Introverts can attest that moving forward means getting things done on time while ensuring that their output is of the highest quality.
However, what if you have somehow found yourself at the crossroads of not getting things done and not being satisfied with your work?
Have you ever thought of what could cause this lack of productivity?
As an introvert, here are some reasons why you feel that you are not moving forward with your plan:
- You are focusing on the wrong things or tasks. Sometimes, the thought of success and doing many things for your plan can make you miss seeing the real or “Big Picture.”
- Your project’s aims or goals are not clear. What does your plan need? What do you want to see it do for your life? How does it look? Set your goals straight.
- You think about what multiple projects can do for you compared to what they can do for your plan. You benefit from the success of your life’s plan, but it’s not about you. If you only do what was fun, you wouldn’t complete your long-term plan. To be successful, many of the skill sets you have to develop require learning new skills. How effective of a researcher are you? Do you know how to market your ideas? Can you build websites to distribute your ideas? All this and more requires you to increase your knowledge base.
- You overload yourself with too much information that you fail to distinguish which ones are relevant to your plan. Pick out and use only the pertinent information; otherwise, you will end up confused and unable to complete your project accurately.
- Distractions can get the best of you. This means that having many things on your mind can keep you from focusing on your goals. And take note, distractions are not just about other tasks that you have in mind; distractions also include friends and being unproductive during office hours.
- Disorganized and dysfunctional work system. Of course, this is understandable because having a chaotic system can significantly affect you and your plan’s success.
- Too much negativity from yourself and other people affects you. If you let yourself be taken over by negative comments such as you are not good enough for the job or are too much of a perfectionist, you can’t focus on what you want and what you have to do. In addition, if you procrastinate too much, this attitude will pull you down. Besides, making excuses for not being able to accomplish something is very counterproductive.
- Too much multitasking and very little single-tasking can seriously affect your productivity. If you are taking in and doing too many things, you will be pulled away from your actual goals and merely spinning your wheels.
- You are too afraid to fail; do you think of several strategies to succeed. But in reality, you are a major collector of failed projects and tasks instead of being led to one significant achievement. Failure should not be taken negatively. Failure should be your fuel to propel you towards success. But don’t throw a lot of projects on the wall to see what sticks. Choose the tasks you are most interested in, skillset, and warrant the greatest need in the marketplace.
- Lack of strict rules and work ethics. It would help if you always had strict rules to ensure you can move according to your original plan. The less discipline you have, the more stringent you have to be on yourself until you develop positive habits.
—Anne Glencoe