Freeze

In the hustle and bustle it’s easy to think that busy-ness equals productivity. This is not the case. Just because you are busy does not mean you are going anywhere.

A couple of years ago, I was driving a van on the beach at ocean shores and we got stuck in the soft sand. My first reaction was to slam on the gas to see if I could, through sheer horsepower get the van unstuck. The exact opposite is what ended up happening. The wheels were spinning but I wasn’t going anywhere.

I have a tendency to try to force things to happen. To keep moving, to keep trying to make the thing move forward. This can be incredibly counter-productive.

I also have a tendency to try to make myself feel better about my day by the looking at the sheer busy-ness of the day. But the busy-ness does not equal personal productivity.

The thing that I am learning is that when I feel busiest I actually have to stop and look at what’s going on. I need to freeze and reevaluate my methods, ideas, projects. Am I busy on things that I don’t have to be doing? Am I pushing on a wall that’s not going to come down?

Throwing more hours, energy, money, emotions, etc. at those kinds of problems are no guarantee that you will move forward with those projects.

So freeze – look around to see what you need to not do this week. What projects do you need to take a break from? What roles do you need to give to someone else? What will it take for you to get into a rhythm of productive and peace?