Stop thinking in abstract terms, and do something.
I was offering networking advice this morning, and realized that when I think of it as “networking”, it feels very daunting. What does it mean to network? How do I make sure I connect with the right people? Where do I even start?
The advice I gave was to start with easy steps, like reaching out when you think of somebody you already know, say you were thinking of them, and offer to chat. I often do this after seeing an update from somebody I know on LinkedIn. That feels much more attainable to me than “networking” as an abstract concept.
“Exercise” is another bugaboo for me. I used to think of exercise as something to be done intensely for two hours at a time, like climbing a mountain on my bike, or playing ultimate frisbee or volleyball. As a busy parent these days, that just isn’t realistic. I’ve gotten better at walking to run my errands as one way to get some physical activity in my day, but I have been struggling to do more strength training. I have a hard time even motivating to do the 7-minute NYTimes workout that I have printed out, even though I definitely waste more than 7 minutes over the course of the day.
I realized this morning that if I stop thinking of it as “exercise”, I can just add in pushups and other body-weight exercises throughout my day whenever it occurs to me, rather than find the time and energy to do 3 sets of several exercises. Because I have this preconception of “exercise” as something I have to schedule and motivate myself for, it becomes a much bigger mental effort to get started. I wonder if I take out the abstract term, I can lower my activation energy around it.
I feel like there’s a more general principle here about the perils of abstraction – when I put an abstract term on something, it becomes bigger and harder to do, whereas if I just think about “what can I do in the next 2 minutes?” it’s easier to motivate.
What’s an abstraction you’ve been struggling with? And what’s a thing you can do in the next two minutes to get started?
#productivity #gettingstarted #networking #exercise