Thinking Slows Down Your Productivity
Wait a Minute Here
I thought I might get some of you to take a second look. Let me explain.
Stressed out people are not productive People
There are many ways to get stressed out. I will just address one or two here, as they pertain to this topic. The heart of any attempt to get more done and be more productive lies in you investing time in planning, preparing and getting organized prior to expending any energy. When you add all of this preplanning activity up, it sounds suspiciously like thinking, doesn’t? So what is the catch?
Have you ever had a large task looming ahead of you? You know it’s coming, you dread it and you stress out about it. That is the kind of thinking that slows you down, makes you ineffective and negatively impacts your productivity. It is also the kind of thinking that separates the people who have a plan from those that do not. The planning process starts a long time before this dreaded large task is due. By putting your faith in your planning process, you can avoid this paralyzing fear that turns all of us into walking zombies.
The Bungee Cord Will Not Break, Trust Me
I’m not sure what posses people to jump off a bridge and plunge hundreds of feet and do this on the basis that someone told them that the cord that stops them from splattering into the cement will not break. That’s trust. That is the kind of faith and trust you have to have in the systems and policies you have put into place to operate by. When you have that kind of faith and trust, then you will not be in a position to fear large tasks looming in front t of you because you will have prepared yourself for their arrival and be well ahead of the curve.
I’m using a large task only as an example here. It could be any stress-or; a meeting, an appointment with a new client, a deadline for submitting a report, anything that causes you to think about it and then basically do nothing concrete about it.
Thinking About Something And Then Doing Nothing About It Is Worse Than Not Thinking At All
At least ignorance is bliss. Sometimes I almost admire the people who seem to be able to just drift through life without getting wound up or worked up about things, the way I seem to do. I’m not sure if being “On” all the time is the best way to go. I did mention that I admire them sometimes, didn’t I?
If you want to give yourself any kind of chance to be as productive as you should be, you have to get yourself believing and then working with a system that will give you the tools to plan, organize and then implement those plans. The step we are dealing with here is taking the thought process you have and making sure that it gets turned into productive actions. The damage is done to you and your overall results when you just fret about something and then do nothing about it. That’s the process that does more damage than good, a great deal more damage than good.
Good Thinking versus Bad Thinking
Good thinking is done within the confines of a system that will channel your thinking and turn it into productive actions. Bad thinking is just aimless thoughts that end up going nowhere and create anxiety and stress. If something is important enough for you to invest your time in thinking about it, it’s important enough for you to take it to the next level. The next level does not mean you have to rush out and do it, far from it. You have to deal with it in a fashion that it does not hover over you and distract you from doing what you are doing right now. This area is a topic that can be covered in a book, not properly dealt with here. I will spend a few moments on it because it is a cornerstone issue.
How we handle the massive amount of things we would like to do in our lives dictates how well we do in life. Handling, processing and dealing well with our wish list in life, and we probably end up doing as well as can be expected. Handle our wish list poorly, and then we know that things will not work out the best for us. The short answer to what constitutes handling our wish list well is not allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by it. Taking charge of our wish list means being in charge, dictating what happens when it happens. That is the reason we want to use Time Management and Productivity Maximizing systems, policies and procedures to enable us to set and drive our own agendas.
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Bryan Beckstead is the creator of the Power Empowerment Group and has been involved in the Time Management and Productivity industries for almost 35 years. If you are really serious about improving your quality of life, visit him at http://www.powerempowerment.com
FREE E-Book, Power Time System’s Top 100 Time Management Tips.
Go to http://powerempowerment.com/top-100-time-management-irrefutables.html
Posted By tyna 
Sep 30, 2009 
this piece is moving. very practical.