being on your phone too much before bed means you are delaying sleep, which is not good for your body.

To conclude, all of these bad habits are connected to your time management and self-discipline. It is easy to lose yourself on your phone or social media, or all those little (unimportant) tasks that you thought will only take up a few minutes, which then expands to hours.

The key is to be aware of what you’re doing in detriment to your health and productivity. With proper planning, all these bad habits can be eliminated from your daily routine.

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.