My problem: prioritizing busywork over important work
We all know these tasks like deep cleaning our fridge, decluttering our closet, organizing some notes... They are all busy work.
But busywork usually isn´t important work. Usually, it´s stuff that doesn´t require a lot of brainpower and keeps you occupied for hours. These hours make me feel accomplished and productive.
But in reality, it should be better called "productive procrastination". Because I use this kind of task as an excuse for not doing or delaying the important, but hard and uncomfortable tasks. When you are in a life slump it might be okay to focus on these tasks for a few days, but for me, hat been weeks and months where I "worked" this way almost entirely.
Thus, on a regular day at home, the most important tasks got done like 6-8 hours after getting up. If they got done that day at all. Or even in the planned week. As I have been unemployed for about one year now this negative habit had far more impact on my everyday life than I want to admit.
I know that I need to change my mindset about this to develop the lifestyle I want in the long run, as I strive forward toward intentional/slow living.
Here are a few things I consider to work on to force myself towards more meaningful productivity:
- Adding project management to my Obsidian setup to become more aware of what I am doing and why I do so. I must develop the habit of writing down a "why statement" for every project I´ll turn into reality, no matter how short this statement is.
I am diving deeper into the To-List plugin I am using in Obsidian, as I feel I am using like 10% of its potential.
- Develop a habit of prioritizing tasks. There are dozens of ways to do so. I need to do research within my notes to see which method will fit my current needs the most.
- Declutter more potential tasks which are busy work without a real purpose.
- Reading "Effortless" by Greg McKeown. I hope that I might get insights concerning some negative beliefs I hold on to.
- Develop the habit of visualizing the positive sides when I want to complete tasks for tough projects like working out or taking care of taxes. Allowing myself to journal/mind-map about what is holding me back and how I can make it happen anyway.
