The other day, I walked into my office and leaned forward to reach for something on the top of the filing cabinet.

... and smashed my head right into the corner of a shelf.

I dropped to the floor with my ears ringing, stars dancing in front of my eyes and curses tumbling loudly from my lips.

That was last week, and you can still see a bright red scrape on my head surrounded by an attractive, dirty yellow bruise.

I tried to work out how I could have done such a stupid thing, and I think it was because the shelves were new and I just wasn't used to them being there.

I moved around the room as I had always done, and I looked straight through them.

Sometimes you're so used to something that you switch to autopilot and literally can’t see what’s right in front of you.

Here's another example of autopilot.

On Monday, I shared a LinkedIn post where a guy was talking about what happened with LinkedIn profile verification and how many organisations your data is shared with (spoiler: it's a lot, and the article was terrifying).

At the end of the article, the writer explained how to reverse the verification and get your data deleted. Yet in the comments, people were asking how to do exactly that.

They weren't asking because they’re thick. But because they didn’t actually read the article. Or if they did, they skimmed it.

One final example, because I see this quite a lot.

A few years ago, I emailed my trainees about a work opportunity, but I was really clear:

This isn’t for you if xyz, so please don’t reply to this email.

But the people I specifically said should not contact me still did.

I think they just saw a job opportunity and a list of instructions, and their brain filled in the rest. They didn't read the instructions properly.

In VA work, “not actually looking” can catch you out in all sorts of ways.

• You assume the client wants the same thing as usual.
• You assume a new client wants the same thing as other clients in their industry.
• You assume the meeting or deadline is at the same time as usual.
• You skim-read an email and miss the line that changes the entire request.
• You copy the wrong person into a sensitive email.

So before you act, do a quick “Am I actually looking” check:

• What are the exact instructions (not what I think they are)?
• Has anything changed since last time (deadline, person, priority)?
• Have I actually read these instructions?
• Am I about to figuratively headbutt a very hard and pointy shelf?

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☕ Espresso Shot

Try this prompt when you feel too close to a problem to think clearly or are worried that you might be missing something:

THE PROMPT

"Act as a direct, practical business mentor. I will paste a business situation. Identify 5 likely blind spots, why each matters, the evidence for each, and the single best next action. Flag your assumptions. Tell me what to stop, keep, and check first. Be specific, not generic. Include any client communication, scope, pricing, boundary, or process blind spots if relevant."

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Then sign up for my monthly Espresso AI newsletter because, in addition to sharing the multitude of ways VAs are currently using AI, I share lots of handy prompts like this one.
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Until next week. Stay safe.