Ultimately, the hardest part of any journey, or task for that matter, is getting started.
Many times I have found myself stuck in the planning stage of a project, trying to identify all of the steps I need to take to reach my target. This planning then leads to other "meta" tasks, such as what task management system to use, when should I start, how much should I accomplish daily, etc. This "planning" consumes me to the point that before I know it I have "planned" myself into an untenable deadline and I have to crunch to get things accomplished. Many times the simple stress of trying to determine where to start freezes me into inaction and procrastination. I even avoid posting to my blog because of not knowing what to "say" and then letting it go weeks because I am ashamed I haven't written as much as I told myself I should do. Then I fire off sever posts to only fall back into the cycle again.
Productivity at work or school is no different. I am stuck in "productivity pr0n" as some have labeled it, looking at ways to organize and reduce stress to the exclusion of actually doing the work itself, which invariably leads to more stress I feel I have to fine a way to "prevent." When slapped by reality, I come to the realization that if I had simply "started" after generating a simple, if incomplete plan, I would have been finished with time to spare. THAT would ultimately reduce my stress more effectively than any productivity tool could ever do.
I now find myself in that familiar place once again. Faced with a mountain of work that I have procrastinated in starting because I was focused on the method rather than the task. So now I have to "crunch" to get the work done, whether I have a "productivity tool," plan, or simple task list of things to do. I will get through the work because I always do, but this is getting old. I need to stop focusing on the system and focus on the goal. In reality, I just need to get started.
Have you ever found yourself in this peculiar type of productivity paralysis? Do you ever get so overwhelmed with the amount of work you've put on yourself that your brain refuses to focus and you end up typing about getting started so you do really have to do it? Oops, I am doing it again. Time to go take my own medicine....
Many times I have found myself stuck in the planning stage of a project, trying to identify all of the steps I need to take to reach my target. This planning then leads to other "meta" tasks, such as what task management system to use, when should I start, how much should I accomplish daily, etc. This "planning" consumes me to the point that before I know it I have "planned" myself into an untenable deadline and I have to crunch to get things accomplished. Many times the simple stress of trying to determine where to start freezes me into inaction and procrastination. I even avoid posting to my blog because of not knowing what to "say" and then letting it go weeks because I am ashamed I haven't written as much as I told myself I should do. Then I fire off sever posts to only fall back into the cycle again.
Productivity at work or school is no different. I am stuck in "productivity pr0n" as some have labeled it, looking at ways to organize and reduce stress to the exclusion of actually doing the work itself, which invariably leads to more stress I feel I have to fine a way to "prevent." When slapped by reality, I come to the realization that if I had simply "started" after generating a simple, if incomplete plan, I would have been finished with time to spare. THAT would ultimately reduce my stress more effectively than any productivity tool could ever do.
I now find myself in that familiar place once again. Faced with a mountain of work that I have procrastinated in starting because I was focused on the method rather than the task. So now I have to "crunch" to get the work done, whether I have a "productivity tool," plan, or simple task list of things to do. I will get through the work because I always do, but this is getting old. I need to stop focusing on the system and focus on the goal. In reality, I just need to get started.
Have you ever found yourself in this peculiar type of productivity paralysis? Do you ever get so overwhelmed with the amount of work you've put on yourself that your brain refuses to focus and you end up typing about getting started so you do really have to do it? Oops, I am doing it again. Time to go take my own medicine....
