Over the last couple weeks, the concept of research mode vs. focus mode keeps crossing my path.
In a meeting, this quote came up.
“Output before Input”
Dawn
Dawn’s perspective was that she needs to produce some output before taking in more information.
Resisting the temptation to learn, read, and explore before getting the work done.
I continued to hear this in one way or another from others.
Then, I heard an episode of The Daily Boost titled Stop Learning, Start Doing.
He told the story of his daughter.
She had hurricane damage at her home and was replacing drywall.
She became stuck watching YouTube videos instead of actually trying to hang the drywall.
My Story
I see this approach of learning before acting in myself.
Starting a project sometimes takes longer than it should.
I always believe there is more to learn and that makes me feel like I don’t know enough to start.
Over the years, strategies have been developed to combat this.
Setting a time limit on research is one.
Ensuring focused work is finished for the day before doing any research or exploration is another.
My Perspective
Thinking about this made me wonder if everyone has the learning before doing problem.
The conclusion I arrived at is no.
There don’t seem to be people who must stop themselves from doing something to spend time learning.
They learn while they are doing the work.
That brought me to this conclusion:
There are the “learn to avoid doing” and there are the “doing to avoid doing”.
The “learn to avoid doing” are the examples above.
Those who “do to avoid doing” take on other activities to push off doing the real, difficult work.
They might have a conversation, respond to email, attend meetings, provide input on someone else’s work, and more.
They are busy, but they are avoiding the deep work just as much as those stuck “learning”.
Your Turn
Do you see yourself procrastinating projects?
Which strategy do you use that “feels like work” – learning or doing?
What could you do to recognize when this is happening and switch to doing the work?