Who Wants To Be a Disruptor?
Disrupting things means you have to be a little brave. You can’t turn things upside down when you’re in tune with the status quo because you like it. Dislocating things sometimes means being a little messy, though it could bring you a productive day or more productive workplace.
Upsetting the apple cart also means you can’t be a people-pleaser. Even when people don’t much like the status quo, it's familiar and comfortable. When you’re flipping things around, you have to be a little bit of a contrarian. Or you can be a lot contrarian! Stay disruptive!
You still up for it?
Disruption requires a few thought habits (which also lead to a more productive day)
Intentionality
You can’t just let everything flow. You might find in some cases that working differently actually leads to more cognitive flow, not less. But when you’re mixing it up, you’ll probably need to set some boundaries you’ve never thought about before.
You have to be deliberate about what you’re doing, instead of falling into things accidentally. Or just putting your head down and working without thinking about your values and mission.
Thinking and reflecting
American culture is biased towards action, and that’s not always a bad thing. There are times when you just have to do it, instead of overanalyzing what you’re doing. Thinking and reflecting come into play about your values and your purpose.
You can’t be a disruptor if you don’t have a larger purpose in mind. You have to be able to think about your values and reflect on what you’ve been doing to see if your actions are in alignment with your values.
Long-term, broad-picture thinking
Business owners especially tend to get so deep in their business that they’re only looking at the next thing in front of them to do. But is that the right thing that will move your business forward?
What does the business look like in the future, and does your current action get you further toward the goal? Get some perspective on what’s going on before you start taking actions that don’t help you.
Still good?
How to disrupt things in a way that actually makes your performance at work better
Work WITH your brain, not against it.
Today’s status quo is pretty much as anti-brain as it’s possible to be. Distractions drain your productivity tank, and so do any attempts at multitasking. (There’s no such thing – click here for more details.)
Responding immediately to an email, no matter how meaningless, when you’re in the middle of a “thinky work” type of task is draining. Sitting in meetings when your brain is ready to focus – the scourge of modern American workplace life. Working through lunch, busying yourself for 14 hour days.
Constantly scrolling “social” media, mistakenly thinking you’re giving yourself a break. Absorbing a firehose of info that you probably can’t do anything about it (sorry, thoughts & prayers don’t accomplish jack squat). It’s media, but nothing your brain recognizes as social.
When I lay it out like that, doesn’t it sound ridiculous? I hope at least a small part of you, if not a big piece, thought, That sounds terrible! Why am I doing that?
Well, that’s the culture. So don’t feel bad, but you also don’t have to take it passively. You can do something about it by disrupting the way you work, especially if you’re an entrepreneur.
Make sure you and your staff aren’t scheduled for meetings during deep focus time (dependent on your sleep chronotype.) Eat lunch, even better with friends or mentors or colleagues (but don’t talk work.) Expect to put in work during the day but then go home and be with the family or pets at dinnertime. Set boundaries around when people can expect you to answer emails, and communicate them.
Spend time with people you love doing things you love – it’s disruptive to the modern American work culture. Bonus: it makes you happier and helps you have a more productive day.
Ready to disrupt? What’s the first boundary you’ll set? Let me know in the comments.