Isn’t it funny how creative we get when we REALLY don’t want to do something? Usually it’s something that will let us take a huge step forward and it scares the shit out of us. Cue the fake work list.
#1: Tidying your office
#2: Sorting files (bonus points if you start renaming files to fit the ‘new’ naming convention you invented last week while avoiding work)
#3: Inventing new naming conventions
#4: Lining up ANYTHING in neat rows
#5: Sharpening pencils (because really…who the heck uses pencils anymore?)
#6: Chit-chatting
#7: Smelling your 5YO’s sniffy markers
#8: Sorting receipts (trust me…bookkeepers LOVE the jumble method – it keeps them young)
#9: Dusting stuff (dust bunnies amuse bored children who wander aimlessly into your office)
#10: Redoing work that has already been done (move on!)
#11: Instant chatting for more than 3 minutes (then it’s a conversation people and pick up the dang telephone)
#12: Learning new functions on your Blackberry or iPhone (take a course or save it for pub night with your techie girlfriend)
#13: Transforming paper into nautical or aviation devices
#14: Forwarding jokes (seriously people…that died in the 90’s)
#15: Scrupulously auditing your desk pens for remaining ink quantity
#16: Throwing ANYTHING at anything (paper or otherwise)
#17: Untangling cords (um…they like being that way – leave them alone)
#18: Checking email, checking email, checking email (it doesn’t need your help – it downloads all by itself)
#19: Playing with stickers (step away from the sparkly princess)
#20: Checking in THE DRAWER (you know the one I mean…leave its secrets a mystery)
#21: Fiddling with the gummed up roller ball on your mouse
#22: Searching for recipes (plan that ahead of time)
#23: Putting the paper clips back into their magnetic house (just let ‘em hang all over the outside)
#24: Launching a search and rescue mission for that must-have thing you haven’t seen or thought of in 2 months (like keys in a river of molten lava…they’re gone – let them go)
#25: Navel gazing (save your exploration of the meaning of life for the weekends)
#26: Researching anything using Google maps, earth, universe explorer (plain old Google works just fine)
All joking aside – what we do on a daily basis is what will pave our path to success. ‘Fake work’ activities in and of themselves seem quite innocent – a file sorting here, a quick tidy up there – and that is exactly why they are the most dangerous form of self-sabotage.
Pay attention to your work habits and notice when the ‘fake work’ starts popping up. Chances are you are avoiding something. Time to put your big girl panties on and get it done and save the paperclip castle for playtime!
Want help getting it done? Check out our MOMeo e-Learning Campus for quick home-study courses on everything from SEO to being a mom CEO!
4 Comments
Pingback: Tweets that mention Momentum Monday: 29 Creative Ways to AVOID Work : MOMeo Magazine – A Resource for Entrepreneurial Mothers -- Topsy.com
Well, at least I’m not guilty of lots of those because they’re related to tidying and organizing and I never do those. LOL (But I find lots of other ways to procrastinate.)
I see “eating chocolate” and “refilling coffee mug” did not make the list. What a relief…That means they count as real work, right? Right?
These 29 points you mention here Carla – how did you develop them? My guess is they were familiar habits – and I’ve no doubt I could add another 26 points I engage in to avoid work. We all do.
Why do we consider it so bad to avoid work? Have you considered the 80-20 principle?
Put in this context we get the majority of the work we need to do (80%) in only 20% of the time.
So cleaning out our desk – or flying a kite – or training to swim with turtles on the EAC are each genuinely useful uses of our time. Being “productive” all the time is a one way ticket to “Dullsville, Average City”
I trust I haven’t offended anyone, probably…
Kind regards – Steve , sometime writer