Increase Productivity By Breaking Bad Habits
Hi, my name is Jim, and “I’m powerless” to increase productivity while cramming my brain with more than it can handle. While this sounds like this line out of Alcoholics Anonymous, Jim couldn’t help but laugh when I told him I could see him standing at a meeting and introducing himself as a recovering multi-tasking-aholic.
As Jim, a hard-working financial industry entrepreneur, it’s easy to get habituated into working harder instead of smarter.
But why?
Because our subconscious programming is running the show from behind the scenes!
Your subconscious mind blindly follows orders based on coding inherited from distant family members who worked from 4 am to 8 pm…because they had to.
Along with negative beliefs about money, millions of people are “running on sabotaging autopilot with old scripts” that don’t even belong to them
…yet those scripts dictate how much success they achieve in life and business.
That’s why the first step of my Influence to Income program is dedicated to helping my clients rapidly release limiting thoughts & scripts that keep them from making more money.
Action Step #1: Break the habit of multitasking
In my last article, “Multi-Tasking Mania: Brain Focus or Brain Freeze? I spelled out why multi-tasking is a myth of mega proportions.
Increase Productivity by Laser Focusing Your Attention
Action Step #2: Let Go of The Control Illusion
According to Wikipedia,
“In positive psychology, flow, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.”
>>> Bookmark ALL of your computer tabs then close them.
Yep. I went there.
Believe me, closing all my tabs was the scariest thing I ever did in my life too.
Somehow holding everything open at once gives the illusion of having everything within your grasp and under control, but it’s not true.
THE BEST SOLUTION is to use the Google ONE TAB app to organize all of your tabs into one neat list. It not only saves computer bandwidth but yours as well. GO HERE to get started with it today.
Action Step #3: Get Into the “Flow Zone”
Open ONE tab and FOCUS for 20-30 minutes. Then get up and do something different.
I know. The real question is, how do you break a habit, right?
I started my psychology career in the Greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area working with people with alcohol, drugs, food, and work addictions.
It wasn’t until I completed my graduate work at Duquesne University and training as a Nationally Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist that I realized why traditional therapy isn’t equipped to shift addictive and compulsive behavior.
Over 30 years, I’ve witnessed many people falling into destructive habits that rob them of the happiness, health, and wealth they deserve.
Jim was one of them.
His relationship with his wife was at its limit when we first connected. He had PTSD symptoms due to working in a chronically stressful employment situation before starting his business.
He left the external stress of a tyrant boss, but his brain chemistry kept firing as if he were still there.
He was working 70 hours a week. While most people might say that’s what you have to do to succeed, I knew that he was struggling with distractibility, inattention, and anxiety, much like I did when I had severe anxiety.
Never home with her or the kids, Jim said his wife felt like she was a single parent because even when he was there, he wasn’t there.
Increase Productivity So You Can Go Home Early
Action Step #4: Use “High Focus Zones” for High-Priority Tasks
>>> Schedule Email and Social Media at Non-Peak Times
Studies show that every time you bounce into your email, it takes 20 minutes to re-focus your attention on the prior task!
My secret: Choose the least productive times of day to schedule email/social media…not your natural “high focus” zones.
That’s how I reserve my “high-focus magic” for the important training and transformation work I do with and for my clients.
Big Win: Jim started going home 1 hour early every night after he started using my “Success Habit Tracker” to build up his focus practice.
Not only did Jim feel more connected to his family, but he was more energized in his work.
Once we grew his brain capacity, he was able to absorb the nuances of some powerful influence & communication skills that helped him shift the behaviors of 2 employees who had been driving him crazy for months.
Navy Seal Breathing Maneuver Helps Rewire Our Brains
Time to replace multi-tasking mania with some really practical ways to get into a FLOW state.
Navy Seals use a technique called “Box Breathing.”
Growing your sales and income has everything to do with your ability to regulate and manage your internal states regardless of external or internal stressors.
Breathwork helps us rewire our brains to increase productivity without killing ourselves.
You can be loaded for bear with sales tactics, but if your brain isn’t on board, you’ll struggle to navigate objections and facilitate a successful sale.
Bottom line: Stress hijacks your attention when trying to close a deal or make a great impression on a new contact.
Like Navy Seals, you shoulder the weight of people depending on your performance, so let’s arm you with stress management tools that help you become the focused leader you’re meant to be.
Action Step #5: Use “Box Breathing” to Increase Productivity
1. Sit in a chair or lie down in a comfortable place.
2. Inhale for 4 seconds.
3. Hold the air in your lungs for 4 seconds.
4. Exhale for 4 seconds…emptying all the air in your lungs.
5. Hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds.
6. Repeat for 5 minutes or until you feel refocused and relaxed.
You know your mission should you choose to accept it.
Contact me to discuss how you can get in “the zone” to increase productivity to maximize your performance, happiness, and profits.
Darlene Karpaski
Creator of the Influence to Income Program
Founder & CEO of Your Mission to Money