When you’re stuck, emotions often take over your otherwise rational approach to problem-solving. You may think that a particular task or initiative may be the obstacle, when in reality an underlying emotional hindrance is the real culprit.
Your ability to reframe the emotional issue will help you break through to a solution. The key is identifying the what is really getting in the way. Here are a few of the more common emotional obstacles:
+ You just don’t want to do a task and are pouting because you have to do it. Chances are if you stop pouting and just do the task, the problem will take care of itself. The build up of anticipation is nearly always worse than the underlying task.
+ The task is difficult and you’re too stubborn to ask for help. Asking for help isn’t a weakness; in fact, not asking is the weakness. Remember that people are usually more than willing to lend a hand.
+ You’re overwhelmed by your workload and revert to your comfort zone, typically something that someone else should be doing. This is a big one. Instead of focusing on important items that will move you forward, you work on things that could easily be delegated.
The key to this is to realize that your resistance to a task itself isn’t usually the problem. Rather it’s the “why” behind the task. When you are more mindful of the underlying issue, more than likely you will easily resolve the problem.
Your understanding of this for yourself will obviously help your productivity. It will also help you when you observe your team members getting stuck.
