I spend a lot of time outdoors; sometimes with my camera, sometimes without it. Mostly, I find myself watching.
The more time I spend paying attention, the more I’m struck by how connected everything seems to what it’s there to do:
- A bee gathers pollen.
- A pelican searches for fish.
- A seal cares for its young.
There is preparation, patience, effort, and repetition, but somehow, it all seems connected to something larger. Everything serves something.
The Things That Make the Work Possible
We create businesses, projects, communities, families, art, and ideas. Along the way, we create everything needed to support them:
- Calendars
- Meetings
- Emails
- Systems
- Processes
- Plans and preparation
It’s easy to look at these things as distractions from the “real work,” but I don’t think that’s quite right. Preparation matters.
If I show up to photograph wildlife without preparing my equipment, I may miss the moment entirely. When I was acting, learning lines wasn’t separate from the performance; it was what allowed the performance to happen with intention. The work surrounding the work often makes the work possible.
The distinction I’ve become interested in is something else.
When the Relationship Changes
Sometimes, almost without realizing it, we begin serving the preparation instead of what the preparation was meant to serve:
- The website becomes something we’re endlessly refining rather than a way to reach people.
- The system becomes something we maintain rather than something that makes the work easier.
- The meeting becomes a recurring obligation rather than a place to make meaningful decisions.
- The plan becomes something we’re reluctant to change rather than something that helps us move forward.
I’ve seen this in businesses and organizations, and I’ve seen it in myself. I can easily become absorbed in building a website, planning another video, organizing a process, or refining a message. All of those things can be worthwhile, but occasionally I have to stop and ask:
What is all of this actually in service of?
The Work Beneath the Work
There’s a fundamental difference between the core work and everything surrounding it:
- The meeting exists to help people make decisions.
- Marketing exists to reach people.
- A system exists to support something we are trying to accomplish.
- Preparation exists to make the work possible.
And yet, over time, that relationship can become difficult to see. Nothing dramatic has to happen; we simply become occupied.
Especially when we’re carrying much of the work ourselves, there is always something else that can be organized, improved, answered, researched, scheduled, or refined. Being busy can feel remarkably similar to moving forward until it doesn’t.
Remembering What Everything Serves
I’ve started thinking less about whether an activity is productive and more about what it’s serving. That’s a different question. It doesn’t automatically categorize planning as procrastination or preparation as busy work; it asks us to remember the relationship:
- What is this meeting serving?
- What is this system serving?
- What is this preparation serving?
- What is this decision serving?
And beneath all of those questions is a larger one: What is the work beneath the work?
More often than not, the answer doesn’t ask me to do more. It reminds me what matters.
Everything serves something.
Watch the full conversation below.
