Do you know how to take action in life? How can you figure out what goals you want to achieve?
Oliver Burkeman says that once you accept that you need to work within your limitations, it’s time to take action toward your goals. This is where you figure out what you need to do and how you’re going to do it, but be reasonable with yourself throughout the process.
Let’s explore Burkeman’s strategies for moving forward.
Strategy 1: Get Decisive
Burkeman says that to learn how to take action in life, you must first figure out what you want to do (and what you don’t).
To do so, Burkeman recommends first taking inventory of your current options and deciding what to pursue and what to leave behind. This will simplify your life and propel you from a state of indecision and stagnation to one of action. For example, you can either spend your free time writing your book, renovating your basement, or attending acting classes. You must decide which one to pursue and drop the other two for now; otherwise, you’ll accomplish nothing. Do this with decisions big and small, from where you’ll eat lunch to how you’ll spend your free time, and take action immediately—don’t just make the choice and sit with it.
Burkeman says that once you become decisive, you must identify your life task—a current goal that will push you to improve in some way. These goals arise from your personal circumstances and are about growth rather than outward achievement—for example, writing a book is a goal, but a life task might be becoming a writer—someone who expresses themself through creative writing. Burkeman adds that you can have multiple life tasks through the different phases of your life and that they all must meet meet two criteria: 1) They expand your comfort zone to promote long-term growth over instant gratification, and 2) they’re achievable and within your limitations, stemming from your current challenges, abilities, and circumstances.
Strategy 2: Make (and Execute) a Plan
Burkeman’s second strategy for taking action toward your goal is making and executing an action plan—break goals into smaller tasks that are easier to complete, and then whittle down your to-do list.
Burkeman explains that breaking big goals into smaller tasks will help you get more done because your tasks will seem less daunting. Perfectionists often avoid getting started on tasks that seem big and scary because they’re afraid they’ll fail, but if a challenging task is turned into 10 small, easy tasks, the work will be more enticing. Creating smaller tasks also encourages you to keep working because you’ll have small accomplishments to look back on—as we discussed before, achievement encourages action.
Burkeman also recommends tackling little tasks that cause anxiety immediately rather than pushing them aside. The anxiety that little tasks (like paying your doctor’s bill or canceling subscriptions) cause becomes an ongoing issue in your life that drains your happiness and peace. To get rid of these irritations, implement strategies to regularly manage these tasks. For example, dedicate a few minutes every day to handling them, or even dedicate a day from your weekend.
Strategy 3: Be Reasonable
Finally, one of the most important parts of taking action toward your goals, according to Burkeman, is being reasonable with yourself—don’t overwork yourself or focus too much on your problems. He offers three practical methods for being reasonable with yourself; let’s explore each.
First, Burkeman explains that consistency is key when it comes to accomplishing goals, but being too strict can be unrealistic—so you should build in some leniency. Life happens and people are imperfect, so forcing yourself to meet perfect guidelines is unlikely to work. For example, instead of striving to work toward your goal every day according to schedule, give yourself some leeway and work on your goal five days a week.
Second, spend your time wisely—Burkeman says that people can only concentrate intensely for three to four hours at a time. Forcing yourself to do high-level work for longer than this will likely lead to burnout; you’ll likely be less productive or produce lower quality work. To make the most of your limited focus time, avoid interruptions, and when your window of focus has closed, don’t push yourself just for the sake of finishing a task.
Third, Burkeman reminds you to take problems in stride. People tend to hold the belief that they’ll eventually reach a point in life that’s free of problems. This isn’t true, and it causes people to stress over not only the problem at hand but also the fact that there’s a problem at all. Instead, remember that there will always be problems in life—this is natural.
