Just the other day, I came across this quote…
“You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
And it makes me think deeply. What is the difference between highly productive people who went on to achieve amazing success in life and those who are living in mediocrity?
Do high achievers approach and go through their days differently than most people?
And if the answer is yes, then what do they do to become so effective and productive that they are able to achieve outstanding results in life?
After doing some reading and research on the internet. I found that highly productive people DO share common habits and they have a unique approach to how they plan their life and day.
However, what is even more important to note is what highly productive people don’t do.
Sometimes, to be productive, it is not about addition, like developing new habits or using new tools to help you get more done. It is also about subtraction, like getting rid of unproductive habits and doing less of the things that are not getting you the results.
So, in this article, I’m going to share with you the 10 things that highly productive people will NEVER do. And here is the list…
1. They don’t go through their day without a clear priority
That’s right, highly productive people will never go through their day without having a clear plan or priority. In other words, these people are goal-oriented.
They know what they should accomplish for the day. They have a vision for what they want to achieve in their life. They set goals to help them cut through the noises. And they plan their days, weeks, months, and years in advance.
In my article, How Successful People Set Goals, I shared how Tony Robbins plans his life 20 years ahead. He wrote down his goals and what he wanted to achieve on the back of an old Russian map while traveling on a Siberian train.
And in one of his books, Tony Robbins wrote that when Life Magazine went to interview him, he just pulled out the map to show them all the goals he had written down.
As you can see, highly productive people are living with intention. They will never allow themselves to go through their days without having a clear priority or objective.
In short, they are proactive people. They know what they want, they plan for it, and then they live intentionally according to the plan they have created.
2. They don’t allow themselves to be distracted
Distractions are everywhere. If you don’t do anything about them, they will eat up your life.
Highly productive people understand that eliminating distractions is better than managing them.
What this means is that they prevent themselves to be distracted by completely eliminating the distractions before they have to deal with them.
Prevention is better than cure.
For example, this article on Forbes shared that Philippe Wilson, founder of boilerbooker.com, turns his mobile phone off for two-hour blocks in a bid to focus.
First, he turned off his phone intentionally so that he could focus on his work. Second, he created blocks of time for productive work.
Rather than allowing himself open to distractions, Wilson locked himself in his time blocks so that others can’t distract him during those times.
When you want to focus on your work, close your room or office door so that others can’t reach you during your most productive hours. It is better to eliminate distractions before they happen so that you don’t have to deal with them.
3. They don’t procrastinate
Do I need to explain this more? Highly productive people don’t procrastinate. When they know what they need to do, they just do it.
They don’t make excuses, they don’t waste time, and they don’t delay doing their work.
Procrastination has more to do with your thinking pattern than the task itself. If you need to write a report but you keep procrastinating on it, it is because you have associated ‘pain’ with writing the report.
And that is why you keep procrastinating on it. So, to overcome this, you will have to change the way you think about the task.
Working out in the gym can be a daunting task for many, but not Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In the movie Pumping Iron, this was what Arnold said about working out in the gym:
“To me, the pump kind of feels like having sex with a beautiful woman and coming. You know? It just feels fantastic. I am coming all the time, you know! Whether I am at the gym or at home. It’s great!”
This is why successful people don’t procrastinate. Because they love their work so much that they don’t want to procrastinate on it.
If you want to learn how to get rid of procrastination once and for all, attend this training here.
4. They don’t blame or make excuses
Highly productive people don’t play the blame game. They know that if they want to be successful and achieve outstanding results, they need to take full responsibility for their life.
When something needs to get done, they don’t make lousy excuses or blame how they can’t get it done. They don’t allow anything to stand in the way.
For instance, when it rains, they don’t take it as an excuse to stop visiting their clients.
They know that rain may be an unexpected event, but they will never let it stops them from getting what they want.
In fact, most productive people choose to work harder during tough times. Just like when it rains, they know their competitors will slack off. And it will be a great time for them to outdo their competitors.
Do you get that? So, don’t play the blame game or make lousy excuses as to why you can’t do it.
Read: 10 Ways How to Take Full Responsibility For Your Life
5. They don’t just do whatever that comes to them
That’s right. Highly productive people are not reactive people. They don’t respond to everything that comes to them. Instead, they are proactive. They do things according to their plans and priority.
That means they follow Pareto’s 80/20 Rule. They work on the most result-yielding tasks first and not just anything.
When a colleague comes to you for help, do you immediately agree? Well, it depends on what kind of help your colleague is looking for.
But when you are working on something important, you don’t want to be distracted. And usually, you can always help someone else once you have got your work done.
And most of the time people don’t need your immediate help. They want your help, but just not at that instant. And that means you can tell them you are working on your priority right now and you will provide the help afterward.
