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lotuspuppy
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15 Oct 2012, 1:38 pm

The harpies of self-doubt are in my head. They have been in my head for weeks, and it's affecting my job performance. Basically, I have a rather large task I am not sure how to accomplish, and my job depends on this task. I have a few months to do it, but I can't even start until these harpies go away. They are saying things like, "you suck at your job" or "you are better off at home sleeping all day" or something like that. They sap me of motivation, and they are very hard to shake.

What do the rest of you do when you enter into periods of self doubt?



Trencher93
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15 Oct 2012, 3:34 pm

Just do it, don't think about it. When you start doing it, whatever you are doing will gain its own momentum and you can finish it. The key is action - take the smallest step to begin whatever you're doing, then the next step, and so on. Get absorbed in it and don't think about it.



LookTwice
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15 Oct 2012, 3:55 pm

Trencher93 wrote:
Just do it, don't think about it. When you start doing it, whatever you are doing will gain its own momentum and you can finish it. The key is action - take the smallest step to begin whatever you're doing, then the next step, and so on. Get absorbed in it and don't think about it.


That's good advice. You're procrastinating because you don't know how to solve the problem. So the first step is to figure it out, and this process can be scary, especially if the task is difficult and forces you to take really small steps. You might just need to embrace that this is not an easy job.


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DoniiMann
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16 Oct 2012, 7:56 am

If it were me, I'd acquire a note book. I'd write the desired outcome/goal. Then work it out on paper. Keep brainstorming. Notes. Random ideas. As much as possible. Then I'd create a plan or path in as much detail as possible, following a 1:, 2:, 3:, (bullet-point) pattern from beginning to end.

Then follow it.

Hopefully it would create a different world to the doubts. Then the doubts can say what they want while you follow your written plan anyway.


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lotuspuppy
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17 Oct 2012, 11:05 am

DoniiMann wrote:
If it were me, I'd acquire a note book. I'd write the desired outcome/goal. Then work it out on paper. Keep brainstorming. Notes. Random ideas. As much as possible. Then I'd create a plan or path in as much detail as possible, following a 1:, 2:, 3:, (bullet-point) pattern from beginning to end.

Then follow it.

Hopefully it would create a different world to the doubts. Then the doubts can say what they want while you follow your written plan anyway.


Thanks.

I work in business development. I don't quite do sales, but it has a lot of marketing, public relations work, and negotiating with partners who can help us (the nature of my business doesn't lend itself to upselling).

I have gone through multiple written plans, and none of them have worked. That's why I'm frustrated. I started looking for the exit a few months ago. In the meantime, I have to do what I can at the job I have. My best isn't good enough, I am learning, but I need to give it anyways. It's my duty. That's why self doubt worries me, because it prevents me from my duty.



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17 Oct 2012, 11:44 am

Hi, it is rather surprising how much in business, medicine, politics, etc, lacks healthy interplay between theory and practice and/or enough such interplay and early enough. Some does. But a lot does not.

So, just the zen idea of medium steps? Medium step, observe feedback, another medium step, etc. Simple idea, but often not followed, circumstances are such that often cannot be followed, but if it can . . .

Also Alan Cooper's intriguing book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity (now, I didn't like the part where he excused mean jocks and ran down nerds, but other than that, a good book). So, it's not about desiging something, and then neat, clean, perfect 'corporate' feedback. No, it's about feedback early when it can still make a difference. Embrace the messiness and imperfection of the whole thing. 'Better to be approximately correct than exactly mistaken,' that kind of thing. :jocolor:



lotuspuppy
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20 Oct 2012, 4:48 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
Hi, it is rather surprising how much in business, medicine, politics, etc, lacks healthy interplay between theory and practice and/or enough such interplay and early enough. Some does. But a lot does not.

So, just the zen idea of medium steps? Medium step, observe feedback, another medium step, etc. Simple idea, but often not followed, circumstances are such that often cannot be followed, but if it can . . .

Also Alan Cooper's intriguing book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity (now, I didn't like the part where he excused mean jocks and ran down nerds, but other than that, a good book). So, it's not about desiging something, and then neat, clean, perfect 'corporate' feedback. No, it's about feedback early when it can still make a difference. Embrace the messiness and imperfection of the whole thing. 'Better to be approximately correct than exactly mistaken,' that kind of thing. :jocolor:


That's great advice. It makes sense because I am NOT a perfectionist, and believe strongly that "good enough" can be just that. Lots of people think that's sloppy thinking, but I look at perfectionists and see how miserable many are. They often fail because they can't see the big picture, and are so terribly unhappy when they do fail. I'm trying to cultivate a mindset of "go with the flow."