I used to think that being a master multi-tasker was always going to be better than being a sharply focused single tasker. The question I find that I ask myself today is “Why is it that I can’t just focus on this one problem?” I am not afraid to admin that I’m a horrible procrastinator. I tend to procrastinate away the things that aren’t really important at the moment with things that are important down the road.
This idea made me ask myself, “What are the nuts and bolts of procrastination?” In my mind I end up in what I’d describe as a “reward vs. risk management matrix.” I tend to end up with a sense of what will get me a real reward. This is not usually what was designed to be rewarded. If I can find a way to link what I’m procrastinating over with a reward, the procrastination seems to magically melt away. I can – at the drop of a hat – be focused on something I’ve been putting off for months. Sometimes I’ve found I’m engaged in months of procrastination about a problem that solved itself in less than an hour.
The other question I’ve asked myself, “Why do I choose to procrastinate instead of choosing not to take action and move on?” I find that I’m not choosing to move on because I’m trying to avoid risks in my next opportunity. Popular US culture seems to favor the idea of “not putting all your eggs in one basket.” This embodies the idea that distributed risk is safer than a very focused effort to carefully consider one risk. If you’re focusing efforts on creating this vast network of resources to reduce risk involved, how good was the original idea? If the idea stands on its own you can talk to 100 people and no one will stop to tell you, “that’s risky”.
If you’ve found the best egg, throw out the others, take considered brisk steps and it will turn to gold.
Food For More Thought
Watch the W-JAX keynote and be more productive. Guaranteed.
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