Graphics Designed by slidesgo / Freepik COPYRIGHT © 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | THEMETALEARNERS.COM Evaluate how you feel about your work, discover what you enjoy doing, and deliberately choose what to work on. DELIBERATELY CHOOSING WHAT TO WORK ON COURSE WORKSHEET | DOMINATE YOUR PROCRASTINATION 2 / 4 COPYRIGHT © 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | THEMETALEARNERS.COM DELIBERATELY CHOOSING WHAT TO WORK ON DOMINATE YOUR PROCRASTINATION One of the very first things we learned about procrastination is that it arises when we must do something that we perceive as unpleasant. It makes sense, then, that the first strategy for working around your procrastination is choosing what to work on The big idea here may not surprise you: wherever possible, we should take on things we like doing, instead of things we think we should be doing Remember: Your procrastination is a valuable mirror into how you feel. What it’s telling you is perhaps the most important piece of information you will ever be told in life: what you are doing is not making you happy. It’s causing you pain and suffering, and holding you back. To help you further understand why this is so important, I want to talk about one of my favorite mental models - the Zone of Genius, that comes from the book “The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks. The Zone of Genius is where your interests, passions, and skills meet to allow you to perform at your highest level and be the best version of yourself possible. It is important to note that every single one of us has their own Zone Of Genius According to Gay Hendricks, there are 3 more zones we need to be aware of: The Zone of Excellence. Right outside the Zone of Genius lies a zone full of things you are highly skilled at. This is usually what most people build their careers upon. The problem with the Zone of Excellence is that you don’t necessarily enjoy the task, and even when you do, it isn’t at the level that the Zone of Genius offers. The Zone of Competence. This zone contains things that you are sufficiently good at, but it’s easy to see that others are equally good or better. The Zone of Incompetence , where we engage in things we aren’t good at and do not enjoy - in short, the zone we should never find ourselves in. Unfortunately, most people spend a lot of time in the last 2 zones, leading to serious procrastination But, in the Zone of Genius, things come to you naturally. Even if you’re still learning new skills you need to become exceptional, doing so is exciting , engaging , and motivating Work doesn’t feel like work , you display superior skill and passion, you get energized instead of getting tired, and no matter how much you work on something, you are always eager to learn more and improve. So, let’s get down to work to figure out what YOU should be working on! 3 / 4 COPYRIGHT © 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | THEMETALEARNERS.COM DELIBERATELY CHOOSING WHAT TO WORK ON DOMINATE YOUR PROCRASTINATION Zone of Incompetence Zone of Competence Zone of Excellence Zone of Genius As you go through your days, weeks, and months, start taking note of what you are working on. Are you answering emails? Are you procrastinating on making phone calls? Are you writing? Feel free to note things beyond the scope of your main work, like things you do at home as well. Put each one of these things that you do in one of the four buckets below. Is talking on the phone with people in your Zone of Genius? Maybe coding is something you are competent at, but not excellent. Put all tasks in their corresponding bucket. How do you feel about what you are currently working on? Is it making you happy? Is it causing you pain and suffering? Is it something you hate, but it’s part of something bigger that’s important to you? If you are working on more than one thing, feel free to answer the question individually for each endeavor. 4 / 4 COPYRIGHT © 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | THEMETALEARNERS.COM DELIBERATELY CHOOSING WHAT TO WORK ON DOMINATE YOUR PROCRASTINATION When you do this exercise for a while, you should have collected a lot of tasks in the buckets, and it should be becoming more and more clear which tasks are in your Zone of Genius and in your Zone of Excellence. Now, take a look at your life and the tasks you are working on, and ask yourself: “Am I doing primarily (80%) tasks that are in my Zone of Genius, or at least in my Zone of Excellence?” If not, answer the following question: “What changes can I make so that I get closer to filling 80% of my work with tasks in my Zone of Genius?” The more descriptive you get, the better.