Blog Post

10 Tested, Proven Ways to Become Less Productive

Katherine Martin • October 5, 2016

Let’s face it : while there is an abundance of articles on how to become more productive, there aren’t a lot on becoming less productive.

With that in mind, I decided to put this article together. While it’s helpful to focus on how to get more done every day, it can also be helpful to consider what may be holding you back.

Here are 10 surefire ways to become less productive every day.

 

Spend more time planning than doing

Some planning is essential. It’s pretty difficult to become more productive when you don’t step back to consider what you need to become more productive at doing. But past a certain point, the return on planning what you’re going to do with your time diminishes, and your productivity begins to suffer. Every minute you spend planning what to work on is one minute you don’t actually do work.

Multitask

It’s difficult to overstate this point: Multitasking is one of the absolute worst things you can do for your productivity. The fewer things you give your attention to in the moment, the more productive you become. If you want to become less productive, multitasking is a no-brainer.

Work on autopilot

 When you try to do too much at once, or you don’t plan your time well, you work on autopilot. This prevents you from working intentionally on what’s important. If you want to become less productive, don’t do any planning when you notice that you’re working on autopilot. Instead…

Work faster

 Working slower is for suckers. It gives you more space to think about your work, and to work smarter. If you want to become less productive, work as fast as possible—while multitasking, if you have the flexibility!

Take fewer breaks

Breaks—whether throughout the day, or a longer vacation—let you recharge. They allow your mind to wander so you can come up with better ideas and approach your work with more creativity. When you don’t step back from your work, your mind will take breaks for you. Needless to say, if you want to accomplish less each day, take as few of them as possible.

Pack your schedule

To the gills, if you can. If you want to become less productive, it’s crucial that you leave as little breathing room as possible for emergencies that may come up throughout the day. You don’t want any time to dive into the bigger projects you’re working on either. Make sure you agree to as many meetings as possible, and start a few of your own to “touch base” on all of the projects you’re working on!

Forget working out

Physical activity helps us destress, which is especially important today, when we face more stressors in our daily lives than ever before. When we don’t get enough physical activity, we are more likely to feel fatigued and burnt out. To become less productive, get as little physical activity as possible. And the instant you feel fatigued, don’t forget to load up on caffeine!

Get fewer than 8 hours of sleep

Sleep affects our mental performance in pretty much every measurable way. When we get less than 7.5 hours of it, our energy, focus, and productivity suffer. Sleep is one of the best ways to exchange your time for energy, which is precisely why you should get less than 8 hours of it if you want to become less productive.

Forget about nutrition

 Energy is the fuel that we burn over the course of the day to get stuff done. Not putting proper fuel into our body can shatter our energy and productivity. Processed foods that are ultra-high in sugar, salt, and fat can cause our energy and productivity to rollercoaster over the course of the day. But they’re also delicious, so don’t be afraid to crush a big bag of syrup-smothered waffles before work in the morning.

Cut yourself off from as many people as possible

Social interaction is also for suckers. Sure, it has been shown to make you happier, and more motivated and engaged than pretty much anything else. But you feel less productive while you’re doing it!

If you want to become less productive every day, make sure you give these things a try.

There’s a right and a wrong way to become less productive.
even if that means setting an intention to do absolutely nothing
This post was written by Chris Bailey, from A Life of Productivity. It was originally published here.

