Why Do We Repeatedly Do the Unnecessary?

Despite our best intentions, we often fall into the trap of wasting time on activities that add little to no value. We start the day motivated, but before we know it, hours have slipped by, and our goals remain untouched.

You're determined to accomplish a lot. You pull out your handy notepad and start jotting things down—the infamous “to-do” list!

You’ve got an early start to the day, so that means you can probably get a lot done. You look at your list. It all seems doable. You head to the kitchen to make some coffee and pick up a couple of things. You get a text message. It's a good friend, someone you chat with several times a week.

Hey, you got up early, so it won't hurt to enjoy a short conversation. Let’s move onto the sofa where it’s more comfortable. While sitting and chatting, you grab the remote and turn on your television, out of force of habit more than anything else.

Suddenly, it’s two hours later, and you're still there. The text conversation is long gone, but the familiar feel of your smartphone in your hand led to you cruising the web while halfheartedly watching television for the last couple of hours. Facebook loves you!

Remember how motivated you were earlier to get lots done today?

Unfortunately, lounging around on your sofa while letting your TV and phone drain your brain means you have very little energy to do much of anything. You rationalize! It's my day off, it's still early, hey, I got this...

It’s been a couple of hours, and your stomach is rumbling. You never ate breakfast. It's almost lunchtime now. You have plenty of food in your refrigerator, but not what you want. You decide to treat yourself to lunch at your favorite diner. Guess what? Some friends are there, and that's the beginning of the end of your planned productivity.

This may not be your exact story, but unfortunately, most of us have one where we planned on getting lots done only to fall down the rabbit hole of doing nothing productive.

 Why Do We Spend So Much Time on Unnecessary, Unproductive, and Time-Killing Activities?

 Did you know that the average person spends over two hours a day on activities that don’t contribute to their goals? Imagine what you could achieve with that time.

 Let’s recap: You had a list of great intentions and were fired up and ready to be productive. It's not like you didn't want to do those things. You were looking forward to tackling those tasks. So why are you heading to bed with absolutely none of them accomplished? And more importantly, why does this happen so frequently?

Unfortunately, it’s all too common and happens to all of us. Our minds are hardwired to make us unconsciously embrace a mindset that says, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

Cleaning the kitchen, washing the car, and tending to your yardwork all take action and energy. Being a couch potato doesn't. Your subconscious tells you, "It's your day off. Chill out. Everything's fine, so let's not go risking a good thing. You're already on your sofa, so why not stay here?"

An ancient survival instinct is at work here. As long as you're alive and have shelter, food, water, and safety, the survival mechanism you inherited from your cave-dwelling ancestors is happy.

Change is tough. It becomes a concern when you try to change just about anything that isn't happening now. Even if the changes will deliver a positive result, you can't convince the Neanderthal inside you that good enough isn't good enough.

This is one big reason why we spend time on unnecessary activities. We know we need to be doing necessary, essential things. There are so many different areas of our lives that we desperately want to improve. We get motivated, we get the resources we need, and then we just don't ever seem to get around to doing something about it.

What's the Answer? Baby Steps and Repetition

Do something small. Find something that only takes a couple of minutes to finish. Jump on it and get it done. Take a second to tell yourself, your subconscious, to look at the result. You've created a positive outcome. It's better than what you had before. Seriously, have a one- or two-sentence conversation and address your subconscious as if you were talking to a real person.

Then do something else small that doesn't take much time to finish. Rinse and repeat this process. Eventually, start building up to things that require more time and effort. The only way to program your brain to work on necessary tasks and responsibilities is to turn conscious actions into unconscious habits. Over time, you will eventually start avoiding unnecessary, time-wasting activities and getting more necessary things done. Research varies, but most say it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.

Now test this same concept or theory on your business.

 You start your day with great intentions. You create your list. You get your coffee...

The distractions are different, but the results are often the same. You check your email, you see a new product, you check out another opportunity, the phone rings...Two hours later, and there’s still nothing productive to show for your time.

Fortunately, the answer is the same as noted above: baby steps and repetition.

Yesterday’s email, entitled “One Thing,” Trick goes into a little more detail. If you didn’t see it but want to, click here.

 Remember, lasting change happens one step at a time, so embrace the process and start building your habits today.

Sharing tips and tricks that work for me.

I would love to hear what works for you.

Tom Bevens

tom@homebizbuilders101.com

homebizbuilders101.com