zen habits

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2007-03-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

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Golden Goals series: Kyle Pott of Lifehack.org on losing weight, waking early and GTD

2007-03-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

This is the third article in the Golden Goals series of interviews with notable bloggers about their goals, habits and productivity systems.

Kyle Pott of Lifehack.org is one of my favorite writers on one of my favorite productivity blogs. I'm happy to have him in this series, and his responses are insightful and inspiring.

Kyle is a computer programmer and a productivity, industrial and graphic design enthusiast. He lives in Chicago, Illinois and he is the Associate Editor of Lifehack.org. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, jogging, and spending time with his friends and family. He is grateful to have the opportunity to work with Zen Habits and be included amongst the kings and queens of goal-setting and productivity.

1) What would you consider your greatest achievement in the last few years?

My greatest achievement over the past few years was losing 50 pounds and keeping the weight off for an entire year. Although this is rather insignificant when it comes to career, family, etc., the benefits have transcended nearly every aspect of my life. I have been struggling with weight issues since high school and I finally felt like I "conquered my demon" when I lost the weight. Not being overweight allowed me to focus on other, more important aspects of my life.

2) What was the key to achieving that success for you? Was there one thing, or were there a number of factors?

I wrote about many of the factors on my post at Lifehack.org, but the key to achieving my success was planning my meals, planning time to exercise everyday and having the support of my girlfriend as I went through the process of losing weight.

3) What are the essential habits that you've formed to help you achieve your goals?

The most important habit that I've developed to help achieve my goals is waking up at 5 a.m. I love starting my day before the rest of the world. I use the early morning to prepare my goals, relax, and get mentally prepared to start the day. Ironically, I also find the early morning a great time to get chores done. I've also made major changes to my diet that have given me more energy. Planning is also extremely important. At the beginning of each week I budget out my time and decide when I am going to accomplish specific tasks. After creating this schedule I adhere to it as strictly as I possibly can.

4) How often do you think about your goals, review them, and take action on them?

I review my goals three times per day for daily tasks and monthly for larger things. When I first wake up I set my goals for what I want to accomplish by lunch. At lunch I reassess and set my goals for the tasks I want to accomplish by the end of the day. During my commute at the end of the day I reflect on what I accomplished (or didn't accomplish) and start thinking about what I want to accomplish the following day.

5) Describe how you overcome failure, how you pick yourself back up if you are struggling, and how you motivate yourself if your enthusiasm is lagging.

I try to manage my emotions closely and avoid getting to this point. In an ideal world (this does not happen everyday) I have all my work done by six o'clock and I only leave the computer on to check email. On Sundays I don't do any work, and I only turn the computer on to check movie times or read the news. This condenses my work week and saves Sunday to get refreshed and mentally prepared for the following week. This might be too much information, but at the end of particularly stressful and/or frustrating days I take a shower with the lights off to help relax and de-stress.

6) Could you describe your productivity system and any productivity tips you have for people?

I use a mismatched productivity system. I carry a quasi-moleskine that I use strictly for writing down ideas I get throughout the day. I also use my quasi-moleskine to write down appointments until I can get them onto my calendar. I strictly adhere to the principles of GTD when it comes to managing my email and next actions. When I need to do some serious concentrating I follow the 48 on and 12 off system described here: The Power of 48 Minutes.

I only use Google docs and spreadsheets at home-- I have no office software installed on my computer. Like I previously mentioned, I am up at 5 a.m. Monday through Friday without fail.

See also: all interviews in the Golden Goals series

Golden Goals series: David Seah on clarity, creativity and productivity

2007-03-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is the second article in the Golden Goals series of interviews with notable bloggers about their goals, habits and productivity systems.

I'm excited about the next blogger in this Golden Goals series because 1) he writes thoughtfully and insightfully on productivity and achieving goals and 2) I use one of his excellent productivity tools every day (the Emergent Task Planner). David Seah of DavidSeah.com is a freelance designer who writes about things that empower and inspire people, covering topics such as design, development, becoming productive, and the business of being a freelancer. He's best known in the online productivity world for his Printable CEO series.