Katherine Martin


Origin Mortgages

Phone: 1-604-454-0843
Email: kmartin@planmymortgage.ca
Fax: 1-604-454-0842


RECENT POSTS

Improving Your Credit Score

By Katherine Martin • February 19, 2025
Your credit score and how you manage credit are huge factors in qualifying for a mortgage. If you want the best interest rates and mortgage products available on the market, you want a high credit score. Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit score. Make all your payments on time. Making your payments on time is so important; in fact, it might just be the most important factor in managing your credit. Here's how credit works. When you borrow money from a lender, you agree to make payments with interest on a set schedule until the debt is repaid in full. Good credit is established and maintained by making your payments on time. However, If you break the terms of that schedule by not making your payments, the lender will report the missed payments to the credit reporting agencies, and your credit score suffers. It’s that simple. The more payments you miss, the lower your score will be. If you fail to make payments for over 120 days, the lender will most likely send your debt to be recovered by a collection agency. Collections stay on your report for a long time. So the moment you realize you have missed a payment or as soon as you have the money for it, make the payment. If something prevents you from making a payment, consider contacting the lender directly to let them know what happened and work out an arrangement to make the payment as soon as possible. It's good to note that lenders only report late payments after a payment is 30 days late. If you miss a payment on a Friday and catch it the following Monday, you won't have anything to worry about - except maybe an NSF fee. Now, just because payments don't report until being 30 days late, don’t get comfortable with making late payments; the best advice is to pay your debts on time, as agreed. Stop acquiring new credit. If you already have at least two different trade lines, you shouldn’t acquire new trade lines just for the sake of it. Of course, if you need to borrow money, like to purchase a vehicle to commute to work, go ahead and apply. Just remember: having more credit available to you doesn’t really help your credit score. In fact, each time a potential lender looks at your credit report, it may lower your credit score a little bit. With that said, if you already have two different trade lines and your lender offers you an increase on your limit, take it. A credit card with a $10k limit is better for you than a credit card with a $2k limit because how much you spend compared to your credit card's limit impacts your credit score. This leads us directly into the next point. Keep a reasonable balance. The more credit you use compared to the limit you have, the less creditworthy you appear. It’s better to carry a reasonable balance (15-25% of the card’s limit) and pay it off each month than to max out your credit cards and just make the minimum payments. If you have to spend more than 25% of your card limit, try to remain under 60%. That shows good utilization. Paying down your credit cards every month and carrying a zero balance will undoubtedly improve your credit score. Check your credit report regularly. Did you know that roughly 20% of credit reports have misinformation on them? Mistakes happen all the time. Lenders misreport information, or people with the same names get merged reports. Any number of things could be inaccurate without you knowing about it. You might even have become a victim of fraud or identity theft. By checking your credit regularly, you can stay on top of everything and correct any errors promptly. Both of Canada's credit reporting agencies, Equifax and Transunion, have programs that, for a small fee, will monitor and update you on any changes made to your credit report. Handle collections immediately. When checking your credit report for accuracy, if you happen to find a collection has been registered against you, deal with it immediately. It could be a closed-out cell phone account with a small balance owing, a final utility bill that got missed, unpaid parking tickets, wage garnishments, or spousal support payments. Regardless of what it is, it will harm your credit score if it's registered on your credit report. The best plan of action is to handle any collections or delinquent accounts as soon as possible. Use your credit card. If you have acquired credit cards to build your credit score, but you rarely use them, there is a chance the lender might not report your usage, and that won’t help your credit score. You'll want to make sure that you use your credit at least once every three months. Many people find success using their credit cards for gas and groceries and paying off the outstanding balance each month. There you have it. Regardless of what your credit looks like now, you will continue to increase your credit score if you follow the points outlined above. If you're looking to buy a property and you’d like to work through your credit report in detail, let’s put together a plan to get you qualified for a mortgage. Get in touch anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you!

How To Establish New Credit

By Katherine Martin • February 12, 2025
If you’re new to managing personal finance and you want to learn about credit, you’ve come to the right place. Establishing new credit is a bit of a catch-22. To build a credit history, you need credit. But it’s hard to get credit without having a credit history. So, where do you start? Well, the first thing you should know is that building credit takes time. It’s not something that happens overnight. If you’re looking to secure mortgage financing, you will want to have a minimum of two trade lines (credit cards, loans, or lines of credit) with a minimum limit of $2500, reporting for at least two years. If you don’t have any credit yet, the best time to get started is right now. However, that may be difficult because, as we've already identified, without a credit history, most lenders won’t feel confident about taking a chance on you. What’s the solution? Consider a secured credit card. With a secured credit card, you make a deposit upfront that matches the amount you want to borrow. A reasonable amount would be $1000 deposited on a single secured credit card. You then use your secured credit card to make household purchases and regular utility payments, paying off the total balance each month. If you default on the money borrowed for whatever reason, the lender will retain the money you put up as collateral. When looking for a secured credit card, be sure to ask whether they report to the two nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If the credit card company doesn't report, the credit card account will be useless for your purposes; move on until you find a company that reports to both credit bureaus. Once your secured credit card begins reporting to the credit bureaus, you begin to have a credit score; usually, this takes about three months. Now you can start to seek out a second trade line in the form of an unsecured credit card. Don’t forget to ensure that this card reports to both of the credit reporting agencies. Another option at this point could be a car loan. From here, you simply want to make all your payments on time! But what happens if you’re looking to secure mortgage financing before you have a fully established credit report? Well, if you have someone who would consider co-signing, you can certainly go that route. The mortgage application will depend on their income and credit report, but your name will be on the mortgage. Hopefully, when the mortgage is up for renewal, you’ll have the established credit required to remove them from the mortgage and qualify on your own. Although establishing credit takes a minimum of two years, it really begins with putting together a plan. If you’d like to discuss anything credit or mortgage-related, please get in touch!
© 2025 

Katherine Martin. All Rights Reserved.      

Share by: