What Drives Your Productivity?
One of the hardest things for me to do, even under the best of circumstances, is to stay on task. Or, to be more accurate, to get myself started on a single task, and stay there long enough for my innate productivity to manifest.
With my ADD brain, once I get into something, and settle in, I’ll likely stay there for hours, or until it’s done unless jolted out of my latest round of hyper focusing. The challenge is to get myself into the”zone” in the first place and shut off the voice that plays an endless loop of things I want or need to get done.
For example, I threw a load of towels in the washing machine a few days ago, telling myself I’d run it after I finished cleaning so I could wash the rags too. A week later, the cleaning isn’t done, and tonight is my self-designated laundry night; the night I wash all the gym clothes I’ve worn for the last week. I’ve also been promising myself to put drain cleaner in the tub and sink drains in the master bath for at least a week, but again, kept getting sidetracked somewhere between the garage and the bathroom.
Locking the Door on Procrastination
One of the things I’ve learned from 7 years of working from home is to get the chores out of the way when I think of them, and before they start tearing my mind away from writing, client work, and bookkeeping chores. The longer I put off a task I’ve been meaning to get to; be it household chores, an errand, or something for my business, the more it interferes with productivity on all levels.
Conversely, once I get a chore or task out of the way, or at least started, I’m more likely to jump
on the things I’ve been procrastinating, like filling my blog queue for the next 4 weeks. In fact, when the number of articles in my queue slips below 8 on my blog site and 4 on my website, it’s time to review what else I’ve let slip, or keep “forgetting” to do. I know as soon as I put things in motion to eliminate the clog, both literally and figuratively, the whole machine begins to flow more freely.
Procrastination is an evil little gremlin. The more tasks you procrastinate, the more tasks you will procrastinate. In it’s own way, misery loves company, and procrastination breeds more of it’s own kind. Gremlins hate being alone, or so it seems.
Though I haven’t thought of it lately, whenever I’ve been knocking out pages, words, or projects like there’s no tomorrow, it’s been because I: A. Got focused on the task at hand and sent my monkey mind to the playground. And B. Moved a few more things from my To Do list to my Ta-Da list so the aforementioned monkey had less poo to fling at the walls while I’m trying to get stuff done.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
The funny thing is, the tasks that hold me back don’t have to be anything major. If I waited until I got the bathroom and hallway prepped and painted, or the last of the carpet pulled up in my closets, I’d probably never write another word. It seems like it’s the little things that bog me down; a clogged sink, a load of laundry, a panel in the kitchen that keeps falling down, or a pile of clutter somewhere I keep telling myself I’ll go through.
None of it requires a lot of time or attention, yet any or all of these petty annoyances has the power to stop my creativity and motivation, and consequently, productivity in its tracks.
It makes me wonder if I’m alone in being so easily led astray? Do other people have as much trouble starting things when they have small chores and tasks awaiting attention? Or are they able to compartmentalize, and maybe even set a time and place to knock out a few things that might otherwise clog the works? I’d love to learn how to do that. Instead, my squirrel-like brain likes to fling everything around until it looks more imposing than it is.
I guess I’m a mountains out of mole hills kind of gal. But by the same token, I’ve been known to make mountains into mole hills as well. Once I get focused on a goal, I can tune out the world, and even my body’s demands for long periods of time while I make vast inroads into achieving that goal. My first NaNo comes to mind. I’d gotten behind because of Thanksgiving, so one night, I wrote from 10PM until 3AM, and knocked out over 8,000 words! Granted, I’ve never reprised that particular accomplishment, but have been known to work on a project for equally long at times.
Solving the Productivity Dilemma
Looking back at what I’ve written so far, I realize I’ve once again talked myself in a circle, only to 
reach the conclusion that my biggest liability is also my greatest asset. I put things off longer than I should, but once I get motivated, I can achieve huge things in relatively short spans of time. In the last 7 years, I’ve unconsciously tuned into the quality, and minimized the liability with relative success.
Anyone who works for themselves, and spends a lot of time alone either learns what I have, or has an innate ability to prioritize and focus. One such person tried to help me create a calendar with time blocks. Unfortunately, my first pass was, to say the least, ambitious, and left no room for error or unexpected interruptions. When I failed miserably, I gave it up as a lost cause until I figured out a pared down version was both more realistic and achievable.
I still have some of the original schedule on my Google calendar, and most of the time, am pleasantly surprised when I achieve the goals consistently. I’ve learned my personality does better with goals by date rather than daily time blocks, and have adjusted my work schedule accordingly.
Probably the most important lesson I learned was to be gentle with myself when I miss a deadline. Periods of inactivity are always followed by periods of major productivity when I conquer all my demons and not only get caught up, but often ahead of myself. In the end, it all works out perfectly. It isn’t anyone else’s idea of perfection or productivity, but it works for me, and isn’t that all you really want anyway?
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.
If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
