36 Tired Excuses That Stifle Your Productivity

To win the productivity game, you must focus on getting results and avoid falling in love with the process. Here are 36 tired excuses that may mean you’ve fallen in love with the process.

If you hear yourself or your colleagues speaking this language, it’s time to snap out of it and start taking responsibility by responding–with all of your ability–to get the job done.”That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

1. “It’s not my job.”
2. “I did my part.”
3. “I didn’t know you needed it right away.”
4. “It wasn’t my fault that it’s late.”
5. “That’s not my department.”
6. “No one told me what to do.”
7. “I’m waiting for approval.”
8. “Someone should have told me not to do that.”
9. “Don’t blame me, it was the boss’s idea.”
10. “I didn’t know.”
11. “I forgot.”
12. “If you had told me it was that important, I would have done it.”
13. “I’m too busy to do it.”
14. “Someone told me to do the wrong thing.”
15. “I thought I told you.”
16. “Why didn’t you ask me?”
17. “No one invited me to the meeting.”
18. “I didn’t get the memo.”
19. “My people dropped the ball.”
20. “Nobody’s followed up on me; it can’t be that important.”
21. “I told someone else to take care of this.”
22. “Traffic was terrible today.”
23. “The home office screwed up.”
24. “My clients changed their minds.”
25. “I had something else scheduled.”
26. “I didn’t have the right forms with me.”
27. “I tried.” (trying allows you to fail with honor)
28. “I did the best I could.”
29. “I worked hard.”
30. “I did high quality work.”
31. “I just do what I’m told.”
32. “My alarm didn’t go off.”
33. “The “X” department lost the form; check; amendment; attachment, etc.”
34. “I couldn’t find it on the web.”
35. “I lost the number.”

The first step in driving the change you want is to increase your awareness.

Start noticing where you are less than resourceful. Consider solutions that will help you refrain from having to rely on any of these tired excuses.

Remember, people only complain about things they think should be different but aren’t willing to take the risk to change. Take some risks to avoid being at risk.

Make it up, make it fun and make it happen.

Related: 12 Ways To Find Business Opportunities in Difficult Times