Are you inventing things to do to avoid the important?
I don’t know if it is just me but I find myself adding to my to-do list without even realizing to feel “more productive”. When really I am just avoiding the actual important task that needs to get done.
It was the night before Monday and it started fairly productive, I was prepared to take on the next day.
I had written down the two main things, in my notebook, that I wanted to get done the next morning.
It felt good.
Got into bed and drifted off into dreamland.
The next morning I wake up and suddenly I’m thinking of all these other little tasks I “had” to do.
“I need to call that person”
“I need to respond to that email”
“I need to watch that video I saved the other day”
“I need to organize everything I’ve collected in Notion for easier consumption later” (My worst “productive” distraction)
Before I knew it, the clock was creeping closer and closer to midday.
The guilt starts to set in of knowing I’m not going to get that one big thing done until later, then not have my afternoon to chill.
I physically and mentally felt so much resistance to just getting what actually needed to be done.
It was too easy to be distracted.
It got to 1 pm and I was fed up, the “to-do” list was growing, I was adding things just so I could tick them off and feel accomplished.
I tear the page out.
Swished it into my bin to join the other many forgotten lists from previous days.
And started fresh.
“Ok. If I could only do two of these today, which would most benefit me moving forward?”
Tapping my feet, and beating my pen against the desk, I give it some thought.
I really needed to finish part of a website I was building but had buried it in the leaves and branches of mundane tasks.
It required slightly more mental gymnastics than I was ready to take on that morning so I just put it off.
So I started there.
The thing I feel most resistance towards starting is often the one that needs to be done the most, it should feel uncomfortable at first.
So, I eliminated all other distractions and faced it head-on.
Don’t get me wrong I was met with a lot of frustration and a steep learning curve, but I got it done eventually.
And 2 hours later, I was ready to take on the next mountain.
So whoever made it to this point, let me ask.
Are you reading this or inventing things to do right now to avoid that important task you know needs to get done?