1) What would you consider your greatest achievement in the last few years? Feel free to add other achievements or goals if you'd like.

Personally, it's been finding that I could overcome my own inertia, fear, and perfectionism to create a web presence that is a pretty authentic representation of myself. From that, good things have followed.

2) What was the key to achieving that success for you? Was there one thing, or were there a number of factors?

One of the greatest boosts was getting into the 9rules Network, which was huge to me because of what they represent: quality content. It was the first time in a long time that I'd been recognized for something I'd done that was of immense value to me, not someone else's bottom line.

I feel I'm on a path now toward success, but I'm not sure exactly what it's going to be. A commitment to following where this path leads, I think, is a key factor at work here.

3) What are the essential habits that you've formed to help you achieve your goals?

I automatically try to get to the essence of my goals so I can establish clarity in my direction before taking action. At times, this may actually mean taking action before I fully understand what I'm doing. Maintaining this dynamic balance between thoughtful planning and immediate action, I think, is helping me keep a stable perspective of what it is I'm doing.

I write a lot every day, because it clarifies my thinking and my reasoning, distilling a course of action into a few focused sentences. This creates continuity in my day, and a historical record for the next day.

4) How often do you think about your goals, review them, and take action on them?

I think about them often, though I could be more disciplined in reviewing them. The trouble is probably more like sticking to just a few goals at a time; this is something I'm working on. I'm also particularly bad at doing maintenance-type chores, unless it has something to do with keeping my computer running, so this is an area that I could certainly improve.

5) Describe how you overcome failure, how you pick yourself back up if you are struggling, and how you motivate yourself if your enthusiasm is lagging.

I've recently identified that I have two creative processes, one impulsive, the other methodical. The former energizes me, the latter drains me. When it comes to engineering-type goals, however, the equation is reversed: I find methodical development energizing, and impulsive implementation to be a source of frustration. By keeping aware of what mode I'm in, I can identify the frustration and shift into a different mindset.

I also like to figure ways around obstacles, so it's pretty rare that I feel absolutely stymied. I will lose enthusiasm, though, if I'm not working directly with someone invested in the work I'm doing. I am energized by positive-minded, conscientious, kind, self-empowered people; I find that being in a community of people like this helps inoculate myself from that horrible feeling of failure.

It's not always easy, but what keeps me going is a belief that I can do anything I set my mind to. I'm not saying that I'll do it WELL or even correctly, but there's very little stopping me from making a move in a direction I want to explore except my own attitudes. This applies to
everyone. I consider it a great victory when anyone tries to do something at all ... bravo! Even if it doesn't come out in the right way, there is always something to learn.

6) Could you describe your productivity system and any productivity tips you have for people?

I don't really have a productivity system; it's more that I have pieces of systems that I apply when the need is there. The various forms I've created target a specific kind of behavior that I have sought to optimize for improved focus, but they are not strung together into a system. I see the seeds of this in my current development, but it's not in place now. I would probably say that my fundamental tip is to strive for concreteness and clarity in all activities, to make sure that you see tangible benefit as the only acceptable result from a given action. What a good productivity system does is provide a good accounting methodology so you can measure
your progress, and provide the methodological scaffolding for whatever creative processes you are engaged in.

I have, however, created a number of useful forms that could be integrated as a component of one's personal productivity system. I think the most generally useful form I've made from a productivity perspective has been the Concrete Goals Tracker, because it does a good job of really focusing you on benefit-bringing activity ... if you've taken the time to really pick
good goals. This form is particularly good if you're defining yourself or your business. I like how it brings focus without overloading you with accounting.

The next most useful forms are probably the Task Progress Tracker [original and Destruct-o-matic versions], the Emergent Task Timer, and the Emergent Task Planner. The TPT is a top-down project tool to help you define and track what specific things need doing. The ETT, on the other hand, allows you to see what you've ended up doing without stricter planning. Each form applies to a certain situation or kind of work personality, I think. The ETP, finally, is more of a daily planning worksheet for more general use.

