We all know the feeling, it’s 8 at night, you’re in a food coma, and you are wondering where the day went? You woke up that morning feel so ready to tackle the day!

Seriously, this was going to be the day that you finally took down the Christmas tree! The day you were going to re-vamp your resume to land your dream job! The day you were going to get back to the gym!

All too often we fall prey to these 8 time wasters that ruin our productivity:

1. Not sleeping enough

People who sleep less than 8 hours are more prone to making mistakes, headaches, and falling into other distractions. Also be careful of waking up in the middle of your REM cycle, this is your sleep cycle that usually takes 90 minutes to fully cycle through. If your alarm wakes you up in the middle of this, you can feel sluggish the rest of the day. Try getting to bed and waking up around the same time each day (even on the weekends!).

2. A disastrous inbox 

Crowded and disorganized inboxes lead to missing deadlines or taking too many mid-day breaks to check out that lunch-time sale your favorite store just emailed you about. Also be careful of obsessively checking your email. Why? Studies show it harms your memory and can lead to increased anxiety and depression.

3. A messy workspace

A chaotic workspace leads to a chaotic mind. A messy workspace means more clutter competing for your attention, which makes it harder to shrink your to-do list for the day.

4. Working too hard

Are you trying to finish a marathon rather than working in sprints? Trying to work for 5 hours straight never ends well. Use the Pareto Principle to your advantage, which states that 20% of our effort is responsible for 80% of our productivity. In other words, work smart not hard. Get things done in chunks, followed by a quick revitalizing break, will keep your energy levels and mood up so you can get more done.

5. Social Media

Of all the time wasters, this is probably the worst offender.  Do you really need to watch that cat video? How about the latest cake pop recipe? Honestly, when was the last time you made cake pops?!

6. Being a “YES” girl

Saying “yes” to things you don’t want to do (or worse you don’t have time to do) can drain your energy, mood, and ultimately productivity. You have to learn how to say no… a lot. The world’s most successful people all have this in common, they say no.

7. The Bachelor

First off, how perfect is Ben?? Secondly, if you’re anything like me you have to be careful of falling down the rabbit hole reading twitter chats about the dramatic Monday night show, revamping your Bachelor fantasy league, or spending way to much time talking about it when you should be working.

8. Multitasking

The more we switch between tasks, the less we are getting done. Research shows one thing at a time is best for our daily productivity. 

Falling prey to these time wasters once in a blue moon is okay – just be careful to not make them habits. Focus on identifying and breaking your time-sucking habits and you’ll be able to increase your daily productivity and make it possible to accomplish anything on your to-do list!