How do you turn a dreamer into a doer?

Not long ago, I asked people on my Facebook page to suggest topics they’d like me to cover on the blog.   One that comes up a lot, not just for career changers but for anyone who has big goals on their list is: how do I find the time to make it happen when I’m burdened with so many other activities?

Chances are, you’re not going to like my answer.

But look at it this way.  You can get standard productivity advice anywhere.  This is the one secret I’ve found that works for everything from losing weight to publishing books to making a successful leap into a new career.

And the best part?  It’s sooo easy.

Well, sort-of.  Let me explain.

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed these days.

I don’t mind working hard.  In fact, I enjoy it.  But I also want a life.

The first time I really struggled with that balance was in college.  I attended a military academy, so in addition to studying (which I thought I knew how to do), I now had to shine shoes, practice pull-ups, and do work in the squadron. 

Crazy me, I also wanted to attend a party or two.

I tried eliminating as much from my to-do list as possible so I could focus on what mattered: my classes.  The result was that my grades actually declined.

What I inadvertently discovered was Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time available to complete it.  

As with my grades, more time doesn’t always equate to better performance.

It’s why productivity experts who try to solve your problems by telling you to just focus may be giving you the worst possible advice. 

Because if you harbor perfectionist tendencies or lack self discipline or are really overwhelmed by a fear of doing something big, focusing is more likely to set you back than propel you forward.  The more you focus, the more time tasks take. 

It can actually be a productivity death spiral.

I’m not the first to talk about the magic of the imminent deadline to squeeze out excellence and get more done.  But few proponents are honest enough to warn you that done incorrectly, this technique can go horribly wrong too.  

This post will set the record straight and help you get your productive mojo back in no time.

When I worked in the corporate world, invariably I would receive tasks on a short deadline, even when I had a lot of other things on my plate.  They’d explain how critical and urgent my response was–there was just no way they could wait.  So I’d go nuts trying to get everything done, on time, only to have my contribution gather dust on their desk long after I’d turned it in.  Apparently it hadn’t been that critical or urgent after all.

I used to get really frustrated by this, because it happened fairly frequently and it was causing a lot of stress in my life.  I couldn’t figure out why they were willing to overburden me when nine times out of ten, they didn’t need the response or project by the date they said they did.

One reason is that despite all the complaining, I usually met those short deadlines, so the people doing the tasking assumed I was just crying wolf.  Another reason is because they know most people wait until the last minute to do it anyway, and I am no exception, so why not do it now?  If the deadline is too far out, it’s not uncommon for the someone to forget about it all together.

But the big reason for short suspenses is most people are insanely impatient once they figure out what they want.  This was the insight that gave my empathy a boost, because it turns out the very worst offender of impatient tasking of my time is…me.