Spuddling

I was browsing a friend’s Facebook posts and came across “Word of the Day is ‘spuddle’ (17^th century): to work ineffectively, to be extremely busy whilst achieving absolutely nothing.” ‘Spuddle’ seems the perfect word for this phenomenon.

I’ve been finding myself ‘spuddling’ a lot lately. I start the day with a “to do” list, and before I know it, the day’s over. Nothing on the list for that day is really complete. It isn’t because I’m not doing anything. I’m just not doing anything effectively.

It caused me to pause and assess what had changed in my daily habits. What I’ve noticed is that I have not been setting priorities. And, by not setting priorities, everything has had equal importance. This sets up a perfect ‘spuddle’ situation. 

I realized that I needed to shift my mindset and consider what was important and include all aspects of my life – work, home, health, etc. By setting my intention to focus on what was really important to me, I found that I could achieve the top priorities in each. 

There will still be some days where ‘spuddling’ will still be the Word of the Day for me. The great thing is, now that I’ve named it, I can be aware that it’s happening and take action to get back on track. 

This Week’s Challenge: Where are you finding yourself ‘spuddling’ these days? Take some time and assess where you are making progress on tasks or goals, and where you are not. Are you dealing first with the things you deem most important? If not, consider what changes you need to make in your mindset and routines. The only way it will change is if you take action.