Are You Action Faking?
Goal: Differentiate between real and fake action and what is needed
Most people will tell you that they are busy. Some will tell you that they are crazy busy. 60% will tell us that they have never taken a time management course.
WOW!!!!
I think most people are confusing “being busy” with real action. I would define them as “Action Faking” They look like they are taking actions BUT they are in reality faking it.
Why?
Most people would rather look busy for the sake of not being fired rather than taking the time to think and take real actions. This requires two steps vs action faking that requires one step.
What?
By just doing what is at the top of your mind you believe that that must be the most important thing to do. It must be the most urgent thing to do. That type of thinking is very low level. NOT tactical and definitely NOT strategic thinking.
What do I mean by tactical?
Last couple of months I created videos for a time management course on LinkedIn. In it I detailed the four levels of time management as I understand them and apply them.
Bottom level of time management is not having a plan. This is the ultimate action faking.
First level of time management takes what is in your mind and puts it down on paper or in a document/calendar. It just removes what is in your mind and places it before your eyes.
This process makes the tasks real. You are taking the time to capture everything that is occupying your mind. You are doing a bran dump. These are things you believe need to be done.
These things might be your agenda or worse someone else’s agenda. Responding to an email is an example of someone else’s agenda.
Levels 2 of time management gets a bit more into the tactical(what you should be doing)and Levels 3 and 4 are all about strategy(why you should be doing and when).
A part of action faking is that people are overwhelmed and can’t even think. Working from home while teaching kids, cooking meals, cleaning the house, etc. puts you into a reactive mode. The reactive mode says just do something and it will be ok. It might not be the right action BUT at least you are taking action that makes you look busy.
The real game changer is to think through your actions as moving you towards a goal. Then come up with a plan to take to take the smallest action in that direction. Pause. Feel the emotion of completing the task. Pat yourself on the back and say AWESOME. Pause. Go to the next action. Repeat.
It is kind of like flossing a single tooth. Once you have done one and congratulated yourself for doing so you will be more likely to continue. BJ Fogg taught us that these small actions are the key to changing our habits and moving towards our goal.
My two cents….(this is what I earned from Medium.com in October 2020)
I got to go…my future self alarm went off
Robert Trajkovski is professional with experience in leading people and projects in Steel/ Power, Refining, Chemicals, Industrial Gasses, Software, Consulting and Academia. He has worked for both owners and engineering companies. In addition, he has instructed 73+ courses at several institutions and often offers his courses for free on LinkedIn.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberttrajkovski/
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