It always seems to me that I see “be more productive by doing X” articles. But there comes a time when there’s too much, especially if the things one added in doesn’t address the leaks in the boat. To that end, I think there are a things that will contribute more to productivity when one is stopping them.
Productivity: The Right Things Done Right
The whole basis of productivity is doing the right tasks and doing them in the best manner. It covers both efficiency and effectiveness.
In order to find the right things, though, it helps to periodically examine what we say no to. And a good way to do this is with a Things I Will Stop Doing List.
Things I Will Stop Doing
- Stop checking my email more than twice a day. I find myself checking when I am bored, when I am putting something off, or when I am just distracted. It takes way too much of my time. To stop this, I have added my email app to my Hidden apps. Out of sight, out of mind.
- Stop reading online news and Bored Panda. I can lose myself in both of these. The news makes me feel hopeless and Bored Panda makes me feel superior, in the sense that “at least my life isn’t like that.” To stop this, I have blocked news and Bored Panda on all devices using Screen Time and browser extensions.
- Stop surfing social media. I only use Instagram, but I can lose hours in that app. And even though I only stop for posts from my favorite new band (Sons of Legion) or cat videos, I am still be exposed to all the toxicity out there. To stop this, I have a hard limit set in Screen Time on my phone and a block in my computer browsers.
- Stop using the phone/Kindle after bedtime. I’m tired when I get to bed, but then I want to check the weather, perhaps check email, maybe play a game, read a book…and the next thing I know it’s two hours later. My Kindle now lives far away from my bed, and using a combination of focus time and home screen adjustment, it takes a lot of effort to get to anything other than Calm after bedtime.
- Stop hauling all the things around. I typically work in my bullet journal for planning and tracking; my daily planner for a focus list; a notebook for notes and ideas; an iPad for writing and research; and a notebook for the book I am writing. I don’t need these things all the time. I am trying to minimize what I carry around – even in my own house – by thinking about what I will accomplish rather than what I could accomplish.
- Stop reading books that suck. I keep telling myself this, but somewhere in my training lurks the belief that if it is published it is good. Not so. Many of the books that are deeply discounted or are on Kindle Unlimited are that way for a reason.
- Stop loading up my Kindle with books. It’s easy to get books on the Kindle because you can’t see them. But all I’m doing is adding to my already huge list of things to read. I recently canceled Kindle Unlimited because I found myself going there for new books even though I have a backlog of things to read.
- Stop doing things I don’t care about. I’ve really cut down my extracurriculars in the last couple years, but people still keep asking me to do things. I’m learning to say “let me think about it” and to make sure that people know that my silence is not agreement to do anything.
- Stop cutting myself short on sleep. I need sleep. I don’t get enough. ‘Nuff said. I’ve removed distractions from my bedroom and started using Calm to get me to sleep faster.
- Stop pushing myself beyond limits. I had a hard month with multiple medical procedures and a scare that they might have found another tumor (it wasn’t). I have been running on emotional boil-over for weeks. And I am exhausted. So I need to give myself some grace to rest and recover.
- Stop trying to do a dozen things at once. I have a lot of active projects. But if I list them all out every week, I start to freeze because I don’t know what to do next. So now I am working on one to two projects at a time that are not long-term (requiring small effort frequently). When those are complete I pick something else. I’m actually getting a lot more done.
In Conclusion
Ultimately, the path to being more productive isn’t about filling every gap with new strategies or hacks; it’s about having the courage to leave gaps empty. By consciously stopping the behaviors that drain us – whether it’s the endless scroll, the guilt of unfinished books, or the exhaustion of multitasking – we create the space necessary for deep work and genuine rest. This shift from accumulation to elimination doesn’t just reclaim our time; it restores our capacity to care about the few things that truly matter. In the end, doing less isn’t a compromise; it’s the only way to ensure that what we do is actually worth doing.
