The quality of your life is determined by the habits you embrace.
If you want a productive life, you have to embrace productive habits.
Unproductive habits lead to poor quality of life.
It’s as simple as that. There’s no magic to it.
If you want a better life, below are 50 unproductive habits to get rid of:
50 Unproductive Habits to Get Rid Of For a Better Life
1. Procrastination.
I struggle with procrastination and I know the things I’ve lost to it.
I’m working daily to conquer it because it’s indeed an enemy of progress.
2. Hanging around toxic people.
You can’t be better than your association.
3. Not having written life goals.
What is without having goals to pursue and measure your progress against?
Without written life goals, you’ll live anyhow.
4. Spending inordinate time on social media.
We are grateful for the gift of the internet but if you’re spending too much time on social media and it’s making you unproductive, you’ve got to watch it.
5. Giving unnecessary excuses.
You can’t make excuses and make progress at the same time.
If you want to make progress in life, you need to do away with excuses.
If you want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t want to do it, you’ll find an excuse.
6. Going late to meetings and events.
Lateness reflects poorly on your person. It shows you’re not serious and unreliable. It also shows you have no respect for people’s time.
It’s okay to be late occasionally but if it becomes a habit, it can cost you a lot.
7. Not having a waking time.
Your body shouldn’t always determine your waking time. It’s okay to sleep in on some days but it shouldn’t be a habit.
8. Not taking responsibility for your life.
Your life cannot be better than how you take it.
9. Having casual unprotected sex with strangers.
Paternity Court is proof that this point is valid.
10. Grumbling and complaining.
If you complain always, you’ll be blind to the good things in your life.
You can never go wrong with gratitude.
11. Spending all you earn without saving anything.
Ah.
This is one terrible unproductive habit to get rid of.
One that I’m working on myself.
Spending without having anything in savings shows lack of financial discipline.
We live in uncertain times. Who could have thought thousands of people would lose their jobs to a pandemic this year?
Imagine not having any fund to fall back on.
12. Poor time management.
Time is life. When you waste time, you waste life.
You can make more money but you can’t make more time.
Successful people know the value of time; and it’s why they outsource some of their tasks, so that they can have more time to do things that are important to them.
If you don’t value your time, people will not value it.
If you don’t plan your time, people will use you for their plans.
13. Making promises and not fulfilling them.
Promising what you cannot do or not fulfilling your promises shows your words cannot be trusted.
14. Worrying over what you can’t control.
This drains your energy and happiness.
I’ve learned to pray and trust in God to handle things I have no control over instead of worrying over them.
15. Trying to control others.
Trying to control others only leads to frustration because you can’t control anyone, and no one likes to be controlled.
16. Regretting your past deeds.
The past is past, there is nothing you can do to change the past.
17. Being disorganised.
Lack of order brings mental and physical chaos that makes you unproductive.
18. Taking things too personally.
Reading meaning to every word, action, and gesture will only make you miserable.
19. Making assumptions about people’s thoughts and unspoken words.
Ask questions instead of assuming. Assumption is the lowest level of knowledge.
20. Talking without thinking.
You’re likely to spew nonsense and hurt others if you always talk without thinking.
21. Not having a to-do list to guide your activities.
Keeping a to-do list is one of the things that help me to be productive.
22. Eating heavy carbs late in the night.
I’m so guilty of this. But I’m blaming it on breastfeeding. ?☹️
23. Not exercising.
The importance of exercising cannot be overemphasized. Again, I’m guilty of this.
24. Eating anything and everything without considering its impact on your health.
Health is wealth. Don’t forget.
25. Not going for regular medical checks.
26. Not listening to your body.
You cannot cheat nature. Learn to listen to your body and eat when your body calls for it, sleep when you’re tired.
27. Jumping to conclusions without having facts.
28. Blaming others for your mistakes.
You will never grow if you don’t accept responsibility for your mistakes.
29. Not learning from your mistakes.
Wisdom is learning from your mistakes and trying not to repeat them.
30. Trying to please everyone.
You’ll lose yourself if you try to please everyone at the expense of your happiness.
31. Not having values and standards.
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
Your values will determine what you’ll tolerate and what people will bring before you.
Values and standards will also guide your behaviors.
You can’t afford not to have values and standards.
32. Not spending enough time with loved ones.
33. Gossiping with others over things that don’t concern you.
34. Spreading rumours about others.
35. Not seeking counsel before making a major decision.
36. Not having a reading culture.
No thanks to social media and the internet, we are not reading as much as we should read.
37. Comparing yourself to others.
Comparison births a lot of unproductive emotions and behaviours – envy, jealousy, sadness, inferiority complex/low self-esteem etc.
38. Judging others when you don’t know their story.
While I believe experience teaches empathy, you don’t need to experience something before you empathise with others.
You don’t know what people are going through. Learn to be kind.
39. Leaving negative comments on social media.
You can disagree without being rude or being a troll.
If you derive pleasure from making people unhappy anonymously, you need to be checked.
40. Checking emails neurotically.
41. Not writing down your thoughts and ideas.
The faintest pen is sharper than the strongest memory.
42. Doing too many things at once and not achieving much because you’re overwhelmed.
I’m guilty of this. Having a to-do list helps me with this.
43. Consuming irrelevant information.
You don’t have to read every book, subscribe to every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s email list, watch every movie.
Choose and focus on things that are relevant to your goals and interests.
This doesn’t mean you cannot know a little something about things outside your field of interest.
44. Spending too much time in front of the mirror.
45. Not selecting your outfit hours before an outing except in the case of an emergency.
This habit will only make you turn your wardrobe upside down because you’re hurriedly searching for what to wear.
46. Becoming friends with everyone that comes your way.
Don’t get me wrong. You should be friendly with everyone but not everyone should become your friend.
This is because friendship comes with expectations and responsibilities, and you don’t want to shoulder more than you can handle.
47. Keeping a record of wrongs.
This only leads to anger and bitterness.
People will always offend you. How many records do you want to keep?
This doesn’t mean you should put your life at risk and stay around toxic people.
It means you should learn to let go for your own peace of mind while you stay away from anyone that is toxic to you.
48. Not having a monthly budget.
A budget gives you a guide on how to spend your money.
Without a budget, you’ll spend your money as it comes, and this is a sure path to poverty.
49. Impulse buying.
If you have a habit of buying things without thinking twice, your house will be filled with things you don’t need or things you can do without.
While it’s okay to buy the things you love without thinking twice, this shouldn’t be a habit, otherwise, you’ll work without anything (well, except the stuff you don’t need) to show for your hard work.
50. Perfectionism.
It’s okay to seek excellence in everything you do and in everyone, however, seeking perfection is almost an impossible feat.
We are humans and perfection eludes us.
If you wait for things to be perfect, you may not get anything done. Sometimes, you just have to take risks and learn along the way.
Also, expecting perfection from others makes you an impossible person to deal with.
People don’t want to be around someone who judges their every motive and behaviors.
Seek excellence, but give room for human flaws and imperfections.
Conclusion
Life is a journey, so is living a productive life.
This article is not to judge you, I’m guilty of some of these habits myself.
This is an encouragement and a challenge for us to get rid of the habits that stand as clogs in the wheels of our productivity.
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