Don’t fall into the trap of fake work

The enemy of productivity that could be costing you and your business…

Just as fake news can trick the smartest among us and leave them red faced, fake work can lead many of us up the garden path before we know it. But the danger for us, entrepreneurs especially, is that while you can shrug off most fake news stories in the blink of an eye without much personal cost, fake work will cost you time and opportunities that you can never get back.

What’s fake work?

Fake work has always been around, just like poor, sensational and skewed journalism has. People have always been making twenty cups of tea a day to avoid doing what they’re really there to do. However nowadays, mainly thanks to technology and social media, there are now hundreds of options for fake work. Options that actually look far more convincing than hanging around the kettle.

I’m talking about things like involving yourself in hours of email chains, focusing your attention on drafting responses but missing key deadlines, not talking with your customers and failing to move the needle when it comes to your business.

It’s incredibly deceptive and insidious in how it lures you in. Social media apps have literally been designed to grab your attention and keep it. Our modern work culture and personal social media use means being immediately available is now the norm. We stress out when we don’t respond to emails straight away and fear the worst. And fake work itself, because you’re in the work environment and doing vaguely business-like things, can make you feel like you’ve earned your wages for the day, especially if you’ve worked a long shift.

Look again at that 16 hour stint you’ve just pulled. How much of it was you creating valuable content or making sales? How much of it was refreshing Instagram? Responding to group chats with your friends from college? Long hours worked used to mean you were nose to the grindstone until midnight. Now, I’m dubious about that automatic assumption. Could you really have done your 16 hour stint in 8, if you simply knew how to focus better?

We need to focus on moving forward deliberately and efficiently, not taking the scenic route and keeping the fare running.

3 key steps to avoid the ‘fake work’ trap:

• First, you need to know what will really shift the needle in your role or business and focus on that. Isolate yourself in a space that you can focus and be free of distractions.
• When you start each day, know exactly what you want to achieve. It helps to be specific with things. Barring days blocked out with client meetings or things like training, only tasks which generate serious value for you should be the priority before you react to everything else, unless that thing is business critical. Split your day or week into sections, to focus on key areas and be disciplined to get shit done.
• At the end of the day, take a moment to look at what you’ve got to show for that day. Have you made progress or are you really no further than you were yesterday? What about the day before that?

Awareness is key if you want to break out of the fake work cycle. Ingraining these practical steps should set you up so you’re aware of any time you’re not doing what you should be doing. This takes discipline and time but you will see the results quickly and feel less stressed.

Our attention has never faced an assault like it does today. Staying focused and being in control of your attention will be one of the biggest skills you can develop for future success. These steps can also apply to your personal life too, so if you adopt this mentality in all areas, you can supercharge yourself.