As part of David Spark’s Productivity System, as described in his Productivity Field Guide, I do quarterly reviews. In these reviews, I examine my life roles, look at what I did the past quarter, and plan my work for the next quarter. Using a template, I ask a series of questions about each of my life roles and decide how I want to improve in each one during the coming quarter.
It’s great to make plans, but they wouldn’t mean much if I just stopped there. For them to make any difference in my life and the lives of others I influence, I have to take steps to do them.
The ‘Doing Deficit’: Why We Often Fail to Act
For those of us who love to learn, it’s easy to spend a lot of time reading, thinking, and organizing but then fall short of actually doing. We often fail to implement what we already know we want to do.
Ann-Laure Le Cunff identifies this pattern as ‘The Doing Deficit.’ She writes, “In truth, most of us don’t suffer from a knowledge deficit. The hard part isn’t learning what to do; it’s doing what we already know.” “The Doing Deficit.” Ness Labs Newsletter, #242, October 3rd, 2024.
“It’s easy to consume more information and convince ourselves that we’re making progress. But knowledge alone isn’t enough to build new skills. You need to take action.” We often procrastinate by over-preparing.
Others have described this behavior as ‘rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.’ We spend lots of energy preparing to do, but never take the essential next step: taking action.
Five Strategies to Overcome the Doing Deficit
In her newsletter, Ann-Laure Le Cunff suggests five practical strategies to solve the doing deficit:
1. Start small. Start with a small action you can commit to. If you want to get in shape, don’t start by doing 50 push-ups, which is the goal, but show up for just one push-up. This is the same approach BJ Fogg suggests to establish a new habit in his helpful book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything.
2. Focus on the process, not the outcome. Don’t try to tackle the whole project at once. Instead, break it down into small actions you can accomplish. Make tasks out of each action step. Focus on doing things and on your practice.
3. Track your progress. Focus on how far you’ve come and how much improvement you’ve made, not how much more you have left to do. Celebrate your successes along the way. One way to do this would be to have a weekly review, where you look back at the past week and see how much you’ve accomplished.
4. Embrace discomfort. It’s okay to make mistakes. They’re a part of the process. If you’re pushing yourself, you should feel some discomfort.
5. Find accountability. Have another person you are accountable to. My experience is that this works well for some people but not all. Some, like me, are more self-motivating and self-accountable. I find putting action steps as tasks in my task manager helps to keep me aware and accountable; either the task is checked off as complete, or it stays in sight and continues to annoy me until it’s done.
Translating Insights into Action: My Quarterly Review Process
As I work through my quarterly review template, I list specific action items to help me realize my personal improvement goals. I gather these action items into a list at the end of the template, with checkboxes in front of each.
The final act of my quarterly review is to figure out how best to set myself up to take action on each action item I’ve listed. Each action item finds its place within my system, whether as a task, habit, project, or calendar reminder.
As I enter each item into my system, I check it off the list. That doesn’t mean the item is completed, but I’ve designated how to do each within my system.
As I do my daily plan, tasks will appear when I designate them. Habits usually go into my task manager and show up when they need to be done. Some tasks appear daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. I’ve tried using separate habit managers, but they haven’t stuck for me, so I use my task manager.
Projects are added to a list that I check daily, weekly, and monthly. I block time or list tasks to keep the project moving forward.
Celebrating Progress and Building Momentum
We all encounter the ‘Doing Deficit’ at some point. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to get caught up in planning without moving to action.
Every completed task from my quarterly review brings a sense of accomplishment. I make it a point to celebrate these wins and use the momentum to tackle the next item on my list.
If you’re working on closing the gap between learning and doing in your work, remember that progress isn’t measured only by major accomplishments. It’s in the small, consistent actions you take each day. So, set your intentions, take action, and be sure to celebrate each success—because every step forward is a victory worth acknowledging.