After a busy day, have you ever looked back and thought, “What did I get done today? Did I check anything off my must-do list?”
As author James Clear said so perfectly: “Being in motion (busy) does not equal action.”
In the coaching world we call busy days “buffer days” since they act as a buffer between action days and free days. Everyone needs busy days, but your goal should be to have more action (results) days in a week than busy days.
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You could spend a month thinking about a task, pretending that you’re working on it, or you can just do it. Why delay the inevitable? Is it because you fear that it won’t turn out perfectly? I’ve learned that doing is better than perfect.
Another reason we might prioritize busy tasks or delay action tasks is because we believe that we have more time than we do. And Parkinson’s Law posits that work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion. Elon Musk once said that if you give yourself 30 days to clean your home it will take 30 days, but if you give yourself three hours it will take three hours. If success and happiness are the result of how well you manage your time, life becomes all about timing and timelines — that is, concrete action over busy-ness.
A lack of self-awareness might be another reason to choose motion over action. Most people think they are among the hardest workers, when in reality there are a handful of people producing the majority of results. I can say from my own experience that when I’m busy it feels like I’m accomplishing something that day. But what was I actually doing? My mentor once asked me, “Is what you’re doing right now getting you closer to your goals?”
Wait — what are my goals? I had to sit down and think about what my personal and professional goals should be and then break them down into day-to-day actions. Because here’s the flaw in humans: when we’re busy it’s easy to trick ourselves into believing we are accomplishing things.
As farmers, we love being in motion. We identify as “farmers who are farming.” Have you ever met a farmer who, when asked what they do, responded with “farm manager,” “business owner,” or “an entrepreneur” who was “managing or running a business”? The truth is, we don’t do enough of those things — the working “on” the business as opposed to “in” it — enough.
We are also creatures of habit. Have you ever felt the sudden urge to drive to the city to pick up parts or groceries when you should be home doing some of the action stuff? I used to do this when I didn’t want to sit at the desk and stare at a screen. But I realized that this craving for motion came from growing up on a farm doing farmyard and field work.
For half the year, the most productive seasons of farming are related to tasks such as spraying, seeding, combining or trucking. Those are the days when you know exactly what needs to get done. But before you know it, the crop is in the bins, the trucks are on the road and we throttle back from 100 to zero. That’s the flaw in running a business: we think being in motion equals action, and motion is king for those most critical months of the year.
To use another example, let’s consider succession planning. The challenge here is that we often frame succession as a “what-if” plan. It’s tough to get someone to work on what ifs. But I believe that we can create actionable steps and create a repeatable process that allows us to get results — results that get you closer to your goals, i.e., doing what you want to do and feeling good about it. Solid action, not just motion.
Here are some other examples and ways you can turn motion into action:
- Do you need a will? Call the lawyer today to set up an appointment and tell your spouse. Make it mandatory to get something signed after that meeting. It may not perfectly represent your wishes, but you’ll have started to cover your bases and you can always make revisions later.
- Do you need to train an employee? Design a training plan with deadlines, then book time with the trainee in your calendar.
- Or, what if you feel like it’s time for the kids to take on more managerial roles? Start having those conversations. Lay out your expectations and non-negotiables. Set up a trial run and a review process and then implement and stick to mandatory weekly meetings. Most importantly, set a timeline for each phase of your transition away from certain roles within the business.
Action can be just as interesting and exciting as motion. Better still, you’ll not only feel like you’ve accomplished something, but you actually will.
