We all know that micromanagement doesn’t work but when it comes to planning our own schedules we micromanage like nobody’s business. We come up with strict, inflexible plans that work only as long as everything in our lives remains stable. The second you get sick or something unexpected happens our rigid plans bend and snap, and everything falls apart.
The way to fix this problem is to make sure that you establish a delivery goal that is strict but allows for a wide range of flexibility in how you deliver that goal. You separate the what from the how and make sure that you have enough wiggle room for every situation.
Saying that you’ll work out two hours every day is too strict. Saying that you’ll do some form of physical activity even if it’s just stretching or taking a walk is flexible and something that you can delivery on even when you get sick.
Case in point, I’ve had a bit of a minor sinus infection the last few days and I’ve had to ease off my daily routine of waking up at four in the morning to write these blog posts and songs, but that’s just how life is sometimes. The important thing is that I haven’t given up on delivering what I said I’d deliver.
In order for this to be possible you have to get things right in the goal setting phase. If your goal is defined in a way that sets strict requirements on how you do things then you’re bound to fail. You should pick a delivery goal that’s always doable and scalable.
With my daily songwriting challenge I can write a full-fledged track or I can slap together a little sketch—it really doesn’t really matter. The only goal is that every day I have to sit down to write something that’s complete enough for me to upload to SoundCloud even if it sounds like trash and I hate it with all of my being.
Be strict with your what and flexible with your how.
Anyway, that’s all for now.
qsma music 