Combatting Productivity Shame by Taking Consistent Action
Are you familiar with feeling discouraged when you haven’t gotten around to your important tasks, and yet the day has slipped away? This is referred to as ‘productivity shame,’ and it truly can overtake us. This emotion can be all-consuming, leading into tomorrow’s worries, then the next day, and it becomes a vicious cycle. When we let this momentum take over, we can feel defeated. Sometimes months will pass and we still haven’t gotten to the initiatives we know will make the biggest impact in our businesses.
The good news is, there is a solution to feeling this way. The same way the procrastination-compound effect takes place, it can also be true for the action-taking momentum! When you move your attention away from the shame, discouragement, and stories of defeat, you can move onto celebrating and appreciating every win (even the small ones). This way, the compound effect takes over in a positive direction.
So, how do we do this? The first step to overcoming your productivity shame is to name it! Acknowledge that you are feeling it and choose another way to move through it. Once you raise your awareness that you are paying too much attention to the shame and guilt, you can start to replace this inner narrative with appreciation and gratitude for the small actions that you ARE taking. Start with daily micro-actions. Envision your important initiatives that you know matter most to your business, as if they are already completed. Ask yourself, “what are some possible baby-steps that I can take toward achieving this future vision now?” Then, make time and space in your calendar to take consistent action toward this goal. You can achieve this with just less than 30 minutes per day.
Some of these tiny actions might include: one phone call, sending an email, doing one internet search, an informational interview, etc. The smaller the action, the more likely you are to complete it, even amongst a busy schedule. You can always add more actions once you are consistent.
After you take your daily action, celebrate! Praise yourself for making your important initiatives a priority vs. letting your schedule and everyone else’s win out. Appreciate yourself by sharing your wins with a trusted friend or like minded mastermind. A quick text, gratitude list, or a reward will switch your focus onto what you ARE doing. Notice how the momentum builds when you consistently take action. Remind yourself, where your attention goes, energy flows!
You’ll then start to notice little synchronicities happening that lead you to your next step. Keep taking these inspired actions as ideas come to you. Pretty soon you’ll look back and you’ve accomplished in a few months what you might have been putting off for years.
Need some help? Join my Free Overcoming Productivity Shame Accountability Challenge starting tomorrow. The link to register is here.
