Action Faking – What it is and how to break the habit to get more done

Do you feel like you are constantly busy but rarely seem to make it closer to your end goal? You could be action faking, a typical behaviour characterised by the appearance of taking action without actually doing anything meaningful. This article will explain action faking and provide techniques for breaking the habit. Changing this behaviour will help you spend time more productively, reach objectives sooner, improve your self-esteem and reduce stress.

Action Faking involves doing tasks that are related to your end goal but don’t actually help you make progress. You can limit action faking by acknowledging when you are doing it, planning effectively but not excessively, limiting distractions and scheduling your time with goals in mind.

Action Faking Defined

Action faking is a term used to describe the behaviour of people who make themselves busy but are not making, or even actively avoiding, meaningful progress. It is an insidious habit that is a type of procrastination and leads to poor productivity and stress. It flies under the radar so often because, on the surface, it looks and feels like you are making progress! It feels like you are setting yourself up for success, even though you take very few steps towards the finish line.

Let’s look at a few examples:

Goal	Steps Needed	Action Faking
Get fit	Go for a run, workout	Researching running shoes, buying a new water bottle, getting a gym membership, printing motivational posters
Eat more healthily	Make better choices around food each day	Creating weekly menus and diet plans, researching calorie-counting apps, looking up micronutrient profiles
Clean the house	Clean the house	Making a cleaning playlist, tidying things that are already neat, organising the cleaning chemicals, looking up cleaning tools online
Finish writing a paper	Write paragraphs	Re-reading and editing the paragraphs you already have, checking your library books status, reviewing lecture notes again

You get the idea. The actions you take are related to but not in pursuit of your overall goal. Each one of these additional tasks you do adds to the overall time and effort needed to reach your goal. And as you procrastinate, taking the steps you actually need to becomes more daunting. You may have spent a whole day doing things to prepare for an activity, then run out of time or thrown in the towel when it comes to getting the job done.

Action faking is self-sabotage, and learning to avoid it will reduce stress, improve productivity and leave you feeling more accomplished and satisfied.

Why We Do It

There are many reasons why people employ action faking behaviours.

Due to how brain chemistry works, people are wired to do more of the things they like and avoid the things they don’t. When you participate in something you enjoy, “happy” chemicals like dopamine and serotonin are released, and you experience feelings of pleasure. Completing tasks is something that most people find pleasurable. This is why to-do lists are so effective, the dopamine hit of ticking something off as complete.

If you are facing a goal with many steps, one that is difficult or one that you are not looking forward to, it is natural for the brain to want to find something else to do instead. It is a win for your brain if you can complete a minor task and avoid working on the big goal. You get the brain chemistry boost from task completion without having to do anything you’re avoiding. 

Unfortunately, you have taken a short-term win at the expense of longer-term gain. The larger goal still needs to be faced, and now you have less time to do it. The immediate mood boost from completing the small task is likely to be overridden by negative emotions such as disappointment, stress or anxiety when you realise you are no closer to being finished.

Other possible reasons for action faking include not knowing where to begin on a large task, perfectionism and fear of failing.

How to Avoid Action Faking

To avoid action faking in the future, consider using these techniques when facing an undesirable or difficult goal:

Acknowledge your behaviours

It sounds cliché, but the first step to making meaningful behavioural changes is recognising the behaviour in yourself. Take a minute to think about instances when you have been guilty of action faking. What type of goals and tasks sent you down that path? What activities did you do instead of making genuine progress? Once you have a clearer idea of your behaviour patterns, it will become easier to identify when it is occurring in real-time and therefore stop. You may wish to write this down or keep a journal to get a clearer picture and more easily identify patterns.

Plan effectively, not excessively

While planning can be action faking when done excessively, effective planning can be vital to the success of your project. Outline the steps needed to progress towards your goal, but only so far as to help you know what to do next. Intricate details here are not required. Make sure you are efficient; once your plan is sufficient, implement it!

Limit distractions

Having a phone, YouTube, and even relevant books nearby when trying to work on something specific can entice you to start action faking. Depending on your task, anything can be a distraction, so managing your environment can significantly impact your overall productivity.

For instance, if you are trying to write a blog article (like I am here), the temptation is to watch just one more relevant YouTube video or read another chapter of the book on how to be a better writer. But doing these things will not get this blog written! I use full-screen mode on my browser to avoid seeing the new tab button and move away from or cover my bookcase.

Spending too much time managing your space can also be action faking! So only make the changes you need to limit your distractions, and then begin immediately on the next action step.

Schedule your time

Having a plan with distinct time blocks and individual tasks for those times can be a fantastic way to avoid working on related but unhelpful jobs during the day. 

At the beginning of the day, write a list of the steps you must take that day to progress towards your goal. Here is the time to reflect and be honest about whether an action is helpful or action faking. By getting this thinking done early in the day, you reduce the likelihood that you will wander off the path of progress later on.

So that you don’t spend too long on this, set a time limit for making your plan and implement it immediately after.

If you need a structured way to plan your day, check out our free Daily Planner printables or our Pomodoro Planner.

Conclusion

Action faking is a widespread type of procrastination. The good news is that you can break the habit and get more done if you are willing to put in the effort.

Understanding what action faking is and how it affects your productivity can help you recognise when you’re doing it yourself and make changes accordingly. Of course, this takes time and dedication, but with a bit of practice and patience, anyone can learn how to break the action faking habit and become more productive and less stressed.