Are You Wasting Time with Busywork?

 

Are you doing what you need to do make your dream a reality or are you just doing busywork? I’m asking you this question because last week I noticed my progress was slowing. Things that I needed to get done just weren’t getting done. Everything seemed to be at a standstill and I couldn’t figure out why. I was busy. I was busy doing lots of stuff all day long. I was so busy I felt like I barely had a chance to breathe. But then I sat down and looked at what I was busy doing.I won’t go into the details because in reality they are quite boring, but in short what I was doing was busywork. I was spending hours getting lost in details that did nothing to move my dream forward. I was getting caught up in silly little things that wouldn’t get me any closer to where I wanted to be.

When you really want to do something great in your life you need to make sure that you are tackling the most important tasks first. I was putting off those most important tasks because I was scared. I was finding little unimportant things to fill my days with. I was wasting time doing things that didn’t really need to be done at all, and I wasn’t even aware of it.

That’s why it’s good to have some time weekly where you sit down and take an honest look at what you are doing to get to your goals. I’ve told you about the process I use to do this before. Besides that my husband and I have a kind of weekly strategy meeting in a coffee shop. Being accountable to myself and to him really helps me stay on track. If you can find an accountability partner it is well worth it. I tend to need a ton of accountability and reassessing because I’m the type of person who can get off track quickly.

People aren’t as together as you may think they are. We all have our weaknesses. Those are part of the universal human condition. Keep that in mind always so you are not unkind to yourself when you do mess something up. I always like to make sure I share that with you because I think many of us have a tendency to be a bit too hard on ourselves.

So you have a dream that you are working towards. You have an idea about what your future should be. What are you doing to work toward that everyday? Are you doing piddly little tasks that won’t really get you there or are you concentrating on the larger more powerful steps to reach your goal? What are those steps and how can you know?

Imagine what you want your life to be five years from now. What do you imagine yourself doing? Do you have a different job? Have you started working for yourself? How much money do you earn? Where do you live? What does your day look like? How do you contribute to the world? How do you help people? How do you make this world a more beautiful place? Really imagine what your ideal life would look like in five years. Can you see it now?

Good.

Now follow that path you took to get there back in time. What would you need to be doing four years from now, two years from now, one year from now, next month, next week, tomorrow to get to where you want to be? Do you see what I’m asking you? What do you need to have established to get to where you want to be five years from now? Just like what you did five years ago got you to where you are today, what you do now will get you to where you ultimately want to be five years from now.

There are important big tasks that will get you to where you want to go. Then there are a million little things that can distract you from what you truly want in life. If you really want to accomplish your dreams you have to do the big things first. You have to make whatever will point you in the direction of your dreams your highest priority even if it is scary and even if you don’t know how to do it exactly. Put your energy into learning how. Put your energy into breaking it down into something doable. That is how you carve out your dreams.

Don’t waste time with the unimportant things that could fill up your days if you let them: Facebook, email, busywork. These things don’t really need to get done right now. Be clear about your purpose. Be focused.

Decide what you most need to get done this week to help get you closer to your goal. Make sure it is something you can actually get done in a week. Write it down and put it somewhere where you can see it everyday. Tell someone you know who will hold you accountable about it and tell them that you will finish it by the end of the week.

Now here comes the part that is so essential, but for some reason can be so hard. Do it. Do that thing. Try to do it as early in the week as possible. Try to do it first thing tomorrow morning if you can. The sooner you start the more likely you are to actually get it done.

If you need more incentive to get it done try telling yourself that you’ll reward yourself if you do it by Friday. You can reward yourself with a movie or ice cream or a walk in the park or anything you don’t normally do that you enjoy.

If you need even more incentive than that try giving yourself a punishment if you don’t do it. Make the punishment something silly. You know I don’t like you to be mean to yourself. Donate to a charity you don’t like or take your friends to a restaurant they love but you don’t care for and pay for the tab or see that movie that you really don’t want to watch that your significant other has been dying to see.

Giving yourself rewards and punishments can help inspire you to get moving on that thing you’ve been putting off. If you still don’t feel like doing it. If you still feel resistance when you go to complete the task, take a minute just before you start close your eyes and imagine the end result. Remember why you’re doing what you are can make all the difference.

Focusing on the most important steps and setting aside the busywork will help you find success on the path to your dreams.