Use the “action Method” When You Need Extra Motivation to Achieve Your Goals.
When you tackle a complex project, it can be difficult to know where to begin—but not if you use the “action method,” a productivity technique that requires treating everything you do as a project. A “project” could be cleaning the house, presenting at a meeting, or answering all those outstanding emails. Essentially, it’s any large task that can be broken down into smaller pieces, whether personal or professional. The goal of this shift in thinking is to provide structure to every task you need to accomplish, so you spend less time struggling with disorganization.
When you have a ton of small tasks, it’s easy to lose sight of larger goals. Creating projects that gradually move you toward these goals will not only help you get more done but also keep you focused. That’s why it makes sense to rethink your approach to projects and how to make your approach effective for you.
What is the method of action?
As noted, the Action Method aims to improve your productivity and work efficiency by organizing your daily tasks, as well as long-term goals, into projects and then breaking these projects down into specific steps. The basic structure was proposed by Scott Belsky, who outlined the method in his 2010 book , “Bringing Ideas to Life: Overcoming the Barriers Between Vision and Reality.”
The Action Method originated when Belsky, one of the co-founders of Behance , sought to help creative professionals cope with the inefficiency, disorganization, and general chaos that comes with bureaucratic careers. His goal is not only to systematize your ideas but also to develop an action plan for their implementation.
The name ” action method” suggests this, but it’s somewhat more complex than other action-based productivity techniques, such as ” eat the frog ” or the ” two-minute rule .” With these methods, your primary goal is to immediately begin completing key tasks, with minimal thought. While they are essentially action-based, the action method itself requires more planning, as counterintuitive as that may sound.
How does the action method work?
The “Actions” part of the “Actions” method begins after you’ve divided your projects into three categories: milestones, links, and pending projects. A good way to do this is to create a spreadsheet with three columns, one for each category, and a separate tab for each project.
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Action steps are specific tasks that need to be completed and that lead to specific actions, such as preparing a presentation or cleaning the living room. If your main goal is to clean the house before your mother-in-law arrives in five days, your action steps might include purchasing the necessary supplies or creating a cleaning schedule for different rooms.
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The “References” section contains any additional information needed to complete these tasks, such as articles describing preliminary research, emails detailing what needs to be done, or training materials you plan to complete; insert links to these materials here. In the cleaning example, this might include a checklist or shopping list.
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Later tasks are more vague goals that don’t necessarily need to be accomplished right away. They can be ambitious, but they should serve as a foundation for specific actions. For example, if the presentation goal in your “Actions” column is to attract a new client, then a later task might be to attract 10 new clients by the end of the year. Cleaning the entire house and maintaining it could also be a later task. By outlining later tasks in advance, you maintain momentum. In this case, you’re not simply cleaning before your mother-in-law arrives, but laying the foundation for maintaining the house after she leaves, using her arrival as a starting point for further action. Ultimately, longer-term and longer-term cleaning projects will replace the more urgent tasks in the “Actions” and “Recommendations” tabs.
If you prefer working with a paper planner, you can use this method offline, but a spreadsheet is also perfectly suitable if you check it daily and use it as motivation to get started and complete your tasks. As you complete tasks, you can always add new tabs, as well as new links and tasks related to the goals in each existing tab, but the main thing is to track your tasks and, having clearly identified how they relate to your broader goals, begin working on them immediately. If you need extra motivation, a spreadsheet will provide a handy summary of how they relate to your future plans.
So, this method shows you the exact steps you need to take immediately to cross an item off your list, and it also illustrates how these efforts contribute to your larger goals. However, be aware of some potential pitfalls. For example, it doesn’t help you prioritize projects. For that, use prioritization methods like the ABC method or Forster’s Commitment Inventory to help you determine which projects and steps to tackle first. Knowing what needs to be done is only half the battle, so familiarize yourself with concepts like the Yerkes-Dodson Law , which identifies when you’ll feel most productive relative to your deadlines, so you can schedule your activities when it makes the most sense.