Take Intentional Actions to Avoid The Trap Of Busyness
“How can you live with yourself when you are sitting on your ass, doing nothing?” Said my monkey mind to me.
This afternoon, my monkey mind was furious.
What is a person supposed to do when the mind goes apeshit and keeps thrashing on you that you need to do something?
I thought about it. I should do something right now. I must. I got up from the couch with my brain going, “you need to do something. NOW.”
But I realized something valuable instead.
Busyness Is Not Productive Work
Doing something does not mean that it is worth it. The focus should be more on the potential output of the work being done. E.g. one can do 2 hours of research on a subject that they have plenty of information on…
…Or they can work on writing up the first draft using the already researched material.
The key is to be aware of where to stop. Intentional actions help you do work that matters.
Enter Flow State Faster
Flow States are the key to getting good work done. Productive work comes when our expectations of the work and the ability to do them turn equal.
Dr Benjamin Hardy has a pretty solid argument on the Flow States where he suggests that one should begin the work with the end in mind. Be proactive. Be Intentional about the actions to be taken.
Meditative Work
Most of our work is not going to be worthy of grand improvement. These chores don’t add any value to your life other than the basic stuff.
The chore work is often not considered meditative because it doesn’t require any extra attention or intention. It is ingrained in our muscle memory.
Intentional work, the one that we have to give our full attention to often turns meditative. You are taken out of your physical body when in Flow and the rules of time don’t apply when doing meditative, intentional work.
Flywheel Of Efficiency
Doing something worthy is miles better than aimlessly doing something.
The act of doing something worthy adds more motivation to do it again. A person’s efficiency increases and he does something that is again considered ‘meditative work’.
A good way to know what works for yourself is to be open to taking multiple actions, multiple times.
The actions are done with purpose turn to intentional actions.
Learn With Action
Action is the only path to learning. Intentional actions pave the way for the growth that we seek. We open ourselves to uncomfortable feelings when we take intentional actions.
Intentional action gives you a better perspective on what works. It gives you worth. It is meditative. Busyness drains your clarity. Take intentional action to avoid the trap of busyness.
