Ask anyone what their productivity secrets are, and you’ll get a different answer. Search for the term online, and you’ll find several thousand different articles, websites, and systems for it. That’s because being productive is a very individual, personal thing. If you’re having trouble finding one that works for you, perhaps it’s because you’ve fallen for one of these five popular myths, following up on the myths we’ve already debunked.

1. No Time for a Productivity System

This is a common complaint with a system, as people think that setup time equals regular maintenance, or usage time of the system. That’s not true. It takes time to implement a system, but once it’s set up, you should be good to go. You’ll save a lot more time because you’re not wasting time figuring out what to do, and the system keeps you moving forward.

2. I Work Best Under Pressure

This is a classic line that people use because they want to have an excuse for producing shoddy work. The fact is, working frantically at the last second has two big problems:

It causes you undue stress and gives you health problems, and You’re causing your colleagues more stress than you need to.

While your work may be “good”, working quickly and under that much stress means you’re going to miss a small, but important, detail at some point which can be damaging to you, your career, your department, and possibly your company.

3. The Same System Works for Everyone

There is no one-size-fits-all productivity system out there, otherwise there would only be one available, right? The reason there are so many is because different people need different things to maximize their creativity and productivity. Also, depending on what you are trying to be productive at (an account director may have different needs than a designer, let’s say) you cannot expect the tricks of one to cover the needs of the other. You may have to try a few of them to find the one that works for you.

4. Early Birds Get The Worm

Why is it we think that getting up earlier in the day to work on our project, we’ll have a better shot at completing it? You need to work at your optimal time, which might not be in the morning. One way to figure out your most productive hours is to keep a journal and note when you feel the most alert, the most energized and the most motivated. Not only can you uncover what time you should be working for the greatest output but you might also discover your motivating and demotivating triggers just with a little mindful observation.

5. Using More Apps is The Answer

Productivity is not an area where “more is better”. Using five different productivity apps to help you get through your work assignments will only confuse you. In fact, different methods have different philosophies and methodologies that might actually conflict. This could lead you to paralysis and not getting anything done. Besides, sometimes going simpler is best: why not try a To Do list written on a pad of paper?

There certainly are a lot of different productivity methods you could use to help keep you on track at work. If you want to use one, why not research them one at a time till you find the one that works for you? It’ll save you time in the long run and finally lay those productivity killers to rest.

Know of any other productivity myths that we may have missed? Let us know in the comments below!

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