"What Actions have you taken in your life that led to positive changes?"
Two ideas come to mind immediately because it's clear for me that they really had an impact. They are directly related to productivity and work but somehow seem to have applications in several aspects of life.
1 - I started to say "no" when I felt it was the best thing for me at the moment.
It's easy to find ourselves overwhelmed by big things but we usually get there by accepting to participate in many small tasks or projects. In a working environment it's particularly easy to fell for that trap. I had a really nice boss that I liked to please because he helped me in the past and is a very nice person. I felt like accepting everything he said and tried to do my best. It was one project on top of another and another. I liked the job and worked many hours (too many) and the outcome was good. I never refused so he kept asking for more.
One day, instead of saying "yes" and end up with no vacations, I said: "I can finish the task currently at hands or I can put it aside to start working on this new one. Which one do you prefer to see finished first?"
And all of a sudden he looked at me, kind of realizing that I wasn't going to do them simultaneously, and answered: "None is really urgent. You choose what to do."
- I realized it is ok to say 'no', although I didn't really said 'no' in this particuar situation. It was a half 'no'.
- Even when I say 'yes' in hard times, I inform that it will take longer.
- I have time for me.
- I end up doing a better work with less pressure.
- I noticed people like to be told the truth. Nobody got mad at me when I told them I had no time to to that, that I need more time, that I'm not the right person for the job, etc.
2 - Bones first, flesh later.
For great projects that scare you and make you procrastinate (even) more than usual, here is my take. Get a "minimum viable product" first and build on top of that in the time left.
My life improved the day I stopped demanding perfection from myself. If there's a large project and a short time to do it, a person obsessed with perfection will panic, freeze and in a final burst of energy try to do something in the last minute. Even if the outcome happens to be decent, the experience is negative. The solution happend for me at work and I have had the opportunity to improve since then but it is appliable to other aspects of life. In a quick effort, make sure you can produce something deliverable. It's weak, it's not what you like, you know you could do better in different circumstances. Forget about it. Just make sure you have the minimum. You're not happy or fulfilled but you are more relaxed and confident compared to before because you were able to produce "all that" in such a short time. Now that you have the "bones", use the time left to add some "flesh". Probably there's no time to get fat but at least you have a coherent structure where you can easily identify spots to improve.
Imagine a report and a deadline. No further revision possible. What you deliver is the final version and that's it. Do you prefer to deliver a coherent although weaker version with introduction, methods, results and conclusions (all the right bones and lacking some flesh) or an incomplete version with nothing more than a very good introduction?
- I learned that I can do a lot in a short time.
- It's reassuring to know you can get deliverable, presentable outcomes to avoid complete failures.
- Usually there's time left to add more "flesh" than expected at first.
- These MacGyver powers and mindset help you to get moving instead of being paralized by fear.
In conclusion,
these two actions clearly led to positive changes in my life.
1 - Saying 'no' here and there means taking care of ourselves and the ones we care about. We need time and relaxed minds.
2 - Getting something done first and building on that later is a good way to avoid paralisys by fear when obstacles seem overwhelming and impossible to overcome.
Thank you for reading! I'm sure some of you had these or similar breakthroughs at some point in life.
RMach