The concepts introduced by these tools and others, combined with the other various insights I've had, probably do form the basis of a "system" of productivity, and I look forward to putting this together over the next year.

Golden Goals series: Secrets to the success of J.D. Roth (of Get Rich Slowly)

2007-03-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is the first article in the Golden Goals series of interviews with notable bloggers about their goals, habits and productivity systems.

The first in the Golden Goals lineup is J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly, which is probably the most successful personal finance blog around. But it's not just his success that brought me to invite J.D. to be a part of this series. He's most definitely a notable blogger, but I've admired J.D. ever since I discovered his blog for his common sense approach, his sincere writing style, and his philosophy that building wealth is not something that should happen overnight. He's the opposite of the Get Rich Quick marketers -- he builds wealth like he's built his blog -- one gold brick at a time.

1) What would you consider your greatest achievement in the last few years? Feel free to add other achievements or goals if you'd like.

My greatest achievement has been finding a purpose. For years I plodded through life with no real objective. I was going through the motions. I hated my job. I felt like I had failed, had left the promise of my youth unfulfilled.

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. But like most early goals, I was more attracted to the idea than to the actual practice. I didn't actually know what it meant to be a writer. For a decade after I graduated from college, I didn't write anything. In the late 90s I began to keep a web journal. In 2001, this became a blog. With time this blog became an outlet for my writing urge.

Last year I realized that blogging could be a legitimate use of my writing skills. It also became apparent that I might be able to make money at it. So here I am today, writing for money. It's not at all like what I expected it would be, but in a way it's better. I write every day. I do research. I'm helping people. I have a purpose.

2) What was the key to achieving that success for you? Was there one thing, or were there a number of factors?

I think there were several factors that allowed me to achieve success.

For one, I've always maintained a ready mind. I am curious about things. I'm open to new experiences. This has allowed me to see opportunities that I might otherwise have missed.

Second, when I understood what it was I intended to do, I applied myself with diligence. Previously I'd always been something of a slacker. But when I had a goal, a purpose, I threw myself at it with passion. I worked hard.

Finally, I've tried to approach my goals with a balance of personal vision and the wisdom of others. I read and listen to what others have to say about the subject, but I temper their viewpoints with my own opinions. There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that this is the way to run a web site or this is the way personal finance should be approached. I don't believe there is one right way. I take bits of advice from others and put them to work for me, but I forge my own path when I feel it is warranted.

3) What are the essential habits that you've formed to help you achieve your goals?

Hard work! Seriously.

I recently purchased an old book (from the 1920s, I think) entitled "Touchstones of Success". It features interviews with successful men of the day. Nearly all of them cite the same two factors: their mothers and hard work. My mother had little to do with my current success. But hard work has had everything to do with it.

I write nearly every day, often for several hours. I read constantly. I'm always absorbing information from books, magazines, and web sites. Sometimes it's overwhelming. I recognize that by devoting myself so wholly to my goals now that I am sacrificing other momentary pleasures. I tell myself that I enjoyed these pleasures over the past ten years, back when I had no purpose. Sure I had fun in the moment, but I felt unfulfilled. I feel fulfilled now. And maybe after a few years of hard work I can relax, and reap the rewards over the rest of my life.

4) How often do you think about your goals, review them, and take action on them?

Not often enough. Perhaps once every three to six months.

What usually happens is this: some crisis will cause me to re-evaluate my current situation and where I'm headed. I'll spend a day or two thinking about my goals. I'll set them down on paper (or a text file, actually). This process is pretty intense, and I'm very focused on it. But once I've set my goals down, I rarely refer to them again unless I stumble upon them in doing some sort of clean up. I feel like this is one area of my life that could be improved.

5) Describe how you overcome failure, how you pick yourself back up if you are struggling, and how you motivate yourself if your enthusiasm is lagging.

