Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Doing Things Badly

Lately I've become very aware of something I'm going to call "indecision paralysis." I just made that up. I don't know if it's a thing, but it puts words to what I've been doing in recent days (...months...years?).

You all know I have lots to do, right?

We're moving at the end of May (I blogged about that last week). Dylan graduates from high school on May 20. I still help out a few hours a week at the daycare. I have meals to cook and things to clean and writing projects galore.

So why don't I get very much done each day?

I get the urgent things done. I pay the bills before the deadline (usually). I prepare for meetings and show up for my scheduled shifts at the daycare. I do the easy things like loading the dishwasher, doing the wash, and setting the table.

But the rest of it often doesn't get done because of my "indecision paralysis." 

I'm not sure what to do first, so I don't do anything.

Or I'm not sure if I can do something as well as I would like, so I put it off, reasoning that I'll do it better when I have a huge block of time for it.

Or I don't know exactly how to do something, so I procrastinate.

I watched another TED talk on Youtube the other day. I found one by Olivia Remes called How to Cope With Anxiety (You can read an article that summarizes her points here).

I don't deal with a ton of anxiety, but I could relate when she talked about wasting lots of time deciding what to do and never getting anything done. That's me, I'm afraid.

Her solution: Do it badly.

Just jump in and do whatever you've been putting off. Don't worry about it being perfect or doing it well. You can always come back and fix it after it's finished, or do it better in the future as you practice and learn.

I think I'm going to try this in the days ahead. 

Dylan's party might not be absolutely perfect, but we'll have fun and I won't feel as much stress if I start working on it soon (instead of at the last minute).

There are a couple of tasks I've been putting off because I'm not sure I can do them well. It's time to get started and get them done. It's silly to keep thinking of them with dread and not work on them.

The move...well, that will happen whether I'm ready for it or not, but there's no reason I can't work on packing a little at a time so it doesn't all have to be done in the final few days.

I've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to decide how to end this week's post. I guess I'm just going to jump in and do it...even if I do it badly.

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it [even badly] with all your might..." (Ecclesiastes 9:10a NIV - brackets mine)

Do you get paralyzed by fear and indecision at times? How can focusing on God help you to get things done, even if you do them badly at first?

Focus Friday: Let's Focus on...Something

Some days I have so much to do...that I don't do much of anything. My brain scrambles through a long list of "shoulds" and "ought to's" and then it gets tired and urges me to go play Mahjong Tiles on my iPad.

Now, I realize that this is a very silly way to live. It drives my husband crazy when he sees me doing it, because he doesn't do things that way. When he has lots to do, he works hard to get things done so he doesn't have to think about them anymore.

I've gotten a little better in recent years, but I still have to work on this "avoidance" tendency I have. It doesn't do me any good to procrastinate and put things off just because I get overwhelmed. It just adds more stress later when I'm trying to meet a deadline.

I was reminded of this on Thursday when I attended a workshop about public speaking. I learned some very good tips that will help me with speaking events in the future, but the points that stayed with me the most were things like this:

"You have a message to share that only you can share to people that can only hear it from you."

"Your message is your gift from God."

"All successful people make decisions quickly...Indecision is your enemy...Procrastination is the devil."

"Everything you want is out of your comfort zone or you'd already have it."

"Don't wait! Time is speeding up, not slowing down...Don't have any regrets."

(All of the above quotes were from Arvee Robinson, a master speaker. www.instantprospeaker.com)

Her words really got me thinking about what I want to accomplish. I don't have all the time in the world to do the things I want to do, the things I feel God calling me to do. The days, weeks, months, and years keep flying by...what am I doing with all of that time?

So today, I want to focus on...something, instead of focusing on everything. When I look around at everything, I get easily overwhelmed and want to run away and do nothing. By focusing on something, I just might get it done and be able to move on to the next thing, knowing that the gifts God has given me are being used and that people are hearing the message that only I can share. 

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV)

Are you focusing on too many things? Is it time to focus on...something, so you can get it done and share the gifts and messages God has given you with just the right people?