Why again did not work: what they are talking about our failures

No one is immune from failure. It is possible to miss an important call because it started urgent workshop. Or skip the meeting, because I had to urgently close the hole in the project. And if you happened to get sick (to us or our loved ones), all priorities stand on its head.

From such systematic failures happen and benefit. They simply indicate that in some area of ​​our limited resources: not enough money, time and energy to do what you want. Adult responsible person has to compromise to balance their goals and possibilities.

Unexpected failures also help to calibrate the relationship between the necessary effort and precision of execution of tasks. If failures happen from time to time, then you have everything in order. If failures are one after the other, you should try better. If your life does not happen failures, you're spending too much time on their projects: the longer you modify the project, the better it is. But while you polish one task to a mirror finish, you missing other features.

Just appreciate how much effort and time is required to spend on the project, to make it good enough. The rest of the reallocated to other tasks that need to be done well.

But you should pay attention, because this is the systematic failures.

Systematic failures - are the ones due to which you will never reach specific goals.

Maybe you've got a big task: to write a book or get education? And can you promise yourself every day begin to eat or go to training? Whatever the goal, the causes permanent failure are the same. As a rule, it is a combination of three factors.

1. Short-term liabilities is more important than long-term goals

This is the most obvious obstacle. Most of us prefer to deal with current affairs, rather than wasting time on long-running projects. Many studies suggest that the brain selects cases for which you can quickly get a reward (at least moral of their completion). Long-term goals, of course, do not fall into this category.

For example, to write a book wants to huge numbers of people. But most do not even try to do it. In the end, there is always a bunch of other things that need to be made as quickly as possible, and the book as a waiting and will wait for more.

And the people who manage to achieve goals, They create an enabling environment. For example, everyone who has published a book, at least a few hours a week allocated specifically to work on it.

2. Circumstances hostile targets

Without noticing, we give preference to simple exercises, rather than important matters. The best example - mail. The majority holds the mailbox open throughout the day. And each new incoming message - it is an occasion to interrupt the work and to see what it was. After checking email too occupation. And it is much easier than the completion of a multi-project or another hefty check table. It should close the tab with your mail client or disable notifications in the app for a few hours - and a distraction defeated.

Create a favorable environment for their own purposes: leave yourself reminders about them. Put the book you want to read on the table. The monitor glue sticker with a reminder about the case. research showThat reminders are pushing us to action. And this process we may not even realize.

3. Too long work

Some companies have decided to stay in the workplace longer than last time. Paradoxically, this leads to systematic failures. Work - this is not a contest of endurance, where the winner is the one who was on the longest distance.

Most people can effectively work a few hours a day. For example, 8-9 hours. If you stay at work for a longer time, the overtime hours are filled with imitation intense activity. Employees can look terribly busy, but the good of their activities will not be. And this is the time you can spend on other things to do with the best result.

You need to figure out how long your energy enough for the job. And do business at this time, instead of sitting in the workplace for a reason. Thus you will save time and power for other purposes.

When the encounter with failure the next time, analyze, what is the reason. It was this accidental failure (due to unforeseen circumstances or single errors in planning), or such mistake is repeated continuously?

In the end, errors serve as a canary in the coal mine: they are signaling the presence of the big problems.

And if you leave everything as it is, and the failure will haunt you. Finally, if your life too much "random" failures, maybe we should give up the tasks that you do not manage? For example, take on less and learn to delegate responsibility, while not unpleasant accidents have become commonplace.