Getting Things Done That We’re Avoiding
In my corporate career, to do lists, project plans, goals and objectives were my life line.
I depended on them to keep me alive from the deadly bite of public failure, the humiliation of getting fired, and the shame of screwing up my career.
Dramatic? Perhaps, but some days, that’s how it actually felt.
I would think, I will secure my future by ‘efforting’ my way through work, making myself do the things that ‘must’ be done, searching for what I ‘should’ do to be successful, all in an effort to protect my identity and future, as an accomplished executive.
Efforting, musts, shoulds, protecting, …, these themes played a bigger role in my work than I wish they had, and they worked just well enough for me to keep doing them.
As I look back, I see that it was my approach to work, and not my work that was problematic.
It was my thinking about getting shit done that took up headspace and had me avoid getting it done. Not the work itself.
If I were to tell you; “you must do this”, “you should do that” or “you’ll have to effort your way through it”, do you feel excited about getting it done? Likely not. And yet, that’s what we do to ourselves, and then we blame ourselves for avoiding getting it done.
We have so much thinking about getting things done, that we exhaust ourselves before we even start.
And it comes down to a simple misunderstanding.
We make getting things done about us, about our future, our success, our abilities, talents, etc. But it’s not about us. It’s about the thing we want to get done. When we stay with that, we naturally and effortlessly get it done.
What I see now about getting things done we’re avoiding:
“Do the thing, and you shall have the power, but they who do not the thing have not the power.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson. You may have many thoughts about doing the thing. You may recite several chapters from the book of ‘why you’re resisting doing the thing’. That’s alright. Oh well. Go do “the thing” anyway, and notice the ability to do “the thing” grow.
We confuse goals with doing “the thing”. We can get ourselves worked up about a goal. We worry about failing, we question our worthiness and ask whether we really want to put in all the work. Innocently, we fill our heads with scary stories, different scenarios, plans and projections for an imagined future that doesn't actually exist. BUT, we can’t do a goal, nor can we do a project. We can simply do “the thing”. The thing that can be done right now. Goals are a direction of action. The thing is the action that can be taken today, right now. Go do that.
Consider whether items have earned their way onto your to do list. We give away our creative energy way too easily. Practice discernment. Protect your precious resources. Don’t give up your bandwidth cheap. If you’re avoiding it, take yourself off the hook. Notice what happens. Perhaps it’s not meant to be on your list, and maybe, taking yourself off the hook is enough to incite some action.
Do what occurs to you to do in the moment. Be still and allow yourself the time and space to listen to your inner voice for guidance. Sometimes that inner guidance will have you put together a project plan or to do list. That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with this. Do what you want to do in the moment. Trust the inner guidance that comes through you. The answer lies there.
We each tackle our to do list differently. Don’t force yourself to commit to one particular productivity tool because someone says it works. Stay fluid and open to what works for you. Do that. It doesn’t matter if that’s not what the “experts” say. They are not the expert on you. You are.