Personal Productivity
5 Ways Your Mistakes Can Improve Your Productivity
AUTHOR: Kayla Matthews
“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” ~ Richard Branson
If you ask a room full of people what their number-one fear is, your most common response is likely to be that of failure or rejection. Society continually pushes the idea that achievement is desirable, and mistakes are minor roadblocks that hinder our ability to obtain success.
But what if I told you mistakes are a good thing?
Whether you performed poorly at the office this past week or misinterpreted your spouse’s requests for the third time in a row, making mistakes is a crucial component of the human process of learning. How could you expect to improve yourself if you never had any areas for improvement to even make?
When you find yourself making a mistake, use your blunders as stepping stones that help elevate you toward future progress. Not quite sure how to transform your failures into triumph? By being persistent and keeping these unique productivity tips in mind, you can convert your mistakes into efficiency.
Change Your Routine
You may be familiar with the saying that insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. The same rule of thumb applies to your daily life — primarily when your typical routine is not providing you with the results you desire.
If you find yourself doing your worst work in the morning, you may just need a few more hours of sleep to spike your productivity earlier in the day. When something isn’t working for you, a simple solution is to alter your daily activities until you achieve optimal production and results.
Reattack Prior Fears
Confronting a fear takes a lot of work and courage. Realize that rejection is the gateway to success and that even today’s most notable stars went through their share of denial before somebody gave them their chance to shine.
Take famous young adult writer J.K. Rowling, for instance. Today, Rowling’s “Harry Potter” saga is one of the best-known series in all of literature with over 400 million copies sold worldwide. At the start of her writing journey, Rowling received over 12 rejection letters from publishers who wouldn’t even give the first manuscript a fair shot.
You cannot achieve growth while living within your comfort zone. Psychology research shows us that stepping out of your comfort zone produces small changes that can accumulate into significant and lasting personal development.
Learn What Works Best for You
There isn’t necessarily one way to do anything in life, despite your grade school teachers’ persistent lecturing that you must follow the directions word-for-word to achieve proficiency. In fact, thinking outside the box is a great way to get your creativity flowing when you seem to lack the motivation to complete your daily tasks otherwise.
If you find yourself confronted with the same issue on a day-to-day basis, brainstorm ways you can overcome your obstacles without draining yourself in the process. Are you a self-proclaimed procrastinator who pushes work to the side until the very last second? If so, the best way to achieve your deadlines may be to break your task up into smaller portions with a minor reward at the end of each task that motivates you to see your work through to the end.
Know Your Limits
Are you the type of person who finds themselves taking on others’ tasks even when you haven’t finished your daily activities? Whether you overreach your helping hand out of kindness or sympathy, it’s important to realize you can only complete so many tasks in a day without over-exhausting yourself in the process.
Scientists have long supported the idea that multitasking reduces your ability to work productively and hinders your accuracy. Not only is your work of poorer quality, but you may also find yourself overworked and exhausted in the process.
Surround Yourself With a Team of Motivators
Did you know coaches once rejected world-renowned NBA champion and two-time Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Michael Jordan from his high school’s varsity basketball team because of his height? His short stature may have prevented him from receiving a spot on his high school’s team, but that didn’t stop him from going on to join the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. This huge persistence transformed Jordan into one of the most recognizable basketball players in NBA history in the process!
The worst mistake you can make is to accept rejection and surround yourself with others who keep you settled into your comfort zone without pushing you toward something more meaningful. Psychology studies show that attitudes are contagious and that your emotional state is likely to reflect those around you.
Making mistakes can be difficult, but who says you can’t learn a thing or two along the way? Use these five simple tips to transform your errors into daily triumphs that lead you toward a more efficient day.
4 comments
This is bullshit! Stepping out of your comfort zone does not work best for most people, HELLO! It contradicts know your limits!
This is bullshit! Stepping out of your comfort zone does not work best for most people, HELLO! It contradicts know your limits!
@fred There is optimal range for growing, e.g. when you learn a foreign language but you don't step out of comfort zone and don't try to speak at all (beacuse of fear, etc) you don't grow. Similarly, when you go beyond your limits and try to talk to native speakers with a strong non-standard accent you won't learn anything and only get discouraged. Balance is everything.
When talking about success and failure, I like a quote by Bill gates: „Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
@fred There is optimal range for growing, e.g. when you learn a foreign language but you don't step out of comfort zone and don't try to speak at all (beacuse of fear, etc) you don't grow. Similarly, when you go beyond your limits and try to talk to native speakers with a strong non-standard accent you won't learn anything and only get discouraged. Balance is everything.
When talking about success and failure, I like a quote by Bill gates: „Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
@Fred, the only way I have ever got anywhere in life is to push beyond my comfort zone. Perhaps it hasn't worked for you -- but the evidence from actual successful growth for most people is that staying in your comfort zone only reinforces the status quo.
@Fred, the only way I have ever got anywhere in life is to push beyond my comfort zone. Perhaps it hasn't worked for you -- but the evidence from actual successful growth for most people is that staying in your comfort zone only reinforces the status quo.
@fred, a comfort zone is not a limit, so I don't see the contradiction there.
@fred, a comfort zone is not a limit, so I don't see the contradiction there.