How Often Are You Faking It?
We have all been guilty of spending time doing fake work that creates a lot of motion, doing things that make us look busy but do not actually move us any closer to a goal.
It’s easy to get so busy moving that we don’t stop to think about what must be accomplished. We also get engrossed in digital devices that get our fingers occupied without delivering real results.
Break this busy cycle through action. Action is the process of doing something in order to achieve a goal. There are 3 specific action steps to help you do real work instead fake work: Plan, Reset, Review.
- Plan weekly – update your calendar, capture deadlines, and schedule tasks that move towards achieving your desired results. This outlines the “real work” that needs to be done in order to accomplish what matters most to you.
- Reset each morning – review the day’s appointment schedule and your critical deadlines or tasks; decide on your three “must-do” actions for that day and focus on getting them done first. Let the rest of the day’s distractions go until you’ve finished your real work!
- Review each evening. Before you stop for the day, review what was accomplished, note what wasn’t done, forward unfinished tasks and give yourself credit for all that was completed. Celebrate yourself and reinforce what went well. After all, you get more of what you focus on. Focus on the real work you got done.
Just because you are moving (doing fake work) does not mean you are making progress. Define success or the results you want to accomplish, and then Plan > Reset > Review.
