A recent poll of 1,000 Americans by Good Technology found that 80% worked, on average, an extra seven to eight hours a week outside the office each week. Sure, the company behind the study, a provider of technology that makes our mobile devices work, found the silver lining: These busy bees have more control of their schedules and where they work. But, don’t mistake this as a good thing — especially as we examine the effects of our modern, “crazy busy” lives.
In fact, it turns out that exerting less effort may actually improve your performance and your state of mind. Read on for five sneaky ways your Type-A tendencies can thwart your output, and how you can turn them around to increase your productivity and decrease your stress levels.
You’re Devoting Too Much Time To Work
Berlin researchers explored the practice habits of violin players and found some interesting results. When comparing the schedules of the exceptional violinists to those who were serious (but less exceptional) players, the most talented actually practiced less throughout the day, and slept more, than the average players.
By analyzing the diaries of their subjects, the German scientists found this: the exceptional violinists only spent two chunks of time a day specifically honing their weakest areas. Meanwhile, the average players would spread their work out throughout the day and didn’t just focus on their weakest areas. And, the fallout of devoting too much time in the quest to improve your skills? The average players just felt more stress and slept less than the exceptional ones.
Try this: Block out just one or two chunks of time a day to work on your most challenging projects. The rest can be spaced out.
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