Five Things You Should Stop Doing

A few months back I read a similar article on Harvard Business Review Blog and then I thought, may be I can add something to it from my own experience too.

Responding Like a Trained Monkey. Every productivity expert in the world will tell you to check email at periodic intervals — say, every 90 minutes — rather than clicking "refresh" like a Pavlovian mutt. Of course, almost no one listens, because studies have shown email's "variable interval reinforcement schedule" is basically a slot machine for your brain. But spending a month away — and only checking email weekly — showed me how little really requires immediate response. In fact, nothing. A 90 minute wait won't kill anyone, and will allow you to accomplish something substantive during your workday.

Mindless Traditions. I recently invited a friend to a prime networking event. "Can I play it by ear?" she asked. "This is my last weekend to get holiday cards out and I haven't mailed a single one. It is causing stress!" In the moment, not fulfilling an "obligation" (like sending holiday cards) can make you feel guilty. But if you're in search of professional advancement, is a holiday card (buried among the deluge) going to make a difference? If you want to connect, do something unusual — get in touch at a different time of year, or give your contacts a personal call, or even better, meet up face-to-face. You have to ask if your business traditions are generating the results you want.

Reading Annoying Things. We tend to subscribe several news letters.I have nearly a dozen newsletters and online magazine subscriptions, the result of alluring specials (free subscriptions and the compulsion not to miss out on crucial information. But after detoxing for a month, I was able to reflect on which publications actually refreshed me — and which felt like a duty and differentiate subscription which made sense and which ended up spamming my inbox. The pretentious tech publication with crazy layouts and too-small print? Not so much. I'm weeding out and paring down to literary essentials. What subscriptions can you get rid of?

Set expectations that can be fulfilled. We are vibrant people and a major of us are energetic too. But does that mean we will be able to carry this energy for a long period of time. You may feel high on winning a multi-million contract but then the feeling is perpetual, until the reality set in that it was a government contract, filled with ridiculous reporting mechanisms, low reimbursement rates and administrative complexities that sucked the joy and profit out of the work. You work 12 hours daily, sure you are a passionate being who loves his job. But how long would you be able to do that. How long would you be able to fulfill such an expectations. And look around, ain't you distracting the social balance.

Making Things More Complicated Than They Should Be. We have the habit to schedule conference calls so frequent and working in a consulting environment we tend to schedule more calls than analyzing the need of call. Biweekly check-in calls are good indeed but we should be tactful enough for justifying it. A well conceived pre-analysis can save time for a large number of people involved in an engagement. As Eric Ries points out in his new book The Lean Startup , developing the best code or building the best product in the world is meaningless if your customers don't end up wanting it. Instead, test early and often to ensure you're not wasting your time. What ideas should you test before you've gone too far? Simple things are always preferred. You may end up developing a complicated fancy excel based tool for doing some analysis. But even before you start such an activity you need to question your idea; if the idea is meant to simplify things or complicate either.