I used to let failure get me down, but more and more I'm learning to roll with it, to learn from my mistakes. For example, I recently was asked to give a radio interview about the country's negative savings rate. I agreed to do so. But when the station phoned me and I went on the air, I froze. I had stage fright. I couldn't remember even the most basic facts. I talked and talked and talked, but I didn't say anything. It was an embarrassment. I could have let this get me down -- I did feel a little bummed -- but instead I decided to view it as a learning experience. I e-mailed the show's host, and she offered some tips for how to improve next time. (I'm also planning to take a Dale Carnegie public speaking course once I have enough web income saved.)

When my enthusiasm is lagging, I take time off to recharge. I get up and turn off the computer. It's easy for me to get wrapped up in my work, to become so focused that I neglect other aspects of my life, particularly physical fitness. When this happens, it can be like I'm beating my head against a wall. I'm working extra hard, but getting little done. At times like this, I've learned to stop, to take a break, to ignore all of the things that I "have to do". For example, a few weeks ago I had several important pieces I needed to get written. Things just weren't coming together. I'd written for hours, but felt like it was all rubbish. It came time to attend a friend's birthday party, but I told my wife I couldn't. I had to stay home and write. She persuaded me to go, and I'm glad I did. We spent three hours roller skating. It was exhilarating. I'm serious. Those three
hours roller skating did more to improve the quality of my writing for the next week than anything else I might have done.

6) Could you describe your productivity system and any productivity tips you have for people?

The key to my system is: JUST DO IT.

I have a bad habit of putting things off. I've learned that if I want to get things done, I just need to do them. For example, I've adopted an e-mail system that is based on a hybrid of those suggested by Merlin Mann and Gina Trapani. When e-mail comes in, I try to act upon it immediately. (In practice, my e-mail box actually has about 100 messages in it, waiting to be processed.) I find that by taking care of e-mail now, people respect my responsiveness.

Another key is to prioritize things. I am actually attempting to actively maintain six separate blogs. I love each of them, but I have to make certain sites higher priorities than others. It used to be that my personal site was my top priority. Now Get Rich Slowly has taken that position. It's more important for me to generate new content for GRS than it is for me to, say, post an entry at my animal intelligence site.

As for the mechanics of my system: they're pretty rudimentary. I'm actually looking for a better way to work. Currently I use BBEdit on a Mac. A wide screen is essential to my work, so I bought a 17" laptop. I keep a browser window on the left side of the screen and a BBEdit window on the right side. Whenever I find something that's worthy of writing about, I create a new document. I have hundreds of documents on my hard drive, most of which are half-completed
articles about personal finance, animal intelligence, or vintage popular culture. I keep a couple of important text files as constant reference:

Schedule file - This lists the next week's worth of planned entries at Get Rich Slowly. It also lists when I most recently updated each of my other sites, along with any upcoming scheduled entries for them.
Idea file - As I mentioned, most of the time if something seems like a good article topic, I start a new text file. But I also have a separate text file that I use simply as a dumping place for ideas that occur to me.

BONUS INFO UNRELATED TO THESE QUESTIONS:

I've found that I profit greatly from reading, watching, and hearing other success stories. I know this probably seems trite, but I don't care. It works. Reading sites like 43 Folders and Lifehacker and Mutual Improvement keep me focused on the positive. (I'm hoping that Get Rich Slowly helps people do that with their money goals.) I have an iPod. I have a subscription at audible.com. Every month I get two books. One of these is usually fiction of some sort, but the other is some sort of self-improvement book. I'm careful to seek out highly-regarded books -- there are few things worse than a bad self-help book -- and then I listen to these on my commute. They are amazing.

