Personal Development For Winners

photo: aj82

Having been in my own online business for almost half a year now, I've had my share of ‘low productivity' days where I would easily spend 1 full day just to edit one minor mistake on my website. In fact, I just got the chance to re-experience that a few days ago when I wanted to implement some new functions on my site.

Trust me. It's darn frustrating when I looked back at the amount of time I've wasted in that simple activity. And that's the feeling that motivated me to write this entry.

Now, let me ask you a simple question.

Were there times when you found yourself getting into the deadly pattern of overwhelming yourself with the information you think you'll need? Even before you even get started in doing something? I bet there were.

The truth is that it could happen anywhere, anytime - even when you are just playing a simple game of chess. I mean, have you heard of people who got too overwhelmed in making the decision to move their chess pieces that it takes them ‘almost forever' to make their moves? (well...I admit that I'm one of these people...hehe.)

And that's when the term ‘Analysis Paralysis' comes in. Simply put, it can be used to describe any situation when we get into the perpetual pattern of analyzing, planning, brainstorming, tweaking, or asking questions before we finally get too ‘paralyzed' or confused to even get started.

Here are the common symptoms of Analysis Paralysis:

• Losing focus, making little or no progress in getting down to work
• Falling into the pattern of asking even more questions with little or no extra value created
• Getting confused and overloaded with new information

So how do we defeat the #1 Killer of Productivity?

1. Keep focused on your outcome

I've discovered, through experience, that Analysis of Paralysis tends to happen when I start to focus on the nitty-gritty details and lose focus on my final outcome.

And this is why it would be useful to write down the desired outcome on a piece of sticky note and keep it pasted somewhere in front of you where you will see whenever you lift your head.

Ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. What must I do to achieve my outcome?
2. Is what I'm doing now going to help me to achieve it?

The bottomline is to keep your focus on achieving the outcome and avoid doing other activities of little or no value created so that you can keep your productivity level up and sustain it for a longer time.

2. Ask for help

No matter what you plan to do, there is always a high chance to find someone who has achieved the results that you desire. There is no point in ‘reinventing the wheel'.

What I have found out while setting up my first online business and website is that contrary to common beliefs, there are many people out there who are willing to help you.

Head on over to Yahoo! Answers and you would be surprised to find out that there is a 24/7 ever-ready community to provide any information that you'll need. Just post a question up there and you might even get a reply in less than an hour!

Of course, you might not be able to post a question up there if you're dealing with corporate challenges due to confidentiality issues. Nevertheless, I'm sure you can always consult your superiors or ask your colleagues for their help. That's a good reason why they are there, isn't it?

And when you get a potential solution, go ahead and put it to test. You might be shocked to find out how easy it is to overcome the challenges that you've been facing.

3. Break down the processes

Again, based on my experience, it's a lot easier if you can break down the processes that will be involved. Then, come up with a list of tasks to be completed for the day and write it in a sequence.

Whenever you're done with one of them, simply strike it out. Now, it sure sounds simple because it really is. Plus, I can guarantee that if you adopt this approach, the results can be phenomenal. The main purpose is to keep track of the things to be done so that you will not lose your focus on the final outcome.

These 3 tips have worked well for me. If you're ready to commit to improving your productivity, go ahead and put what you have learned to practice. Please feel free to post a comment and share how this approach has worked for you.