Recently I’ve read a myriad of pieces all offering the same advice. When you are stuck or feeling unmotivated, just do something. I get that the idea is that you will at least build momentum but I think this advice only works for some situations and with some additional context.
There may be times when what you need is to allow some space for your subconscious to work on the issue or, for your emotions to dissipate, before you take action. In these cases, “doing nothing” or doing something else, something unrelated, are better options. I say, “doing nothing” because actually, what you are doing is allowing the issue or idea to rest in your subconscious and see what comes up when you revisit it.
There may be times when the thing you are working on is complex or protracted, or when you don’t have the time available to see it all the way through to conclusion. This is when breaking those bigger projects down to their smallest component tasks allows you to keep moving forward despite constraints. In this way, you are able to do something that will see you making progress toward your goal.
When I say “THE thing,” I am talking about those tasks that will propel you toward achieving your vision. Often, these require us to step outside of our comfort zone. Ideally, of course, we would make the time to do THE thing. Why don’t we? What I typically find here is that it is either an issue of identification, prioritization, or procrastination. In other words, you are either habitually letting other things (or other people) take precedence, or you are allowing your fear to sabotage your plans, or you are struggling to define what THE thing is. This is where taking some time to uncover what’s behind these behaviors will enable you to begin to address them. This is also a place where engaging a thought partner or coach can help you to see things more clearly.
I share this with you in the hopes that you realize that doing nothing, doing something, or doing THE thing, is a choice — one that I hope you make intentionally.