If anyone's curious about possible books to read from this genre, I recommend Tom Butler-Bowdon's "50 Success Classics", which provides brief summaries of fifty such titles. This book itself is highly motivational. And one can build a great success library from its recommendations. (Complete list here: 50 Success Classics)

This week: Golden Goals series of interviews with notable bloggers

2007-03-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

This week Zen Habits will have a treat for its readers: the Golden Goals series of interviews with notable bloggers about how they achieve their goals, their most important habits, their productivity systems and more.

The Golden Goals series will start by featuring the following four bloggers:

J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly, perhaps the most successful personal finance site out there.
David Seah of DavidSeah.com, who blogs about productivity, design and life. He also created the Printable CEO series -- including the excellent Emergent Task Planner that I use every day to plan my day.
Kyle Pott of Lifehack.org, one of the best sites out there about productivity and goals. Kyle is an excellent writer who most notably lost a lot of weight on an exercise program that I admire.
Gina Trapani, chief editor of Lifehacker. Trapani is one of the great productivity gurus on the web, and has recently published the terrific book, Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day.

More bloggers will be featured in the Golden Goals series in the future, but this is this week's lineup. Personally, I love reading about how others achieve their goals, about their habits, and their productivity systems, and I hope this will help give insight into some of the best bloggers around, as well as inspire us to achieve greater heights.

The first of the series will start tomorrow!

Zen Habits March Challenge, Step 3: Evaluate your progress

2007-03-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

Every Monday is Weekly Review on Zen Habits.

Five days ago, I challenged my readers to join me in setting and achieving a single goal in the Zen Habits March Challenge. Step 1 of this Challenge was to create a plan, and Step 2 was to report your progress.

OK, we're a week into the March Challenge, and this is a good time to step back and look at how we're doing. If you're not doing the March Challenge, these steps are still a good way to see, hands on, how to go about setting and achieving goals.

Reflect on your week
If you've been tracking your progress some way, either through commenting on Zen Habits, a journal, a chart, a log, or an online service, you've got a great way to look back on the last week. If not, you can still reflect on what you've done throughout the week and think about whether you're doing as well as you planned.

How are you doing? Have you met your goals for the week? If so, celebrate! If not, now is a good time to take some steps to put you back on track.

Re-evaluate your goals, and your obstacles
If you're not doing as well as you'd hoped, there are several steps you can take:

Adjust your goals. This is my recommended solution. It may be that you bit off too much, too soon. When starting a goal program, I highly recommend you start small. Take baby steps. Go for something you know you can achieve. That way, you'll definitely make it, and feel great, and then you can move on to higher elevations. It may seem cheap to shoot for something too easy. Take my word for it -- sticking with something for more than a week feels great, even if it seems easy.
Evaluate your obstacles, and make a plan. Why didn't you reach your goals for the week? What stood in your way? It's dangerous to ignore this reason. Did you not feel motivated? Not have enough time? Did something pop up at the last moment that made you reschedule? Whatever the reason, it's best to plan for what you'll do if that reason repeats.
Re-focus. Perhaps you just lost focus. You need to re-commit yourself, tell the whole world about it, and find a way to maintain that focus daily. Put up a poster, or print your goal out in large letters. Put up your goal plan for everyone to see. Maintaining your focus is the No. 1 thing you can do to stay with your goals over time.
Step up the motivation. Perhaps you didn't feel too motivated. Go back to the Top 20 Motivation Hacks, and see if there are others you can use. The more motivation tricks you use in concert with each other, the better.

You can do this! Whatever you do, stay positive and stay focused. Do not let a little slip in your progress get you down. Creating new habits is a skill, and it takes practice. You won't get it on the first try. If you have any doubts, any thoughts in your head that say you can't do it, SQUASH THEM NOW! And replace them with positive thoughts. That's the best thing you can do to get back on track.

Best All-Time Children's Books

2007-03-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Reading to your kids is one of the all-time best things you can do with them, and for them. I love reading to my kids, and they love reading with me. It is some of the best quality time ever, and sharing a good book with a child is just a wonderful feeling.

