Strategy and Planning is my area of strength and weakness. I love envisioning the future, brainstorming ideas, creating new things, setting goals and planning for the future. But I can easily be paralyzed in the ideation and planning stage. If I am not cautious, I can spend most of my time brainstorming or planning for market responses and have a bucket list of ambitious goals. Now I am conscious (to a large extent) that it keeps me stuck. 2019 has been very fulfilling in terms of doing meaningful work and the difference was because of the intentionality and ability to discern the important from the unimportant and focus on what matters most. I was able to do this by following these 3 protocols which I disciplined myself to relentlessly follow throughout the year.
This may sound counterintuitive but being strategic about breaks and taking timeout for breaks has helped me generate meaningful work. I use the break time to do NOTHING sometimes and at times use it for ‘Strategic thinking’. Just this activity has made a huge difference in my professional and personal life. Break time is when you are physically, mentally and emotionally away from your day to day activities. If you want to know more about strategic thinking, look at this short and crisp course by Dorie Clark.
Not only has this activity saved a lot of time but also reduced the emotional labor which I used to expend comparing myself with others on social media or stressing about the things which are beyond my control. Peter Drucker once said “50% of the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.” Reflect on what consumes most of your time. Is it the social media, news or other low leverage activities? If you cannot stop them, be strategic about when you will check them out. Anytime other than the scheduled time is a NO NO. Marilyn Paul very beautifully highlights in her book ‘An Oasis in Time: How a Day of Rest Can Save Your Life‘ – why we need to put down our devices
We all go through rough days. No matter what we do, we feel stuck; paralyzed not knowing what to do next. I had many such dips throughout the year. Grit and resilience helped me bounce back but masterminds and coaching rescued me out of the paralysis analysis all the time. They help me commit to doing the work when I least felt like doing it. They are part of my success. I call them my personal board of directors (BOD). Select 4 – 5 people whose inputs you value, who are vested in your success and set up a plan to have regular meetings with them.
Implementing just these 3 things helped me not only become more productive and effective but it has been immensely satisfying because it has allowed me to do focus on the most important thing.
Next steps for you –
Schedule time in your calendar for any / all of the above and just do it. Trust me, even if you implement one of these, it will make a huge difference in your professional and personal life
Let me know how it works with you
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