Pointless Efficiency

Getting the wrong work done…

One of my biggest challenges is waiting for inspiration.  Waiting for someone to need something.  Waiting for a hole to appear that needs to be filled.  Expecting the universe to somehow provide direction.

This is a mistake that can cost you your life.  Do we really think that great things will just jump out of the air to challenge us with worthwhile endeavors?  Wouldn’t it be better to get up and go searching for those worthwhile and challenging things?

It is the adventures that you meet on the road to your big, hairy, audacious goals that will surprise and enrich you.  If you stay in the safe house of your routine they will pass on by outside your picket fence and you will never know the loss.

I’m a great list maker.  I have a list of tasks for every day.  I have a list of projects for things that I want to do or could potentially do or seem like they need doing.

The danger of the daily task list is that they contain only things that need to be done and not enough things that should be done.  They also tend to contain those things that have been made a priority by someone else.  You can spend the whole day checking tasks off your list and end up with nothing accomplished that has any lasting value.

Todd Henry, in his thoughtful book “Die Empty” calls this “Pointless Efficiency”.

The critical point he makes is that it is not about finishing your list each day.  It is about having valuable things on that list and most importantly taking the time to think about what, in the context of your fulfilled life, should be on the list.

This is especially important for those of us who have just completed a life goal and find ourselves stuck in the ennui of ‘what to do next?’  It’s easy to default to ‘getting things done’.  No one will ever find fault with you for getting things done.  You need to change that pattern and get things done that are important to you, for today, next week, this year and your lifetime.

When you are a successful person with a happy family and a well paying respected job it is very hard to rock that boat.  The problem is that when you think you have ‘achieved’ your goals, the cruising altitude of your life, where everything is safe and good – that is where you are at risk.

You are not cruising.  You are at that momentary apogee of the curve about to begin a rapid fall back to earth.  The only way to pull out of the dive is to restart your engines and fuel them with something purposeful.  Find passions great and small.  Find those things that scare you.  Chunk those up and put them on your list today.

Operate by design versus default.  Don’t wait for inspiration.  Set your own path.  Create your own inspiration today.

Cheers,

Chris,