I've compiled a list of my all-time favorite children's books -- a list that can start any child's library. It's a starting point, to be sure -- I'm sure you can think of many more to be included. But these are books I truly love (and my kids do too) and I think most kids and parents will love them. These are mostly time-tested classics, so there might not be too many surprises here, but sometimes it's useful to be reminded of books we've forgotten about.

For Younger Readers
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Harold Crockett. One of my most, most favorite books for younger kids. Great imagination, great character. I still wish I could be Harold.

Go, Dog. Go!, by P.D. Eastman. Often the book that has taught my kids to read. Warning: they might ask you to read this an infinite amount of times. But that's a good thing for them.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. The thing I love about this book is its rhythm. It's so fun to read. Also teaches about the alphabet.
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. I can never get enough of this book. It is truly awesome. Great drawings, great imagination. If I had to choose just 10 books on this list, this would be one of them.
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. Kids just love this book. Perfect for toddlers.
Corduroy, by Don Freeman. One of my favorite books as a little kid. This lovable teddy bear will always have a special place in my heart.
Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam Mcbratney. I love you all the way to the moon and back! Fun to read this with your kids, and then later compete to see how much you love each other.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff. This was a favorite for my kids. I love the drawings.
The Complete Adventures of Curious George, by H.A. Rey. He's now an international icon, but Curious George has always been one of the most lovable characters in literature.
In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak. This is Sendak at his best. He has such a wonderful drawing style, and can tell stories with the best of them.
Horton Hatches the Egg, by Dr. Seuss. Speaking of the best of them, Dr. Seuss is it. He's a legend, of course, and everything he wrote is amazing, so it's really impossible to choose, but I love this Horton book, as well as the next two by Seuss. This book is characteristic of Seuss's early days.
There's a Wocket in My Pocket!, by Dr. Seuss. A great tongue-twister book, this is the epitome of much of his silly, fun stuff.
The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. His most socially conscious book. Although many of his books have a message, this is the most overt. It talks about the dangers of industrialism and environmental damange, in such an easily understood manner that any kid could get it.
The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. If Seuss is the best, Silverstein is right behind him. If I had to list just 10 books here, this book would be one of them. Such a sweet, sad, true book, with great drawings of course.
The Five Chinese Brothers, by Claire Hutchett Bishop. I read this as a little kid, and forgot about it until rediscovering it with my kids in recent years. It's a classic, and will be loved by any kid.
Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. Classic Silverstein, this book and the next are full of incredible poems and drawings that will delight any reader, young or old.
A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein. More from perhaps the greatest children's poet of all time.
The Missing Piece, by by Shel Silverstein. OK, I should stop with the Silverstein, but I really cannot get enough of him. There's actually a series of books along the lines of the Missing Piece, all of them with interesting life lessons, and wittily drawn. Read them all.
The Story of Babar, by Jean De Brunhoff. Another classic, this was a staple of my childhood, and just as good today as 30 years ago.

