- The Productivity Blueprint
- Posts
- Why is taking action hard?
Why is taking action hard?
Welcome to The Productivity Blueprint newsletter 🗞️
We hope everyone found the reframe of stress from last week useful. If you missed this read, you can check it out here 🙂 Today we’re taking a look at why taking that leap of action can feel SO hard. Let’s dive in.
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."
The article delves into the common struggle of inaction, exploring why it's challenging to take action even when we know it's beneficial. It dismisses simplistic explanations like laziness or lack of talent and instead considers deeper psychological and environmental factors.
Several possibilities are discussed:
Confidence and Expectancy Theories: The belief in our ability to succeed influences our motivation and action.
Social-Desirability Bias: Sometimes inaction is a subconscious choice, influenced by societal expectations.
Construal Level Theory: The disconnect between our abstract goals and the concrete reality of achieving them.
Cultural and Environmental Influences: Our actions may be tempered by cultural norms and evolutionary factors.
Short-Sightedness: Our innate preference for immediate gratification over long-term rewards.
By understanding these underlying factors, you can develop strategies to overcome inaction. Our minds are complex, and effective action requires aligning both conscious and unconscious control mechanisms.
TL/DR: Overcoming inaction requires a nuanced understanding of its causes, ranging from psychological biases to cultural influences. Recognizing these factors can help us develop more effective strategies for taking action.
 Beeminder This tool uses data and financial incentives to keep you accountable and on track with your goals, helping to overcome inaction by aligning immediate incentives with long-term objectives. What we love: Connect a device/app like Fitbit, Toggl, or Starve to auto-report on your goal progress. |  Trello Trello serves as a valuable organizational tool that aids in taking action and achieving success by allowing users to break down their goals into manageable tasks. What we love: With its intuitive boards, lists, and cards, Trello helps efficient planning, prioritization, and tracking of progress. |
💡 Challenge of the week
Identify a task or project you've been procrastinating on. Break it down into smaller, manageable steps and set a clear, achievable goal for the week. Focus on the immediate actions rather than the overall objective to make starting easier.
Looking forward to hearing how it goes for everyone next week.
Until then,
The Productivity Blueprint Team