5 beliefs that limit productivity—and how to overcome them

When I work with people in my business productivity practice, the first question I ask them is, "What's stopping you from being more productive?" The answers that keep coming up are pretty much the same from everyone.

In this article, we'll take a look at these beliefs one by one, and see how you can turn them around.

1. There's too much information coming at me too fast
Belief: My email is overwhelming me. I can't keep up with it.
Reality: The volume of email isn't the issue. How you process and organize the volume is the issue. Learning how to better manage your email by using McGhee Productivity Solutions' "Four D's for Decision Making" will transform this belief.

Each year we receive more and more data that we can access from an increasing number of locations on a growing array of devices. If you're not careful, the quantity of data starts to drive you instead of the other way around. Learn 4 ways you can take control of your email Inbox. And when you do, you can reduce the number of messages in your inbox by as much as 80 percent.

2. I have to keep everything
Belief: I have to keep everything. You just never know when you might need it!
Reality: Okay, prepare yourself. On average, the clients we work with throw away 50 percent of their stored information, with no ramifications. They feel lighter, happier, and have more time. So if you're a "keeper," and you know who you are, hold on to your hats! You "keepers" are a proud and experienced breed! There's nothing quite like laying your hands on a file that no one else can find. It justifies all of your filing and keeping efforts. If you're a keeper, you might recognize yourself in one of these statements:

I got badly burned when I couldn't lay my hands on an important document. Now, I'm afraid to let go of information.

I want to be able to justify the decisions I make, so I keep everything.

If my system crashes, I want backup information.

I felt so good when no one else could find "that document." As a result, I decided to keep everything so I could continue being helpful.

At some point you made a decision about keeping all your information. That decision has been driving you ever since, but it may not be appropriate in your current situation.

The truth is, most people use only 15 percent of what they file, and this makes the other 85 percent ineffective. By clarifying what is useful and letting go of the rest, you can develop a functional filing system and reduce your filing, make it easier to find what you do keep, and save valuable time and energy that you can direct to more meaningful tasks. Also, learn 9 tips to help you manage your files better.

3. Organization cramps my freedom and creativity

Belief: Being organized blocks my creativity, and there's nothing spontaneous about it.
Reality: Organization actually fosters and supports creativity and spontaneity. You may find your creativity being disrupted by the non-stop flood of reminders spinning around your head, such as:

Call Kevin for his birthday.

Review the P&L spreadsheet.

Review PowerPoint slide deck.

Decide on a Valentine's Day present.

Imagine if you could clear your mind of all these lists and transfer them to Microsoft Outlook. You can do this by creating an Outlook task for each item. Those items then appear in Tasks.

Storing your tasks in Outlook will create space for new ideas and creative thinking. Being disorganized can also stifle your creativity. Imagine you're an artist and decide to paint the Colorado autumn colors in Aspen. You drive for three and a half hours from Denver to Aspen to find the perfect spot. When you arrive, you realize you've forgotten to pack your paint brushes. That can make being creative really hard! Preparation does support your creativity.

A booked calendar leaves no time to be spontaneous, which can be frustrating. However, if you pre-plan, you can block out large chunks of time with no organized events, and you’ll have more freedom to do something on the spur of the moment.

To get control of all the "stuff" in your life, I recommend you set up a system for storing reference information, turning action information into tasks and scheduling tasks on your calendar. After you've set up your reference system, you'll find that it supports your creativity and spontaneity. The best result is that you can close your system, knowing that everything is taken care of so you can relax and let go!

4. There's not enough time in the day!

Belief: I just don't have the time to do all the things I want.
Reality: Time is not the issue. The issue is deciding what you can do given the time you have.

As you know, managing your time with Olympian skill doesn't create more hours in the day. We all have the same 24 hours, so the issue isn't managing time—it's managing what you can do with the time you have. You can't do everything, but you can do anything, as long as it fits into your calendar.

If you keep your to-do lists in multiple locations—in email, on a calendar, on paper, in an Excel spreadsheet, a list in your head, and notepad paper—you might want to consider centralizing and prioritizing this list in Outlook. Start by creating tasks, as described in step 3. When you create a task, you can set reminders, make it recurring, track its status, and more, so you always know what to do when. Then organize your tasks in the task list so you are at your most productive. Tasks also appear in the To-Do Bar in Outlook, together with other Outlook items, such as email messages or contacts, that have been flagged for follow-up.

5. It takes too much time to become productive

Belief: I don't have the time to set up a system. I've got too much to do.
Reality: You can save one to two hours a day by using a system to manage your information, so the return on the investment is significant.

Here are some interesting statistics. On average, people we work with spend two to three hours a day working in email and 60 minutes a day finding and filing information. After setting up a system to manage their information, they spend one to two hours a day working in email and 10 minutes a day finding and filing information. That's a savings of nearly two hours a day, or almost 12 weeks a year!

Take a moment and consider the time you spend:

Finding and filing information.

Writing a to-do list and then rewriting it a week later on another list, and then another.

Opening email, reading the message, closing the email and then coming back to the same email to read it again tomorrow.

Going to the store and realizing you don’t know the model of the hardware you need to pick up.

These are just a few examples of how we waste time by not having an Integrated Management System to help us remember what, where, and when. Take the time to set up your system. You're worth it, and you can't afford not to.

Courtesy: Sally McGhee
A recognized thought leader and innovator in the field of productivity management, Sally McGhee has trained thousands of people in the corporate environment. She has more than 25 years’ experience as a consultant and an executive coach, and is the founder and CEO of McGhee Productivity Solutions.