By Leo Babauta
You can read entire books on productivity, dozens of blog posts and implement half a dozen different productivity systems. But at the end of the day, you'd have gotten nothing important done.
The truth is, productivity is fairly simple, in theory. Even if you have an overwhelming amount to do, the steps aren't hard to figure out:
So if it's so simple, what's getting in the way?
Fear.
Some of the fears that get in the way of executing the productivity steps above: fear of failure, uncertainty, incompetence, discomfort, not having control.
In fact, we fear only one thing really: not having control, certainty, security, comfort. Those are really all the same thing (certainty). All of our fears come from that.
We don't like to feel these fears. So we avoid them, trying to seek control, certainty, comfort by going to distractions, news sites, social media, cat videos, email, text messages. We try to get control by running from the important but uncertain tasks and tidying up, doing errands, organizing, making a new productivity system. Anything to avoid the uncertainty.
So now we get down to my Most Important Productivity Method. It's diving into the uncertainty.
That's it. Be aware of the fear, don't let yourself act on it, explore it with curiosity, and do your important work anyway.
You'll let yourself run from the fear, go to distraction, over and over. But it's in that moment when you decide not to run that you really develop the skill that will change your life.
About the Author:My Most Important Productivity Method
Zen Habits is a blog written by Leo Babauta about implementing zen habits in daily life. It offers suggestions for how to live, and also includes frequent references to how Leo Babauta has implemented these habits. He covers topics such as simplifying, living frugally, parenting, happiness, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, eating healthily and successfully implementing good habits.