Get Unstuck: A Bias Toward Action
Who are the most productive people you know?
Think about their day-to-day actions. Are they prone to getting stuck? Or do they simply crank out work consistently and make it look easy?
You can learn from these productivity wizards by adopting the mindset they all have.
It’s called, “A Bias Toward Action.”
They think, “If I’m in doubt, I’m going to act. If I’m stuck, I’m going to act. If I’m (fill in the blank), I’m going to act.”
No matter what, it is time to act.
The most productive people are the ones that don’t wait for everything to align. They don’t need to have all the answers about the future lined up before they start working.
The planets DO NOT need to align for you to do your best work right now.
So many of us (me included!) need to have all the detail sorted out before we put our full effort towards a project. We call it procrastination and we also call it common sense: “let’s not work on something that might not succeed.” But this attitude isn’t helpful — it keeps us from moving forward.
When I get stuck on something because I don’t have the details, it feels a bit like I CAN’T move forward. Some call this ‘analysis paralysis.’ I can get caught in this mode, especially the more complex a project I’m working on.
But this “paralysis” isn’t helping you — it’s hindering your progress.
When you’re forging new territory, it’s impossible to have all the details. But more often than not, this is not necessary — and some ambiguity is good! Gaps in the project allow for creativity and new solutions that you might not have seen.
This is not to say that planning is a bad thing! Planning is excellent and can help you get to where you want to go. Yet, the danger lies in not moving forward until you have all the plan details in place. If you’re doing ground-breaking work, there’s no way you’ll have all the detail on your plan. You should include planning in your project, but don’t let gaps in the plan deter you from taking action today.
Is it your goal to become more productive? Then adopt the mindset that you don’t have to have all the details worked out before you begin.
JUST ACT. Let’s Go!
Get moving and fill in the details along the way!
- January 13, 2020