If you feel that you are not focused and have a lack of confidence. Then remove these 13 habits from your lifestyle.

Multi-Tasking

While it may seem like a great idea to be focusing on multiple tasks at first, everyone loves to feel like they are getting a lot of things completed. The thing about multitasking is as much as everyone wants to do it, it starts to kill your productivity. This is because when you switch your focus from one project to another time after time you are taking concentration from your brain and diverting it. Just like moving from one house to another house, you spend a TON of time moving the things, your brain essentially spend a lot of time trying to change your focus

Once you start working on a project try and keep working on it until you are finished, you can take breaks occasionally if needed, but do not quit until completion. Doing this will help your brain zero-in and focus fully on what you are working on. By doing this you will be able to complete the project with greater precision and then you will be able to move onto the next project. Don’t be a flashlight… Be a laser!

Being A Perfectionist

Being a perfectionist is probably one of the most important habits to work on. Yes, it is important to try your hardest and put your best effort towards your work, but you do not need to be perfect. Just remember, “Your 80% is someone’s 100%”. Because those little extra efforts that take hours might not matter to your audience. Using the 80/20 rule, if it takes an hour to get to 80%, it’ll take 4 hours to get to 100%. You shouldn’t stop at 80% on everything, for example… I want my car brakes to work 100% of the time, but with most work, you can stop when you’re around 80%. You paint a picture of me 80% to perfection will be 100% perfection to me because I’m not going to see the tiny flaws. When you start to feel yourself getting stressed out by trying to make something perfect go ahead and stop and take a break.

Saying “Yes” All The Time

Saying yes to every request you get might feel like a great thing, because why would you want to tell someone no and possibly let your peers down? But think of it like this, you are saying yes to every request that is coming your way and you are getting exhausted. The next person that comes to you and asks you for help, but you know that you are exhausted and have a full schedule. Though it might feel rude to tell someone “NO” if it is out of your capabilities and you know you cannot put your best work into it. Just kindly tell them that you are not able to do it because you would not be able to give them your best work. They will respect you more in the end.

Checking Social Media

Checking Social Media throughout the day is an instant productivity killer. Similar to checking your Email, the same concept applies to Social Media. When you are constantly diverting your focus to social media you are taking your focus and productivity away from the tasks that need completed and giving it to something that really doesn’t need your attention. If you want to increase your productivity you need to limit yourself to social media to certain times during the day just like Emails.

Over Planning

Many people think that if they cram their days with loads of tasks, then they will be able to squeeze the most amount of every bit of time they have. While it is very good to be ambitious with our todo list, it is very bad to over plan your day.

See, you never know what will come up in your schedule so you really do not know if you can actually complete everything. It is best to plan for around 6-7 hours of constant workflow and productivity. This is so you have room to be flexible while getting all your prioritized tasks complete. I suggest having 3-5 main projects during the day and focusing on these major goals. Don’t make them easy like doing laundry, but make them something that contributes to your monthly goals like reading, practicing your craft, or working on a side hustle.

Inconsistent Sleep Schedule

Having an inconsistent sleep schedule is one of the best ways to kill your productivity. When you are constantly switching the time you’re falling asleep and waking up you’re not letting your body get into a habit. This is especially bad because you don’t know how to handle your days, maybe you are tired one day and awake the next. Your energy cycles will change day to day and you won’t truly know what you can accomplish each day.

Once you start adding consistency to your sleep schedule, you will better be able to train your body to know when to work hard and when to rest.

Overworking Yourself

We think that the more we work and the more we push our limits the more we can get done. This is especially common in the businesses ecosphere, we want to show our boss that we can do any task they put us too, or show the world we really can do what we want. While that is great and all… we need to know our limits and when we are about to overwork ourselves.

What a lot of people forget is that the brain grows when we rest, so it is completely necessary to take breaks and vacations. This is the time our brain will be able to rebuild itself and cultivate even more productivity for when we come back to crush it.

Not Having A Routine

Just like not having a consistent sleep routine, not have a general routine is just as bad. Some of the highest earners live by their simple daily routines. When you have a routine throughout the day, you can better control how your day starts. When you control how your day starts, you can get even more done because you feel great. Consistency is key.

Another great thing about having a routine is we limit our amount of choices in the morning, so we can reserve those decisions for our creative work. Don’t make the decision to go on a morning run, be like the Nike slogan and just do it.

Not Drinking Enough Water

Studies have shown that just a 1% dehydration loss can lead up to a 12% loss in productivity. This is a lot if you are trying to maximize your productivity during the day. The reason water is so important to us… is not because our body is 60%, but because when we start becoming dehydrated, we start to experience symptoms that can kill our productivity. These symptoms can be dizziness, mental fatigue, problems with information processing, and a whole slew of others.

One of the best practices to make sure this doesn’t happen is to carry a water bottle around with you and always be filling it up. This will make sure that you are hydrated and focused.

Quitting on the uncomfortable things

One of the biggest killers of your productivity is quitting on the things that make you uncomfortable. These items that you want to do, but feel impossible, are from that little voice in your head.

When you notice that you are about to quit stop for a moment and just countdown from 5. This is great because it tells your brain that you want to do it and you will better be able to make a decision. Neuroscience shows that we can look at people’s brains and tell right when they are about to give up on a physical task. We can use this information to tell someone “You’re about to give up, try lasting a minute longer”, and they will push past the point they would have originally given up

Not Managing Stress

One of the worst times to try and be productive is when we feel like we have all these different things stacked on our shoulders. We can feel that the world is almost falling at our feet if you want to be more productive with your time you need to start managing this stress in a healthy way.

A great way to deal with stress in your life is to sign up to your local gym. This is not only a great way to battle your stress, but also build your body up to a healthier profile. Another tip is to find a friend that you trust and talk with them. Sometimes just letting out your worries into the world will lift the weight off of your shoulders. Most of the time your fears are irrational.

Skipping Meals

The number of ways that our bodies and minds connect is mind-blowing. This is why skipping your morning breakfast could immediately lead you to sabotage your productivity. The reason breakfast can become an important part of your day is because when you eat breakfast it helps jumpstart your metabolism levels and replenishes your blood sugar. If you start your morning without breakfast you have the possibility of feeling sluggish and tired. Some people also believe in intermittent fasting, which works very well for me. I don’t eat for 4-6 hours after I wake up and it really helps my productivity. With my experience, on meals you should experiment on yourself in a safe way – try intermittent fasting for a week and see if it works for you!

Comparing yourself to others

The last killer of our productivity is our constant obsession with comparing ourselves to others. The reason this is such an issue is that we compare ourselves to people who are not in the same situation as us or is not in the same place we are.

We constantly think we need to be doing something someone else is doing when ultimately we all have different skill sets that make us productive and 110% ourselves. Next time you feel like you are comparing yourself just take a moment and think that you are building your own life and building yourself up and not someone else. Just have some faith in yourself