Therefore, don’t become reactive and responds to whatever comes to you. Instead, evaluate the situation and then work on what is most important first.
Always remember this wise saying from President Dwight D. Eisenhower:
“What is urgent is seldom important and what is important is seldom urgent.”
6. They don’t overwhelm their life with decisions
We make a lot of decisions every day. From the time we wake up to the time we go to bed, we are always making decisions…
What clothes should we put on, where to have breakfast, what to eat for lunch, etc. You get the idea.
So, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself with decision-making.
It requires your willpower to make a decision. The more decisions you have to make, the less willpower you will have. And if you make a lot of decisions in the morning, you will feel exhausted and tired by the afternoon.
This is why meetings in the morning can be unproductive. Because it will take too much willpower and thinking power to process.
Here’s an interesting article you should read:
- Mark Zuckerberg sports his iconic gray Brunello Cucinelli t-shirt.
- Barack Obama wears only gray or blue suits.
- Steve Jobs became famous for a black turtleneck, jeans, and New Balance sneakers.
The article went on to say, “Successful people tend to establish a uniform for themselves as it can increase their productivity.”
By making a habit of dressing the same each day, you save time on decision-making.
This means that you will have more mental energy to channel into advantageous pursuits and personal growth.
Thus, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many decisions to make. Instead, automate your decisions.
7. They don’t wait for motivation to work
This is another thing that highly productive people don’t do. They don’t wait for motivation only to start taking action.
Instead, they just do. They just take action and do what they need to get done.
If you wait for motivation only to execute, what if motivation doesn’t come? Then you will have wasted your time. What if you don’t feel motivated for the entire week? Are you going to procrastinate for the entire week?
Highly productive people understand that motivation is an emotion. It can come and go. And because of this, they don’t rely on motivation alone to get things done.
They build habits. They create systems to help them get their work done.
Here are some resources to help:
- Why Motivation Comes and Goes and What You Should Do
- Top 10 Examples of Good Time Management Habits
- What Are Keystone Habits and the 7 Most Common Examples
8. They don’t multitask
Do you try to multitask all the time? Multitasking is a lie. It will not make you more productive. In fact, multitasking will make you less productive.
This is especially true for tasks and work that require your creativity.
Think about it, can you write and talk at the same time? You can’t. When you write, you will stop talking. And when you talk with someone else, you will stop writing.
This is because our brains cannot process the two tasks simultaneously.
Studies show multitasking makes us less efficient and more prone to errors. Read this article from Cleveland Clinic to understand more.
Therefore, don’t multitask.
Highly productive people understand this one principle for success – focus.
No matter what kind of success you want to accomplish, be it at work or home, you need to focus. And that means ‘single-task’, not ‘multitask’.
When you try to chase two rabbits at the same time, you will catch neither.
The same goes for your goals and the tasks you want to achieve. It is better to focus on just one goal than to work on 10 goals at the same time.
Here’s a great saying from the legendary Steve Jobs about what focus means…
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
9. They don’t say “yes” to everything
Again, highly productive people are people of focus. They know what they want and they focus on it. They don’t say “yes” to everything that comes to them.
Just like the quote from Steve Jobs above, being focused is not about saying yes, it is about saying no and intentionally choosing to focus on things that truly matter.
When you have too many things on your plate, you will never anything done.
Being productive is not just about having a long list of things to do, it is also about elimination.
You want to spend less time on things that don’t matter. We all have the same hours given to Bill Gates, Einstein, and Michelangelo. It is not about having more time, it is about doing what is most productive, and stop doing unproductive things.
I love this saying from Gary Keller…
“Productivity isn’t about being a workhorse. Keeping busy or burning the midnight oil… It’s more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time.”
10. They don’t stop innovating and looking for new ways to do things
And lastly, highly productive people don’t stop innovating and they are consistently looking for better ways to do things.
How you get one thing done doesn’t mean it is the best way or the only way. There are many ways how you can get things done. And productive people are constantly looking for better ways to be more effective and efficient.
Telephones used to be our main mode of communication. But that doesn’t mean it is the best or most effective. Today, people are using emails, instant messaging, and social media to connect with others.
Ages ago, we tend to travel with horses. But are horses the best option? Not really. That’s why people created another type of vehicle, cars.
The same goes for everything you are trying to accomplish in business and life. You must constantly innovate and look for new and better ways to do things.
If you don’t innovate, you will become obsolete. Think about Motorola, Nokia, or Konica.
This is why highly productive people are great learners and innovators. They dare to take risks, and they fail forward.
If you want to want to become highly productive, you must do the same. Dare to venture out of your comfort zone, try out new things, and keep looking for better ways to get even more results.
Before we end this article, here’s a great book I strongly recommend you read:
And this is my list of 10 things highly productive people don’t do. Do you agree with this list?