“Life is more than a to-do list you need to check off.” —Madeleine Dore from I Didn’t Do The Thing Today.
Productivity is all about making meaningful progress in an efficient manner. But what if you fixate on completing every task on your to-do list?
In my personal productivity journey, I’ve discovered that being busy does not necessarily equate to making progress. It’s easy to get sidetracked when you begin piling tasks. I’ve also realized that trying to do everything does not produce the best results for my business or clients.
So exactly what did I do? I started assembling projects, not doing them.
Why should you embrace the non-doing, and why do you need to put projects together instead?
I want to present you with an alternative viewpoint.
Embracing Non-Doing
From a young age, we are taught that productivity is about getting things done. We are willing to internalize this belief to the point where we attribute our self-worth to it.
We strive for perfection. We want complete control over everything. We want to demonstrate to people that we can do it all.
The problem is that a lot of us do not value non-doing.
I understand that it may appear counterintuitive. Even when there’s a mountain of work to be done, sitting in stillness does not feel productive. But that is what’s going on here. We are productive even when we are not doing anything. We’re making room for fresh perspectives, connections, and insights. We’re taking in the world around us.
We begin to see avenues for meaningful progress after discovering opportunities when we embrace non-doing.
See how meditation and mindfulness can help your creativity by sitting still for 10 minutes before a work session.
The power of delegating the doing
The first thing you learn in life is to ask for help. It’s a survival tool.
In reality, you must do less and trust that others will help you figure out the rest.
Delegating the doing frees up your time to focus on problem-solving, situation analysis, creativity, and prioritizing your personal/business long-term needs over short-term emergencies.
Seek assistance from family, friends, mentors, strangers on the internet, artificial intelligence, or people from other eras. Take whatever you require to build your life.
Assembling Projects Instead
“A modern piece of work is not created. It’s assembled.” – Tiago Forte from Building a Second Brain.
Talking about building! The easiest way to start working towards getting something you want is by looking at the information that already exists.
Work with preexisting knowledge. Examine your notes and consider the resources you’ll need to assemble the project. This step is simple if you are well-organized.
When you’re Building a Second Brain, you quickly realize that you can repurpose and combine knowledge to build towards an outcome, block by block, just like LEGO. Each packet you create or discover is part of a larger whole.
Your effort relies upon collecting these blocks. You can take or delegate actions when you have most of the pieces in place.
A large project begins with the tiniest amount of notes.
If you want to undertake or complete a project but feel stuck, consider the pieces you need to gather; never start from scratch!
“Think of verbs like acquire, import, source, delegate, download, crowdsource, things that are about pulling together assets that already exist” when putting together projects, Tiago stated in his class.
Make a list of the steps you need to take to complete your project. You’ll most likely discover that you or others already have the resources required.
Here are a few examples:
- “Write the blog” → “Import highlights from the book I’ve been reading.”
- “Fix the bug” → “Search ways to fix the bug.”
- “Solve for X” → “Source who has solved for X on Twitter.”
- “Work on project Z” → “Consolidate the notes from Project X.”
- “Send out the newsletter” → “Find the SOP and delegate.”
Consider yourself a detective trying to get clues. What piece of evidence could they find to close the case as soon as possible?
Approach assembling projects like a detective, not a perfectionist.
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