If you trip yourself up with your plans for productivity it’s time to take a chill pill, sit back, and be kinder to yourself.
My flavor of ADD includes being an Impulsive Doer. I get an idea, create the plan, and jump into doing the tasks to accomplish my goal. That generally means I get things done. When I have a definite goal I take fast action.
The problem, I learn at times, is that in my rush to take action I miss some of the details for the plan. I can underestimate how long something will take when it involves other people or new software programs. I may not allow enough time for life to happen, which it always does. Sometimes I don’t think to add time for expanding the scope of the project, which can happen as well.
When I hit planning “shortfalls”, as I enumerated above, my project can stall a bit. The problem with that is I keep trying to push hard to get it done by my projected date. I can either get grouchy or get frustrated and become hard on myself.
Lessons learned from this, to avoid the problems, include being in a mastermind, listening to podcasts, and reading professional articles and books. In the mastermind, you can talk about your plans, speed bumps, and reactions; you get a wealth of input from associates who have a different perspective. Podcasts give you fresh ideas from an impersonal perspective. Professional writings can be filled with nuggets of insights and ideas, too.
Here’s a short story of how I almost fell prey to my fast action — again. I had the idea to finish producing an 18-lesson course and record a webinar in three weeks, as well as publish a productivity tool for ADDers. I knew I’d work hard, and I knew it was going to be a great way to create evergreen content.
What I hadn’t considered was the technology learning curve I’d face, that I’d find and fill a hole in content for the course, or that my team would have suggestions for improving the course that would slow me down.
Tension entered my life, impacting my ability to learn the new technology, think clearly about the new content, or deal with the suggestions. Begrudgingly, I realized I couldn’t get all the coursework done and get it recorded and produced in the three-week window I’d given myself. I took some advice I’d gotten from a mastermind member and postponed the video recording and production until everything was ready.
Kicking back into a more realistic pace, I relied on my time and goal management tool to help me take this step at a time. By going slower I ultimately went faster and smoother.
Along the way, I gave myself permission to relax. Along the way, I came to understand my plan had been underdeveloped and ill-hatched. Along the way, I figured out that productivity doesn’t always mean fast to be solid.
I’m sharing my hard-learned lessons with you to help smooth your growth into high performance living. Productivity is important. Being realistic about what productivity means is also important. Not all projects are created equal so the timelines for accomplishing them can’t be the same.
Be kind to yourself. Take advantage of your ADD strengths while remembering each strength has the flip-side of a weakness to deal with. Balancing your life (the subject of the course, ironically!) is a critical component to productivity and good health — to high performance living. Make your plans for productivity reasonable in your drive toward success.