Sometimes, like right now, I sit on my laptop and aimlessly scroll through content. In search of a motivational or a captivating piece of content that can inspire me to knock off items on my checklist, I find myself gravitating towards this “easy way out”. This “easy way out”, is probably the most dangerous thing that I do. It stalls productivity. It’s a form of procrastination.
It’s almost like an onboarding or starting process before you start doing the actual work. How do you get to the stage where you’re able to immediately open your laptop and get to the meat of what you’re trying to do? No probing around, no reading or consuming content adjacent to the mountain of tasks ahead of you.
There are a couple of factors that lead to people like me falling into similar abysses.
(1) There’s no real sense of urgency. Read this post about desperation induced focus. It highlights how desperation fuels output and great work. Right now, I don’t feel desperation— just a dull nudge to work on something and improve.
(2) No clear list of tasks. There’s a couple of initiatives and projects that I’ve been working on but sometimes it’s not clear what’s highest priority. And even if something is, the mental legwork needed to start working on it is higher than other tasks. You naturally aren’t drawn towards the most pressing task, and therefore your entire to do list is affected.
I’m trying to limit the number of distractions. Turning my phone upside down, putting my laptop on DnD, and putting on over the ear headphones are all ways that allow me to cut to the chase.