Time and time again, I’m reminded of a universal truth of productivity and performance: there is no work more important than reflection and preparation.
Many times, I’ve fallen into the trap of having tasks on my card left undone as the day comes to a close—and I focus on trying to finish those tasks. As a result, I neglect reflecting on the day that was and preparing for the next day. And inevitably, the next day doesn’t go nearly as well because of that.
And I know I’m not the only one. So many people I’ve talked to continue to put off reflection and preparation in favor of getting other tasks done. And they continue to feel the pressure and anxiety of having “too much on their plates”. But why?
I think there are two forces at work that make us avoid allocating the proper time and attention to reflection and preparation: fear and uncertainty.
We’re often uncertain about just where to start in terms of reflecting and planning. That’s especially true the more we have on our plates. It’s not unlike looking at a messy garage that hasn’t been cleaned in years. Where do you even start?
We’re also often afraid of what we’ll discover as we deeply reflect and prepare. We’re afraid we’ll confirm our fears that we are overcommitted, and we’re afraid of the trade-offs we’ll have to make. We know we’ll have to disappoint someone, admit we can’t do what we said we were going to, and we’ll have to get realistic.
Those feelings are understandable. But part of becoming our most effective selves is not letting those emotions drive our behavior. Can we fully feel those emotions? Absolutely! But we can’t let them determine our behavior.
