We convince ourselves that everything we do now, will pay off when we are successful and achieve that next milestone. But, as soon as we reach that goal, we rarely bask in that success because we must be in pursuit of the next one.
Analyze the reasons as to why you are doing the things you do, and why you are reaching for the goals you are trying to achieve.
You're busy. I'm busy. Everyone is busy. Yet, despite all this bustle, we often don't feel particularly productive from day to day. Whole weeks can flash by in a blur of relatively meaningless emails, meetings, and admin tasks while the "big stuff" goes untended.
We can all feel very busy, but despite all this bustle, we often don’t feel particularly productive from day to day and often let the "big stuff" go unattended.
The act of becoming aware of where your attention is focused helps you to direct your attention where you want it to be - on creating something significant.
To learn to control your attention, set aside at least one time period per day to focus without interruption. Let it be no more than 90 minutes at a time. Do something important but not urgent.
Ask yourself: Are you scheduling time daily to focus without interruption?
Few facts about modern life seem more indisputable than how busy everyone seems to be. Across the industrialised world, large numbers of survey respondents tell researchers they're overburdened with work, at the expense of time with family and friends.
Although people feel much busier with work these days, the total time people are working – whether paid or otherwise – has not increased in Europe or North America in recent decades.
Economies grow and time is more valuable: Any given hour is worth more, so we experience more pressure to squeeze in more work.
The type of work we do has changed: We live in an “infinite world" - more incoming emails, meetings, things to read, more ideas to follow up – and digital technology means you can easily crank through them. The result, inevitably, is feeling overwhelmed.
Though historically, the ultimate symbol of wealth, achievement and social superiority was the freedom not to work. Now we measure our worth not by the results we achieve, but by how much of our time we spend doing things.
I've had several people ask me lately about what they can do about indecisiveness, and it made me realize that this is actually something I'm pretty good at: being decisive. Making decisions can be difficult, especially when there's no clear choice.