When it comes to your productivity at work, you should consider the important changes you are delaying. These are things that will improve you and your business but also involve a little bit of pain or uncertainty.
That’s where many get caught in indecision and end up not making any changes. There is a price for not making changes, when it comes to your productivity. The time lost starts to add up like compound interest.
Recently, I found myself falling into this trap. Over the past year, I’ve noticed that my reading vision is starting to deteriorate. Some days it’s fine but other days simply reading a business card presents challenges.
The change is a concern as I read a lot and spend a lot of time on a computer. And while I can make font sizes larger on the computer, it’s not a perfect solution.
I spent a lot of time thinking and worrying about this problem, leading up to my annual eye exam. I already wear contact lenses for vision and that prescription is perfect. I didn’t want anything to affect that correction and the idea of bifocal contacts made me nervous.
I also found myself stuck when thinking about having a new pair of glasses to keep track of and how it can be hard for me to pick the right frames, something where I’m surprisingly indecisive.
All these little things became a feedback loop that kept me from addressing my problem. During this time my vision didn’t get any better and may have gotten worse. And I have a sneaking suspicion that I was trying little tricks to avoid reading fine print.
While the delay was a matter of months, than years, every day kept me from being able to work at my full capacity because I wasn’t addressing a vision change.
As I write this post, I’m now wearing a new pair of reading glasses. I learned a few lessons that may help you at work when you’re faced with a change that makes you nervous.
Trust the Professional
I spent a lot of time and energy agonizing over potential problems that my eye doctor was able to address in a matter of minutes.
Bifocal contacts were immediately rejected by her for reasons that made sense to me. The reading glasses she proposed would easily address my challenge as well as help with other problems, like the glare from a computer monitor.
Accept Help
Other employees were able to hear my needs and give me several choices of frames that were at a desirable price point. Buying my new pair was easy and painless.
What You’ll Say
After you make the change, you’ll likely say, “Why didn’t I do this earlier?” because the decision to move forward leads to such an obvious improvement.
The uncertainty I felt about the change and the pain I expected turned out to not be that bad. The biggest adjustment is having to remember to carry my reading glasses with me. My guess is that after a few weeks, this will become a habit.
The End Result
Being able to see better improves my productivity. I can read easily and I won’t have to deal with the consequences of eye strain.
I realize that when facing a change or something new, it’s best to focus on the benefits of that change, rather than any potential discomfort that might come from adjusting to it.
Maybe it’s time to bring Ken Okel to your next meeting…
Read any good books lately?
