Getting Essential and Taking Control

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I have a confession to make. I’m easily distracted. I’m also capable. But man do I piss away time when I give myself the chance. And worse, its almost always on innocent stuff like reading the latest on analytics (digital marketing, sports, or otherwise), an article here or there about Cleveland sports, or just picking through my email looking for an interesting project to match my mood. It’s frustrating. While I feel like I’m getting smarter and feeding my passions, its pulling me away from activities that could genuinely push me to the next level of success and make me happy in my work.

LinkedIn shared an article today titled “The No. 1 Time Management Mistake Capable People Make“. It’s author Greg McKeown goes on to talk about the non-linear relationship between activity and reward and how our modern work structure forces us to ruthlessly evaluate and separate the “trivial many” from the “vital few”. He discusses the inherent paradox in success – success ultimately leads to the “undisciplined pursuit of more” at the very moment when success should be pushing you toward a “disciplined pursuit of less”. Success, he says, pushes us to do more and become more involved. But it is at this very moment when we should reflect, take stock of what matters, and discover the essential so we may reach the next level with a clear head and a direct plan.

As a reader you might not be terribly interested in my seemingly petty struggle. I get it. But I need to make it public for no other reason than to hold myself accountable. My inability to stay focused directly impacts my quality of life, my attitudes, and frankly, my family and friends. Generally speaking, its not a good to be someone that no one wants to be around. So I’m sharing. Putting myself on notice.

And just a heads up: I may start making decisions that seem contradictory to how you view me. That’s OK. I’m taking back control. I plan on completing McKeown’s “If You Don’t Design Your Career, Someone Else Will” exercise as well. I’ll let you know how it goes.