Impulsive Productivity
The other day I was sitting at my desk working on something pretty tedious. It had to get done, but I didn’t really want to be doing it at that moment. And because of that, I wasn’t doing that great of a job getting it done. There were a million things spinning through my head that I wanted to work on instead. And I think a lot of people, ESPECIALLY college students experience this feeling. And I’m not talking about the feeling of having to study but wishing you were out with your friends. That’s something different, and everyone already knows that the solution to that is just discipline. I’m talking about something else that, I believe, can actually be solved with a little less discipline and a little more impulsivity.
What I'm talking about is the feeling that whatever you're working on is not the most impactful or productive thing you could be working on. But you feel like you have to finish it before doing anything else. Maybe you’ve been meaning to start reading some book, or apply to some internship, or start some blog, or build some business. And the longer you push those things off for things you “have” to do, the less control you feel you have over the accomplishment of your goals. And the less control you have over that, the less likely you are to set ambitious goals in the first place. So it’s not good to push those things off. Even if they seem like distractions, they might be the fuel you need to keep you moving forward.
So as I was sitting there I was thinking about all of that, and asked myself, “Do I actually ‘need’ to be doing this right now? There's no way I don't have 20 or 30 minutes to work on something I actually care about. Or maybe even an hour?” So I stopped what I was doing and started working on things that actually felt important to me and that I could genuinely get excited about. So by the time I got back to the thing I had to work on, I felt much more accomplished and satisfied with what I was getting done that day, and was more productive in completing the rest of the work that I had to do.
A more concrete example of this in my life was the founding of Gator Venture Capital. My sophomore fall, I had a decently heavy course load, and held leadership positions in multiple student organizations. But the number one thing on my mind was getting GVC off the ground. I had the idea in place, and needed to start forming VC partnerships and building a student base at UF. But I just wasn’t getting to it. And that made me feel horrible.
Now when you think about this, it makes a lot of sense. Not to get too deep here, but the source of stress and anxiety for almost all people is in large part a feeling of a lack of control over their own life. When you have a bunch of things you want to get to that you think are going to really make a difference for you, and you don’t get to them, it makes you wonder if you even could.
So that’s where I was at. Wondering if the fact that nothing was happening with GVC meant that I just wasn’t the guy for the job. Because as humans, we analyze patterns and we make predictions. So I could look back and say “Well, I’ve wanted to do something about this for months, and I’ve barely done anything. So even though I still want to do something about it, who the hell is to say that I’m going to?” That’s a vicious cycle, and if you’re in it, I'd strongly recommend breaking out of it. And luckily I did. All it came down to was overcoming the inertia of pursuing a new goal.
So maybe you already see that there is a simple solution here: make your passion a priority, and go do the thing you want to do. Whatever else you’re working on can wait just a little bit. If you’ve got big ideas, do something to start making them real. Even if it’s just writing about them--which is very powerful by the way. If you’re a curious person who wants to learn about something outside of your school curriculum, go start learning about it. Buy a book. Set up a meeting with someone who can teach you stuff. Enroll in an online course. Do something to get yourself even a half step closer to the goals you think about all day.
The "impulsive" part of this idea is the notion that you should do what you want to do first, and what you "need" to do after. If you feel so absolutely defeated by the fact that you haven't done something you've been meaning to do, the best thing you can do is make yourself feel better by at least getting started on whatever that thing might be.
Impulsivity and productivity are usually seen as opposites. But I think for certain people, the two can work very well together. People with ambitions bigger than just getting their degree. People who are capable of having a serious impact on the world, or people who want to turn themselves into someone who is. Those people need to let themselves explore a little bit. So don’t box yourself in. Because if you do that for too long, you’ll never break the cycle.
Comments ()