A friend recently shared an article on LinkedIn called “10 Bad Habits You Must Eliminate from Your Daily Routine” by Dr.Travis Bradberry. It’s a good article, and I want to focus on five bad habits Dr. Bradberry cites.
1. Impulsively surfing the Internet. I do this too much. I am researching a topic, checking my email, or keeping up with the news. Before long, I find myself sidetracked, following the yellow brick road down a rabbit hole. Bradberry notes, “[I]t takes you 15 consecutive minutes of focus before you can fully engage in a task. Once you do, you fall into a euphoric state of increased productivity….When you click out of your work…[it] pulls you out of flow.” Bradberry’s resources tell us we will need 15 more minutes to become productive again. Chasing rabbits throughout the day prevents one from experiencing productivity.
2. Checking your phone during a conversation. Not only is this rude, it destroys the goodwill you can create by talking with people.
3. Thinking about toxic people. This one resembles the old adage, “Bitterness is like drinking acid, hoping it will harm someone else.” Plato once said, “Don’t let other people get into your head.” Actually, I think I heard that on an NFL broadcast. Whoever said it was telling us that thinking about toxic people is letting them get into your head. Were toxic people to know that you were spending time thinking about them, they would probably enjoy the thought in some perverse way. Solve problems. If this means thinking about toxic people, think enough about them to find a solution. And then quit thinking about them.
4. Gossiping. Here is Bradberry’s go-to quote about gossip: “Gossipers derive pleasure from other people’s misfortunes.” Who wants to be guilty of that? Plus, gossip is an unproductive time waster.
5. Comparing yourself to other people. By seeking your personal fulfillment and satisfaction through comparison with others, you deed to them the power to control how you feel about yourself. That approach to life is a thief; it will rob you of contentment. Not to mention this. Nobody spends more time with you than you. You are there when you wake up in the morning, when you go to bed at night, and all the time in between. Congratulations! You are eminently qualified to decide how you feel about yourself.
If we eliminate these five bad habits, we will not only work better, but we will live better lives.
This will be a process. Which habit do you want to begin to eliminate this week?
For further reading: “10 Bad Habits You Must Eliminate from Your Daily Routine” by Dr.Travis Bradberry… (29) 10 Bad Habits You Must Eliminate from Your Daily Routine | LinkedIn