My no good, very bad habits

I hate calorie tracking. (I promise this relates to leadership! 😉)

I’m horrible at finishing to-do lists.

And I’m terrible at going through my emails.

The logical conclusion is that I’m really bad at developing and sticking to habits…or am I?!

On a call with David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, I said, “I’ve been trying forever, and this productivity stuff just doesn’t work for me.”

He said, “It’s an ideal. You gotta make it work for you. Adapt the systems.”

🤯That was a lightbulb moment for me.

Instead of miserably forcing myself to write down my three most important tasks for the day, I need to be focused and intentional about my long-term goals.

So I set an intention for myself: I do what I set out to do with intention and focus.

I recite this every day as one of my affirmations.

And guess what?

I get a ton of stuff done! Not always consistently. But still — I'm making progress!

Honestly, I’m never going to be one of those people who keeps a running to-do list and diligently updates it. But I can be consistent enough to get the things I want to get done DONE — with intention and focus.

Sure, it might be messy. It might be far from perfect. My inbox might be overflowing and nearing its capacity. But, heck yeah, I’m getting things done!

(Whenever I confide in people that I feel like I don’t get stuff done, they actually laugh. They think I’m one of the most productive people they know!)

The thing is, our society has such a fixed view of “good productivity.” But it doesn’t work for everyone. What works for me might not work for you! And there’s certainly no “one right way” to be productive. That’s why I thought I was really bad at habits for the longest time.

But with this mindset shift, I don’t worry about getting to Inbox Zero — which is not even the real goal. The actual objective is making sure you’ve identified the most important things to get done.

Tracking every bite of food you eat isn’t the goal. It’s seeing your body and health change.

Crossing everything off your to-do list? That’s an imaginary goal, too. Getting important things done is the real goal.

And as long as you’re moving toward the goal, that’s what matters.

I stopped feeling guilty about not doing things the “right” way. I’m not always going to deliver everything on time. The end product might be messy and convoluted. (Apologies and thanks for your patience!).

But the most important things get done. Eventually. 🙃

– Charlene

My Latest:

• “You need a Chief Transformation Officer for that.” That’s what I think when I hear clients bemoan the challenges of managing multiple ongoing transformations. Watch my latest livestream to find out why.

• DON’T make an annual plan or budget this year. Instead, I urge you to take a “six quarter walk.” Join me next Monday at 9am PT (not Tuesday!) for a livestream about this powerful way to plan.

• Culture is a double agent. 🕵️In Leading Disruption, I share what that looks like for disruptive organizations –– and how to intentionally build a culture that supports transformation:

Good Things:

• Reads: I’m really enjoying Dr. Sharon Melnick’s new book, In Your Power. It’s an enlightening read about what you can control so you show up as your best, most authentic self. In fact, I’ll be doing a bonus LinkedIn livestream on Thursday, November 17th with Dr. Melnick herself!

• Referrals: I like playing puzzles a lot, especially brain and logic puzzles. So I just resubscribed to Games Magazine! Initially, I subscribed to the electronic version but quickly broke down and got the print version (the electronic wasn’t as interactive as the NYTimes Crosswords).

• Resource: Todoist is my new to-do list. 😉 I like that it syncs to my calendar. When I add something I have to do, it automatically creates time on my calendar. It’s simple, but it makes a huge difference. I also like that I can see it on the web, thus accessible on my highly-secured work laptop. Tons of integrations are a major bonus!

This newsletter is sponsored by Workplace from Meta, where culture and technology come together to create a more productive future of work. Check out www.workplace.com/future to learn more.