For Middle Readers

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. I don't know how he does it, but Dahl has a way of telling stories that is just magical. He creates such real and deep characters, little kids who you cannot help but love and empathize with. This and the next two books are among his greatest, but one should not rule out BFG, his poetry or any of his other stories.
Matilda, by Roald Dahl. Perhaps my favorite Dahl book. While reading this book, you want to have Matilda as a friend, and during the time you are with her, she is your friend.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. A classic, of course, and yet another poor kid who inevitably enters your heart.
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Originally published in French, this classic is so unique, I cannot really describe it. If you haven't read it to your child, please do.
Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White. Warning: this book will make you and your child cry. But it is worth the sadness for the wonderfulness you will discover.
The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. What a fun and adventurous book. Every kid will love this.
Stuart Little, by E.B. White. This is an admirable little character that will delight all children.
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh. Written in the hard-boiled detective style, this is just a lot of fun.
Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All (Encyclopedia Brown), by Donald J. Sobol. This is actually a series of books about Leroy Brown, a brilliant kid who solves neighborhood crimes. I could not get enough of this as a kid, and my son loves it too.
Magic Tree House Series, by Mary Pope Osborne. A very long series (over 30 last time I counted) of fun, adventurous and educational books. It covers stuff kids love, like dinosaurs and ninjas and knights and wizards, and makes history come alive. My son is in love with this series.
Junie B. Jones series, by Barbara Park. Another great series, this one appeals more to girls who are beginning to read.
The Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary. Yet another series, this one appeals to both boys and girls. I loved it as a kid.
How to Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockwell. Now on the big screen, this book has portrayed elementary school life accurately for several generations of kids.
Freckle Juice, by Judy Blume. This author, Judy Blume, has such an insight into the young mind that any child, young or old, will identify with her characters. This book, and the next, are just two samples from her lovely collection -- any Judy Blume book will be excellent.
Superfudge, by Judy Blume. Your kid will crack up at this book, and have a lot of fun with the characters.
The Great Brain, by John D. Fitzgerald. One of my all-time favorite series as a kid. I recommended it to my son, who loves to read but thought this would be boring. He fell in love with it. Told you so!
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E. L Konigsburg. A timeless novel, the characters in this book come alive for a great adventure.
The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain), by Lloyd Alexander. This is actually a series of books, all of which are so perfect you don't want them to end. This tale about a pig-keeper's assistant has been entertaining young readers for generations, and is a must-read.
Westmark Trilogy, by Lloyd Alexander. Another series by a true master, this is for slightly older kids than the last series, but just as amazing.

For Older Readers

The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set, by C.S. Lewis. What can I say about this series that not everyone knows? Nothing really, except that every new generation falls in love with it as if it were the first time. And for them, it is. Be sure your child is among them.
Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1), by Christopher Paolini. One of the more recent books on the list, this was an instant classic. Though it's about dragons, it will appeal to both boys and girls.
Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-6), by J.K. Rowling. This series has been super-hyped in the media ... and in my opinion, it lives up to the hype. I got into the series a little late, but read every book to my daughter and am now going through it for a second time with my son. These are the type of books that will hook children on reading.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein. How I love this book, and always have. I loved it before I was able to get into the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and though the trilogy surpasses the original Hobbit, this little book has a special place in my heart. It will in your child's heart as well.
Watership Down, by Richard Adams. This book so enchanted me when I first read it, in middle school, that I read it several times during my teen-age years after that, and even once or twice in adulthood. It leads you through such an adventure, such an emotional journey, and from the perspective of a few rabbits!
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. This is required reading for most middle school students, and rightfully so. As a teen-ager, reading about an island controlled by kids was just too cool.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This is a gripping story with great characters. You can't go wrong with this one.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This book hits the teen-ager reader with a pop! between the eyes. A main character that swears! And we're encouraged to read it. Salinger creates a character that is true, and timeless, and captures the experience and sensibilities of youth extremely well. I will always love him for this book.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Trilogy, by Ann Brashares. I haven't actually read this book, but my daughter did, and loved it. It got her reading again, after a brief hiatus, and for that, I have to recommend the book. Plus I liked the movie.
The Giver, by Lois Lowry. A kind of chilling book, but engaging nonetheless.
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson. Classic story being rediscovered by a new generation because of the recent movie, this story about two fifth graders who create a secret kingdom in the woods called Terabithia will stir your heart.
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle. This warm, loving book has been cherished by so many. Follow the Murry family in its adventures in all the books of this series.
Inkheart, by Cornelia Caroline Funke. This writer has such a great imagination, and this ode to books and book lovers will be highly enjoyed by your child. Also read the Thief Lord.

What are your favorite children's books? Let us know in the comments.

See also:

How to Get Back on the Exercise Train

2007-03-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

Every Saturday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

It's a story most of us have lived through at some time or other: we begin an exercise program, and it's going well, but after a week or two or a month or two or even a year or two, we fall off the program. Then we might get a little down about that, and because of the initial friction of entering any program, it's hard to get back into it.

