16 bad habits that are sabotaging your productivity

Flickr / Francisco Osorio

Being more productive is about working smarter, not harder, and making the most of each day.

While this is no easy feat, getting more done in less time is a much more attainable goal if you're not sabotaging yourself with bad habits.

Following are 16 things you should stop doing right now to become more productive.

Aaron Taube contributed to an earlier version of this article.

1. Hitting the snooze button

It might feel like pressing the snooze button in the morning gives you a little bit of extra rest to start your day, but the truth is that it does more harm than good.

That's because when you first wake up, your endocrine system begins to release alertness hormones to get you ready for the day. By going back to sleep, you're slowing down this process. Plus, nine minutes doesn't give your body time to get the restorative, deep sleep it needs.

2. Prioritizing work over sleep

This isn't to say you should cut back on sleep.

As Arianna Huffington discusses in her sleep manifesto, "The Sleep Revolution," a good night's sleep has the power to increase productivity, happiness, smarter decision-making, and unlock bigger ideas.

As she explains to Business Insider, a recent McKinsey study shows the direct correlation between getting less sleep and workplace inefficiency. The prefrontal cortex, where the problem-solving functions of the brain are housed, is degraded if we don't get enough sleep. Working 24/7 "we now know is the cognitive equivalent of coming to work drunk," she says.

The trick for getting enough sleep is planning ahead and powering down at a reasonable time.

3. Keeping your phone next to your bed

Another key to getting better sleep is not letting outside influencers impair your sleep.

The LED screens of our smartphones, tablets, and laptops, for example, give off what is called blue light, which studies have shown can damage vision and suppress production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate the sleep cycle.

Research also suggests that people with lower melatonin levels are more prone to depression.