**[Download here.](http://traffic.libsyn.com/shawntoday/shawntoday-2015-02-17_Q-A_fiddling-vs-doing.mp3)** (17:45)
* * *
This past Sunday, a few friends came over and we had a “focus group” to talk about the book, The Power of a Focused Life. A friend of mine is helping me with the research for the book. We’re looking into some basic statistics about how the average American spends their time and money, and then where that leads them once they retire.
My friend is an engineer, and has read all the books on productivity out there. And his wife is an administrator with the work ethic of a farmer, but she hates all the “productivity” stuff. She just knows what needs to be done and she does it. And she doesn’t like to read about methodologies because she thinks it means she’ll have to commit to them.
So, all this to say, my wife and our friends and I all sat down for about 3 hours and we talked through the book. I shared the table of contents with them, and I shared with them my plan for the “Focus Course” — something that I haven’t mentioned anywhere else yet (until now). In short, the Focus Course will be a whole bunch of additional content that builds on top of the Power of a Focused Life book. The course will have video and audio episodes where I answer specific questions and challenges from people regarding focus; there will be some guide and manuals and other tools to help you get on track and simplify; and also some actual courses where you’ll be guided through the steps and questions for figuring out your life vision, goals, action plans, daily habits, and schedules.
But more on that later.
Needless to say, the conversation we had about the book and the content was incredibly valuable. And I’ve been reading, studying, and writing like crazy over the past couple of days from all the ideas and feedback I got.
And speaking of feedback, I’ve been getting a lot of responses from people who are on The Fight Spot newsletter. Last week I sent out an email to everyone on the list asking what their greatest challenge is regarding focus.
I’ve received many replies, and they’ve been fantastic.
And so I’m going to start addressing each one here on the show. One episode at a time.
Today’s challenge is from Dean. Dean wrote:
> My biggest challenge is how do I focus on the actual doing of tasks rather than the management of the tasks? I find it easy to get into the planning, often at the expense of the doing.
Dean actually sent in two replies, but I’m only going to tackle this one today.
So, going back to my two friends who came over earlier this week. During our focus group conversation, my friend was telling me about his own tendency to “manage” his to-do list but not actually act on it.
There is most definitely value to managing and fiddling with our to-do lists. Sometimes as the day progresses, we have to adjust what we can reasonably expect to get done that day. And oftentimes the planning stages are what help us to get a clear roadmap for where we are going.
But there’s a point when fiddling gets in the way of doing. There’s a point when a plan is good enough and the time comes to start acting on that plan. To move past the idea phase and in to the implementation phase.
Scott Belsky calls this having a bias toward action. I love that phrase.
Having a bias toward action reminds us that doing the work is vital.
Doing the work is vital for a few reasons.
1. There is the obvious reason: if we don’t do the work it won’t get done. Right? Right.
2. But the not-so-obvious reason that doing the work is vital is that there are things we can’t plan for, and that we can’t know about, until we’re actually out there getting our hands dirty. We cannot underestimate how important it is to get the experience and momentum that comes from doing the work.
If we never leave the planning phase, we’ll never build momentum or make progress on our project.
Let’s coming back around to the problem Dean shares. He said he finds it easy to get into the planning, often at the expense of the doing.
I think many people can relate to this. I know I can. When an idea begins to come alive to us, we get a boost of adrenaline. It’s fun to think through all the possibilities of what the project could look like and how we’ll accomplish a, b, and c. Etc.
Then, as the initial idea adrenaline wears off, when we come back to the project to work on it, we stare at the ideas and the lists that we’ve put together. There’s a familiarity to them, so we feel comfortable there. And since it’s still new and fresh to us, it can feel as if we are still making progress.
Additionally, I believe we can get addicted to that “idea high”. Where we love to brainstorm and come up with ideas, but we hate to do anything about them. We love to say “what if”, but we hate to say “what next?”.
Not every single idea has to be fleshed out. James Altucher writes down 10 ideas every day and then throws them away. I don’t do this quite as religiously, but I do frequently let my mind go crazy and just write down ideas for whatever. Many of them are horrible ideas, but some are okay, and some stick and won’t let me sleep at night.
And for those ideas that stick — you know the ones — there’s a point where those ideas have to now be born again. They’ve been born in your mind. Now they need to be made. You’ve architected a home, now it’s time to build it.
In his interview in Offscreen Magazine, Scott Belsky said that “Ideas naturally demise over time unless you start taking action and start iterating.”
Once we’ve planned something and mapped out the steps we need to take, if we don’t move on the phase of building then the plan itself will begin to corrode. Because right now, even though you’ve written it down on paper, it’s also alive inside of you. And the best chance it has to reach its potential is if you start now and build it.
By all means, iterate and learn as you go. But don’t hesitate to take action.