The #1 Systems Myth I am constantly debunking
The concept of ‘systems’ is so alluring and prevalent — rightfully so because systems are pretty awesome.
But sometimes things are not quite what they seem. I wish I didn’t have to debunk this particular myth, because good gahd I wish it were true, but it has to be done.
There is no such thing as “set it & forget it”
Ugh. I know it’s hard to hear. It’s hard for me to burst that bubble! But it is indeed true, and it’s a really important myth to bust wide open because believing it leads to a ton of pitfalls.
Believing in set & forget coaxes us into maximizing more than satisficing*. If you’re not familiar with the terms, I hope you’re as delighted as I was to learn about them. To heavily summarize, maximizing leads us to feel like there is one top of the mountain, optimal, best solution, and anything less is basically garbage.
Believing there is a “best” system, like a maximizer, can cause us to throw out an entire system if it doesn’t feel perfect, even if there were elements that really were working. Maximizing wants its perfection in totality. Instead of noticing, like a satisficer, that perfection is a process (if not impossible), and you can enjoy the benefits of what is working while allowing other elements remain a work in progress, finding your perfection in facets.
We do ourselves a disservice by believing that there is a finite optimal end. In the quest for that one magical solution, we skip over opportunities to notice and respond to ourselves and what we need in a layered and wonderfully complex way.
And don’t forget, there are also loads of logistical pitfalls in a set & forget mindset. We lose productivity getting sucked into shiny new systems & life hack rabbit holes, and it can make us overcomplicate any system by expecting too much of it. It also prevents us from creating consistency with a single system — the one and only thing that lets us know whether or not it’s working.
But the most important thing that set & forget steals from us is the self-celebration we deserve for how well we’re doing. It undervalues the hard work we’ve done thus far, because believing we should always do better creates a stone cold roadblock to noticing that we’re actually doing pretty great.
How to break the wheel of set & forget
To wriggle out of this deceptively restrictive mindset, you have to practice! You've spent a long time in a set & forget cycle — and it will always be there for you if you want to go back to it — but practice prioritizing in a new way. Systems support priorities. So, you need to know what your priorities are in order to know how well you’re supporting them and whether or not your system is helping or hindering.
Pinpoint your priorities, write them down, and be specific! You have to decide what you want a system to do for you in order to know whether or not it’s doing it — sounds obvious but you might be amazed at how often this step is skipped. Be as specific as you can when establishing your priorities. For example, most of us want our systems to save us time, but time for what?
Estimate your before This is why we get specific. Let’s say you want more time to focus on your marketing. How will you know if you’re starting to give your marketing more time and attention if you don’t know how much you’re giving it right now? You need a rough baseline for what life looks like today, so you can tell whether or not your systems are accomplishing your priorities. Don’t overcomplicate it, find a simple way to measure your progress.
Priorities check in This is wildly important and the reason for writing down your priorities. You have to check in with yourself. Our situations and needs change all the time, and I don’t know about you but I am often wrong about what I need the first time around! The priorities you set six months ago may have shifted and need to be tended to in a different way today. Set a calendar reminder at least every two months to do a five minute gut check to make sure your priorities are in the right order and receiving the right kind of attention.
MONDAY MOMENT
Pick a system or tool that you’re currently using and identify what priorities it’s satisfying, and then how well it’s accomplishing those priorities. Is it doing enough, too much, nor not enough?
Do not, I repeat, do not, pick something that you have been procrastinating. This is a satisficer’s practice round, set yourself up for achievable success. Pick one systems silo to focus on, like your to-do list — where do you currently keep it, how often do you lose it, etc.
If you get stuck, I'm always here, and an Essentials Setup might be your ticket to unstuck!
*first heard on Adam Grant’s second episode of Armchair Expert Podcast, and forever pumped on the concept
