Inquisitive Report 47/52

Week Ending December 21st, 2018

Content Covered: Motion v. Action

Stagnation. Of late I’ve been feeling a dwindling in momentum and progression. Which I’ve happily chalked up to an assortment of excuses: it’s the holidays, I’m tired, I made a list of what I need to do didn’t I?

All are fair points, but this nagging sensation that I’m just “procrastinating” won’t let me rest until I dig into the psychology a bit more… because I have a feeling that there is more to it.

Turns out there is more. And luckily for me, the answer presented itself on a silver platter. As I finished reading James Clear’s book – Atomic Habits, I found the answer to my question presented as a distinction between two types of decisions.

And now my inquisitive reader, allow me the opportunity to demonstrate to you, the power of a nuance:

There is a difference between being in motion and taking action; the former is the illusion of progress, and the latter a product of it.

The things is: “When you are in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning; these are all good things, but they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome.”

If I make a list of things that I want to do, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and mock up my framework, that’s action.

Now as always there are nuances to nuances, sometimes we really do have to jot down notes for what our framework will look like, or research topics before we can produce a product. This is fair, but the point is:

When procrastination presents itself as the norm, and stagnation prevails: perhaps we can try switching from motion driven choices to action driven choices to boost inspiration.

Concept adapted from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.