There’s a distinction I noticed in task variance that I’ve been calling ‘actually deciding.’ When I haven’t actually decided to do something most of my efforts are (usually in retrospect) attempts to weasel my way out of any downside costs. This often gets disguised as other things like optimizing or seeking advice. When I have actually decided it’s because there was a moment of emotional clarity in which I confronted and accepted the costs, after which I stop the extra wasted movements.
When considering whether to move my business to a different state, i was in a period of weaseling lasting about 2 years. Various other excuses were generated at runtime but the underlying mental motion was a somewhat illogical hope that things would change such that I wouldn’t have to put in the concentrated effort to do the move. The moment of clarity involved both acknowledging that the total work was small relative to the total benefit, but also not dismissing the costs as real and substantial in how I spend my time for 6 months.
After deciding, it becomes something that can freely intermix with other priorities. I’m not going to always drop everything for it, but I will respond to related emails immediately and make myself available for scheduling with the relevant people without additional balking.
I experience something similar. On some work days, I might rotating somewhat distractedly between tasks. In this state of task-rotation, I find that I am not very focused or motivated. However, when I formally decide that I am going to Do This Thing, And Only This Thing (where the “thing” is usually my most pressing obligation), I usually gain a moderate productivity boost and the quality of my work typically rises as well. There is a cost to making this decision, though, and that cost consists of creating the psychological state necessary to “focus up and decide”, which consists partially of taking a moment to ignore the nagging “false urgencies”, i.e. my other obligations.
There’s a distinction I noticed in task variance that I’ve been calling ‘actually deciding.’ When I haven’t actually decided to do something most of my efforts are (usually in retrospect) attempts to weasel my way out of any downside costs. This often gets disguised as other things like optimizing or seeking advice. When I have actually decided it’s because there was a moment of emotional clarity in which I confronted and accepted the costs, after which I stop the extra wasted movements.
Do you have some examples? Maybe examples of the before-deciding (when you’re weaseling) and the after-deciding?
When considering whether to move my business to a different state, i was in a period of weaseling lasting about 2 years. Various other excuses were generated at runtime but the underlying mental motion was a somewhat illogical hope that things would change such that I wouldn’t have to put in the concentrated effort to do the move. The moment of clarity involved both acknowledging that the total work was small relative to the total benefit, but also not dismissing the costs as real and substantial in how I spend my time for 6 months.
After deciding, it becomes something that can freely intermix with other priorities. I’m not going to always drop everything for it, but I will respond to related emails immediately and make myself available for scheduling with the relevant people without additional balking.
I experience something similar. On some work days, I might rotating somewhat distractedly between tasks. In this state of task-rotation, I find that I am not very focused or motivated. However, when I formally decide that I am going to Do This Thing, And Only This Thing (where the “thing” is usually my most pressing obligation), I usually gain a moderate productivity boost and the quality of my work typically rises as well. There is a cost to making this decision, though, and that cost consists of creating the psychological state necessary to “focus up and decide”, which consists partially of taking a moment to ignore the nagging “false urgencies”, i.e. my other obligations.