9 things you need to stop doing to improve your productivity

Sometimes, eliminating tasks is the best way to increase productivity. I’m not talking about the really obvious time-wasters, like spending all day making personal calls or taking 10 coffee breaks. I’m talking about the activities that you think you should be doing that are actually hurting your productivity.

What types of activities? I just ran across this great article entitled, "The Not-Do List: 9 Things You Need To Stop Doing," which lists many great ways to improve productivity by eliminating some not-so-obvious unproductive tasks.

It’s a great list and I’m sure we could all add our own ideas if we really thought about it. I can actually think of a great example: I have a friend who enjoys repairing his own car. However, he learned a valuable lesson many years ago that really increased his productivity: Stop trying to make do with the wrong tools.

He used to waste countless hours trying to make repairs using the tools he already had. While he thought he was saving money by not buying new tools, he soon realized he was only wasting time. Repairs were much harder and took longer than necessary. He didn’t realize just how unproductive he was until he bought the proper tools.

How about you? Can you add anything to this list? I’d love to hear it!