Ever felt that surge of energy while you are watching that inspiring movie or reading that awesome line somewhere that filled you with positivity and goodness. You are motivated to do things, all charged up to jump right into the action, but then you are in the middle of something so you wait, and start thinking more about it. And sometimes you end up being charged and motivated and really progressing towards change, but more often than not you sleep on your enthusiasm and wake up next morning feeling lost again.

More than we realize, everything is in our control. We could accomplish almost anything we want to if we make a serious plan to achieve our goals. But it’s easier said than done. Most of us have no clue about anything that’s going on in our life. Maybe because no one explicitly pointed out the wrong patterns we are following. Because maybe these habits are so subtle and so non-noticeable, that nobody felt the need to.  But let me tell you. These are important habits. And they can change your life once you correct them. So let me make an attempt. Here is the list:

• Not writing things down
• Not following a schedule
• No time allotted for thinking.

Yes! Just three habits. Change them and you can double your productivity.

Let me elucidate:

No writing things down:

We have goals but we don’t write them. We think they’d always remain. They remain, but they change. We have ideas which we think are the most important ones. And since they are important, we believe we won’t ever forget them. We don’t mostly. Just that they become less important in our life as they have to make space for new ideas.

Writing things is a commitment to do things. And we are afraid to make this commitment with ourselves. So we make excuses. Or sometimes just ignore its importance. But let me tell you. Writing down things is the single most important thing to one can do to begin doing things. It’s the first step. It’s like laying the first brick.

Also when you put a tick mark on the list you are creating on daily / monthly / yearly basis, you get a sense of achievement. This sense of fulfillment propels you to do your next task.

Inadvertently everyone is making a list our mind about the things we are encountering on daily basis and on the aspirational front, but writing it down makes things official. It’s committing to things that get them done. Most importantly it’s what you want to do, rather than letting universe ( your boss, girlfriend, parents etc ) decide a random task for you. So the next time you are not making a list of the things you have to do, you are letting your life getting determined by your circumstances and not by your decisions.

Not following a schedule:

So we have decided upon doing certain things and have written them down. But then our friend calls us for a party, so we go ahead thinking we’d start later. Then we drink a little. Because Carpe diem. So by the time, we return we are tired. Next day we begin afresh, but without our knowing, we start browsing through our timeline on FB. Then we see some interesting picture about some friend getting married and we call another friend to gossip around it. Ok, we know how this story goes.

The point is since we didn’t decide upon a schedule, we never end up making it and ultimately fizzling out the life of our goals. What happens, in the end, is how group presentations were made in B-School. We choose to be mediocre in the limited time we have and complete it to check-mark our list, knowing we could have been great. We don’t enjoy that. We haven’t given our best shot. It’s like this we carry out most of our lives.

Also making a schedule helps you realize the value of time, making you more efficient. You can incorporate more things into your daily routine. It’s important to form a schedule of things. Virat Kohli does it. Sachin did it. Barack Obama. Bill Gates. any celebrity, sports, political or business leader you pick up. They’d be on a schedule. Yet we forget to make one for ourself.

We just go on with our work. Whatever becomes urgent becomes our priority. It’s pretty simple though if you think about it. You just have to decide in your mind the order of the things you’ve already written.

Not taking out time to think:

But we don’t think.

We’d work our ass out. We’d follow all the rules. We’d depict sincerity with our work. But we won’t give ourselves time to think. Even when you have made schedule, thinking would not figure on that list.

“We think all the time”. That’s our logic for not making thinking an activity. We feel guilty for doing nothing. Happens a lot with me. But let’s think of it this way. As human beings, ability to think is our most precious gift, something that differentiates us from rest of the species.  And if we are not using that ability consciously, we are accepting to be treated like animals. So, people who keep complaining about having a robotic life in the office and complaining about how they don’t have time for anything, the problem is- “Sir, you are not devoting enough time to think”

I read somewhere that most successful people mark a meeting with themselves on their calendar. That’s the level of seriousness they have about spending time with themselves.

Also while we might be thinking all the time and have all the awareness about our problems, they may never come out to the surface unless we give them special attention. It’s like the commitment thing again. Here you are committing that “hey problem, I have come to realize that you are special, and I will resolve you now”. Half the time our problems withers by this proclamation alone.

So that’s all I had to say about the three habits. ( or one?). Well, they all lead to better planning. Which leads to better execution. So good luck! Conquer these three bad habits and discover a better you. Also, share your new found wisdom with your friends if you found this useful.