#88 The Comfort of the Checklist: Practicing Productive Avoidance
- Francois Esterhuizen
- Oct 27
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 28
The satisfaction of a completed to-do list is immediate and tangible.
Each ticked box provides a small, comforting sense of accomplishment.
But what if this feeling of productivity is not a measure of progress, but a sophisticated form of hiding?
This pattern of productive avoidance is one of the main reasons why so many driven individuals feel busy but stagnant. It is not a failure of effort, but a strategic, often unconscious, choice to engage in a smaller, safer game.
The retreat to "good" work
Our days are filled with opportunities to do "good" work. These are the tasks that are valuable, often urgent, and generate immediate, positive feedback. Clearing your inbox, solving a colleague's problem, or handling an operational fire are all necessary activities.
They are also comfortable.
"Good" work is predictable.
It operates within your current skill set and poses no existential threat to your identity. It allows you to feel competent and needed without demanding that you confront the ambiguity and discomfort of your most significant challenges.
It is a well-maintained hiding place from the work that truly matters.
The resistance to "important" work
"Important" work is different. It is the work that, if consistently pursued, would create radical and permanent change.
Important work is rarely urgent and its feedback loop is long.
This is the project that requires you to learn a new skill, the conversation that risks emotional exposure, the system-building that demands deep, focused thought.
We resist this work not because we are lazy, but because it holds us accountable to our own potential. It is emotionally taxing. It forces us to face our incompetence, our fears, and the possibility of failure.
Faced with this discomfort, the allure of the "good," easy, and predictable task becomes almost irresistible. We retreat to the familiar satisfaction of the checklist.
Where to from here?
Breaking this cycle demands an honest assessment of what you are emotionally avoiding.
Look at your most significant long-term goal. Identify the one single project or activity that would create the most momentum towards it. That is your important work.
Now, consider the daily activities you prioritise instead.
Do not ask what you can eliminate or delegate.
Ask a more confronting question: What uncomfortable emotions — inadequacy, uncertainty, fear — am I avoiding by keeping myself busy with other things?
Acknowledging the answer is the first step toward choosing the work that matters over the work that merely keeps you occupied.
