Why Are You Self Sabotaging Your Productivity?
Do you often feel like you’re not doing enough or doubt yourself? Such thoughts are awfully intimidating and have surreptitious ways of crawling up on you. Before you know it, you have bouts of insomnia and anxiety attacks which, in turn, hamper with your ability to get work done. This results in more anxiety, creating a vicious cycle of sorts.
Hard as it may to be to swallow, you might be the obstacle on your path. But what could be the reason for this self-sabotage?
Why Are You Self Sabotaging?
The notion of self sabotage, or self-handicapping, is a term used when you perform an action that intentionally hinders your progress. In simpler terms, self-sabotage is when part of your personality is in conflict with another part of your personality.
A relatable example is when you have a deadline quickly approaching but you’re busy watching cat video on YouTube. You know you should be working, but you carry on surfing through those videos. This is something best illustrated by the Latin phrase, “Video meliora proboque, detriora sequor”.
Intriguingly, research shows the correlation between self sabotaging behaviour and self preservation. When you engage in the opposite of what you’re supposed to be doing (surfing through YouTube instead of working, for example), you’re giving yourself a channel to vent out any blame, instead of blaming the obvious culprit.
This logic indicates that your failures have nothing to do with ineptitude. They are a consequence of your subconscious choice to give your attention elsewhere. If you would actually focus on the work at hand, it would be over and perfected in no time. In this way, your self-esteem is preserved.
This behaviour is understandable, but is not an excuse for self-injury of this sort.
Effects of Self Sabotage in the Long Run
Studies indicate that constantly self sabotaging can create a negative motivation loop. This means that the more you self handicap, the less driven you are to get work done. Each time you fail, you become more and more convinced that it is your incompetence that is responsible. This attitude can affect your productivity in the long run. It can even stretch to depression in certain people.
Besides, the work that you turn in becomes inferior in quality. Very often, you realise that if you had stuck to the work diligently without procrastinating, your work would have been more finely tuned.
How to Stop Self-Sabotaging
When we say self-sabotage, we frequently mean procrastination-something that all of us are familiar with. To get out of the unremitting self-sabotage-procrastination cycle, practice the following tips:
Heads Down For Specific Intervals
A method called the Pomodoro Technique entails a 25-minute period of intense focus at a stretch. When you set a period of time for which you’ve committed to work for, it becomes less tempting to peek at your phone for notifications. You might even find yourself working past the 25 minutes as you’re now in the “zone”.
Shift your work-place
As odd as this may seem, your surroundings also impact your concentrating
abilities. For example, your emotions are different when you work against a blue wall as compared to a red one. The temperature settings on your air conditioning can also influence productivity. Thus, sometimes it can be in the subconscious choices we make that leads to self sabotaging.
Employ the 2-Minute Rule
Another proven technique is the 2-minute rule, where any work that can be completed under two minutes should be tackled immediately. This also extends to starting something new. Do it but only for 2 minutes at a time. Gradually, you will find yourself going past the designated two minutes.
Switch Off Notifications and Limit Browser Tabs
Science says that one of the major trolls blocking your bridge is the notifications on your phone, in the form of the incessant buzzing. Although it brings you immediate gratification, it is only temporary. Equally distracting are multiple browser tabs, which can take you from one site to the other side of the internet. Convince yourself: These can wait.
Any negative feelings that you hold against yourself can manifest in the form of self-sabotage. The key is to attune your attitude and certain habits. You will be able to witness improvements straightaway.
This is a handwritten article by Team InterviewBuddy. InterviewBuddy connects students, job seekers & people looking to scale up their careers with senior industry experts to practice interviewing.
