Planning Is Not Doing.

Some of the biggest blocks to getting things done are planning, thinking and preparing. Unfortunately, none of these gets the result you want and are forms of procrastination disguising themselves as doing something important.

Thinking, planning and preparing do have their place, but they play a very minor role in getting the result you want.

I’ve noticed that the biggest reason why many people never achieve their goals is not because of a lack of ability or time but rather a lack of action. It’s as if people are waiting for the ‘perfect’ moment to get started with something.

Let’s take starting a podcast. There is nothing complicated in beginning a podcast. All you need is an idea, a microphone, and a computer. Once you have those items in place, start recording. Your first efforts will always be challenging, no matter how much planning and preparation you do. So, just get started. The hardest part of creating a podcast is getting comfortable recording your voice and listening back to yourself speaking.

Once you have a few episodes recorded, you can look at where you will host the podcast and how you will promote it. Hosting and promoting can be done alongside the recording. I found recording a few episodes first made it much easier to choose a host for my podcast because I knew so much more about what my podcast would sound like.

Creating a productivity system is another example of people overthinking and overplanning. In my podcast episode this week, I pointed out that a good productivity system has three areas: Collecting, organising and doing. That’s it. So, the only questions you need to ask are where I will collect my ideas, commitments, and appointments? How will I organise them? And when am I going to do them?

Spending three months looking at and testing productivity apps is a waste of time. Instead, start with the built-in apps on your phone and computer, and as your system grows, you can look for more elaborate applications, if you must. The great thing about just starting in this way is that you gain so much more practical information about how you collect and organise, and this information can help you make better choices about the kind of tools for you.

Writing a book requires words. How you get those words down doesn’t matter. Microsoft Word, Apple Notes or Google Docs will do all that. You do not need to spend weeks researching writing applications. Just start writing.

All these reasons for not doing something are excuses. We have access to technology today that our parents’ generation could only dream about, and in most instances, the technology is free. You can use Google Docs, Apple Notes and Microsoft OneNote for free. Our phones have built-in microphones and video cameras. There is no excuse for not doing whatever you want to do.

If you are stalling beginning something, rather than doing more research and planning, stop and ask yourself what the real reason you are not doing it is? Are you afraid of failure? Well, failure is just part of the process of finding success. You need to fail sometimes to learn what doesn’t work and change things so that you can succeed.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me they want to start their own business. Starting a business is easy. You create something, and you sell it. Yet, the people who never seem to start their business are wasting so much time writing business plans and deciding what software to use and the design of their logo.

None of that is important if you don’t have something to sell. If you have no sales, you have no business. Business plans, logos and software are not essential until you have customers and something those customers can buy.

Whatever you want to build or create, do whatever it takes to build or make it. The process of doing will inform you what needs to happen next.

I am often asked how I plan out my projects. Well, the simple answer is: I don’t. If I create a new course, I open up my notes app and write out my idea. Once I have the outline of an idea, I will open up an online course template I created to plan out the course lessons, and then I record, edit, and post.

Each step moves me closer to a recorded and published online course. This is the same method I used when I recorded my first online course five years ago. I wrote the idea, divided it into mini-lessons, recorded, edited, and posted it.

When I began, I had no idea where I could publish the course, but I also realised that until I had a completed course, where I posted it was irrelevant. So, in between recording the lessons, I would do a little research. But nothing stopped me from recording the course.

So, think about all the things you want to do and ask yourself what’s stopping you from doing them? If you intend to start your own business, begin a podcast or do some online courses and write a book, find the one step you could take that would contribute directly to having something tangible to show for your idea and do that. The data you get from doing something real will inform you of the next step.

Thank you for reading my stories! 😊

If you would like to receive all the productivity and time management content I create each week in one convenient email, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter here

You can also learn more about what I do here on my website

Finally, don’t forget to say hello on Twitter, YouTube or Facebook