I think we all like to "get things done."

Perhaps that is even more true for the self-employed who depend on getting their "to do list" dealt with, as the primary path to even being able to eat.

But much of the time, what we feel we "need to" get done can be a bit out of touch with reality, even without our really being aware of it.

We know we have all these tasks and plans to take care of, but there are only so many hours in a day, and we only have so much motivation.

And that can create a vicious circle for those who work for themselves, because it sometimes becomes DE-motivating to want to be really productive, yet you finish day after day with having accomplished far less than you set out to get done!

The truth of self-employment — at least in my experience — has been that there are substantial parts of what we do that amount to little more than a boring grind, and yet these things must be taken care of... could be bookkeeping, could be a long list of client follow-ups, could be any number of things that are not the core of what made you excited about going into business for yourself.

Of course, you don't have to be self-employed in order to feel these period of lagging motivation, during which you might start to question what you're even doing... and whether or not it is "worth it."

I remember some years back, talking to a business associate about the psychology of getting things done. He pointed out that most people definitely DO get a psychological and motivational "lift" from scratching items off the daily to-do list. Similarly, it feels like a real drag when we look at the list at the end of the day and realize that "almost nothing got done."

And that's where "being realistic" becomes really important!

When our desire to be productive and get a long list of things done far outweighs the time and energy we have available... we're probably more likely to depress ourselves than feel accomplished!

I find that I often have to break my goals list down into smaller pieces, in order to not feel too overwhelmed by it. As a metaphor, don't make "paint the house" a goal; make it "paint the bathroom;" then "paint the hallway," then "paint the living room." Chances are that will help you cross some items off the list.

Investing works in much the same way. Saying "I want to have $5 million saved by the time I'm 65!" is great, but it's also one of those overwhelmingly large goals that might feel like more of a DE-motivator than a motivator. What can you do today, to move towards that goal? Set $10 aside? Great!

Hypothetically speaking, if you're 25 now and put that $10 a day into HBD at 20% interest, you'd end up with FAR MORE than $5 million by age 65! $10 is not a scary amount; $5 seems almost impossible. But it's all a matter of how you look at it, and break it down.

Certain wisdom from motivational-type experts suggest that we should try to do at least ONE thing towards reaching our objectives... so it's good to have some "accomplishable" things to work on... even if they are very small ("pick up a new toner cartridge for the printer") so that we can end the day with some "Did That's!"

Even when things aren't going well — in the greater sense of it all — we can still take steps forward. Might even be how we can ease the path through the "Crypto Winter!"

=^..^=

Posted using Proof of Brain