It’s hard to stop when you are working hard. Our brains can trick us into thinking that our efforts mean productivity. You may be working on the wrong thing altogether. You may be digging the wrong hole, so stop digging.
Getting clear is critical when you are not clear. And clarity is not free. You have to do the work on clarity first before you do any other work to avoid waste.
Here are 3 quick tips to get clear:
- Simplify. It’s hard to see the field when you have a lot of clutter. The tool of simplifying and sloughing does immediate wonders to get you clearer. Look around and get rid of anything that is no longer useful or relevant.
- Write. As Kevin Kelly, founding editor of WIRED Magazine, says, “”I write primarily to find out what I’ve been thinking, and I don’t know until I write it.”
- Collaborate. A teammate of mine said it well, “You can go fast and watch all the mistakes you make, or you can go with others and win.”
I think work can get addictive. And you have to lead yourself to recognize when you are not clear, which is often, when things are changing under your feet. The priority is:
- Stop working on the wrong things
- Get clear
- Work on the right things