5 Ways Positive Thinking Can Increase Your Productivity

"In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact." -Les Brown

If you want to be more productive but haven’t been able to do so, your attitude might have something to do with it. We have all heard of the saying “you get what you put in.” Which pretty much means, you can’t go into a situation with a negative mind and expect to get anything more than just that, in return.

Studies have shown that student's attitude towards math will actually affect their success. The simple fact of going to your math class with a negative attitude will truly help you fail. Not because you’re not intelligent, but for the fact that you’re constantly expressing your discontentment of math and whatnot. I wasn’t aware of this study until recently, but my performance in my math classes make a lot of sense now.

Having a great work ethic is an important component of productivity, but so is a positive attitude. Here are 5 five ways a positive mindset will help you be more productive:

1. You avoid the complaints club.

Not only will you be saving time, you’ll also be saving energy because let’s face it - constant complains are exhausting. Especially when they don’t amount to anything. If you’re performing a difficult task, you are more likely to waste time writing an entire book on the many ways this task is annoying.

Whereas, performing the same task with a positive attitude will encourage you to figure out a more efficient way to complete the task at hand. You will even be able to detect and prevent problems before they arise, which also saves any more time that would have been spent solving the problem. They don’t say “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure” for nothing.

2. You aren’t as stressed

It is no secret that most people don’t perform well under stressful conditions. When stressed, you’re worrying about however many different things you have to take care of, while barely paying attention to the task you’re currently performing.

When performing a task with a positive attitude, your mind is at ease and you’re able to remain focused. Your productivity significantly increases because your mind isn’t clouded and overwhelmed by stressors.

3. You work better in teams

No one likes to be around people who constantly complain. I don’t know about you, but i try to steer clear of negative people as much as i can. Especially when i’m doing a group project at school, i avoid that individual like the plague. My end goal is an A and complaining is definitely NOT going to get me there.

Just as they ( don’t ask me who “they” is) say a smile is contagious, the same could be said about a positive attitude. Not only is it easier to work with others, but everyone is able to work efficiently. People tend to be a lot more productive when they’re in a positive working environment. Negativity often drags tasks way longer than they should have originally taken and seems to make them a lot more tedious.

4. You have more energy

Cheerful people tend to be more energetic. If you’re full of energy, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be more proactive than someone who isn’t. Negative people tend to look at the more gloomy side of things and inadvertently deplete their energy. Because those with a positive mindset prefer to look at the brighter side of things, their job performance consequently tends to be better.

5. You’re more likely to make good decisions

Negative thinking clouds your judgement and often leads to poor decision making. Have you ever made a decision and then later wondered what in the world you were thinking? Yeah same. Chances are, your mindset at the time wasn’t the best.

A positive mindset strengthens your problem solving skills and rids you of the distractions brought by negative thinking. Instead of reacting to problems with your emotions, you will be able to take the appropriate steps needed to resolve the problem accordingly. Plus, a positive minds makes way for creativity, which is always very helpful when solving problems.

How To Be More Positive

Now that we understand the immense impact a positive attitude has on productivity, you might be wondering “well, how do i go about being more positive ?” Wonder no more, i got you covered. Being more positive doesn’t mean you have to be in la-la land all the time, all it takes is some effort.

• Surround yourself with positive people: You may not realize it, but your environment plays a crucial role in determining your outlook on life. If you constantly confine yourself with people who spread nothing but negativity, chances are you’ll do the exact same thing.  Those you hang out with the most can either uplift you or drag you down with them.
• Make a conscious effort to smile: Smile right now. Yes, for no reason. Doesn’t matter if you’re in a good mood or not. Just smile. Most of us believe that we smile when we’re happy. This is correct, but so is the opposite. We can feel happy because we’re smiling. This basically means that you can force a smile at any time and trick your brain into thinking that you’re genuinely happy. Not only will you better your mood, but you’ll also reduce stress.
• Meditate:  Practicing mindful meditation is a great way to relieve stress. When you take time to settle your mind from all the worries of life, you’re able to focus on what really matters.

Next time you have to tackle that do-to list of yours, make sure you to do with a positive mindset.

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