Stop The Productivity Shame Cycle with One Small Shift
I am about to show you how to step into your weekend proud of a productive week. Instead of heading to cocktail hour at 3pm Friday with defeat, disappointed in your progress, dreading Monday because of the unfinished pile of spill-over-to-do’s from last week!
Most people measure the success of their day based on a finished to-do list. Oftentimes that list is LONG, full of urgent but NOT IMPORTANT items and you have a FULL CALENDAR with no white space for doing tasks. Its no wonder you feel defeated by the clock and the list. The shame of another day passing without finishing the list sends you reaching for your phone to mindlessly scroll for some dopamine feel-good hits at the end of each day!
I teach five ways of stopping this productivity shame cycle in my Execute with Ease Program but I’m giving you my favorite one right now because its a bite-sized way to feel that sense of pride in your progress each week. Once you feel proud of where you spend your time, you’ll be able to ride that momentum into more success.
Here’s how it works:
Instead of measuring your progress on your to-do list, look at who you are BEING each day…
If you are anything like most of my clients, you have an image in your head of the successful person who checks off all of those to-do’s every day. Ask yourself - who is that person? Think of this as the new identity that you are stepping into. Instead of focusing on the actual to-do’s, who is that successful person being? For example:
What are their habits?
What do they spend their time doing?
What do they eat, drink, how do they dress?
What are their thoughts like?
Now, I want you to start being that person tomorrow. The fastest way to your ideal future self, doesn’t lie in the to-do list. It is becoming that future version of yourself now and watching as the to-do’s become way easier to tackle.
Lastly, at the end of each day before your head hits the pillow - ask yourself: how well did I do at being my new identity? Find at least three ways that you are grateful that you were being and one way that you can further step into your future identity tomorrow. Then rinse and repeat that every day. After about one to two weeks, you’ll feel this to-do list shame fall away because your perspective will shift to who you are becoming. That is far more powerful than measuring your success on a completed to-do list.
If you need help getting started, click here to download my free Jumpstart Mindmap.