I recently fell off my triathlon training for a couple weeks due to illness and a death in the family, and I found it hard to get back into it. I reset my resolve (just press the reset button!) and re-focused myself, leaving off all other goals but my training for the month of March (see the Zen Habits March Challenge if you haven't yet).

So, for those of you who've fallen off your exercise program, and want to get back in, here are my tips:

Re-focus and commit yourself again. Often we think that, because we already were on a program, we can just pick it back up, no problem. But in reality, we need to condition ourselves for a new habit (although it should be easier this time since we've done it before), so we need to start (almost) at the beginning. That mean starting with making a commitment. Write down your goal and tell people about it, put it on your blog, post it up at your home and workplace. If you can't take this step, it's likely that you will falter.
Focus on just this one goal. If you've got other stuff going on, it's hard to add a new habit while working on others. It's hard, but it's best to be patient and work on one goal at a time if possible. Too many goals at once spread your focus too thin. The key is to focus yourself as much as possible on that one goal, and maintain that focus for as long as possible.
Do it for one month. You don't need to start at the beginning of a month -- you can start today. But do it for 30 days. Commit to that, and once you're past that, it will get much easier.
Do it at the same time every day. If you tell yourself that you will exercise when you find time, there will be many days when you don't find the time. Set a time of day when you can exercise every day -- in the morning, lunchtime, after work are the three best times. Do it at that time every day, and it will become a stronger habit.
Start small. We have a tendency to do too much at first, especially if we're used to a certain level from our old exercise program. But in the beginning, it's best to hold back, and just do a little, and then progress slowly back to your old level. If you're used to running 5 miles, run 3. If you're used to swimming for an hour, do half an hour. If you're used to lifting 12 reps of 200 lbs., do 8 reps of 160 lbs. You get the idea. Start slowly, or you will have a harder time sticking with it. Once you're back in the habit, you can increase your workload.
Learn from your mistakes. There's a reason you stopped your exercise program. Figure out what that was, and plan to beat it next time. If not, it will happen again.
Celebrate every little success, in the beginning. The first few days are the most crucial. Reward yourself often during this time, and celebrate everything you do! The first week is the next most important period. After that, it gets easier. But after about 2-3 weeks, you'll face a crisis. Re-focus yourself during that crisis, and you'll get through it. After a month, you'll be golden.

See also:

Zen Habits March Challenge, Step 2: Report Your Progress

2007-03-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Five days ago, I challenged my readers to join me in setting and achieving a single goal in the Zen Habits March Challenge, and Step 1 of this Challenge was to create a plan.

Step 2 is to report your progress, if not daily then at least weekly. It's best if you record your progress in a log, journal or online goals tracker, as this serves both to keep a record of what you've done and to motivate you.

So, in the comments, feel free to report what you've done with your goal or habit so far, and feel free to post daily or at least weekly. Share your successes and failures with the world!

I'll get the ball rolling: my goal is to exercise five days a week (swim, bike and run training). I live on Guam, so Saturday has just passed for me, and I still have a bike ride to do tomorrow (Sunday), but here's what I've done so far:

Tuesday: ran 3 miles
Wednesday: swam 1,150 yards
Thursday: ran 3 miles
Saturday: ran 3 miles

When I complete my bike ride tomorrow morning, I'll get a weekend treat!

Now post your progress in the comments!

Pretend You're Who You Want to Be

2007-03-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

Every Friday is Happiness Friday at Zen Habits.

To be happy, it is important that we become happy with who we are -- accept ourselves, recognize our good traits, accept our flaws, and come to see those flaws as actually good and unique parts of us.

But if you're like me, there's always something we want to change -- and in keeping with the philosophy of this site, for me that's changing my daily habits to help me reach my goals. The problem is, many people just don't believe they are the type of person who can achieve that goal -- they have a negative self-image, and that negativity will stop them from success every time. Positive thinking is the key to any kind of achievement.

So today's quick happiness tip is simple: think about the goal you want to achieve, imagine the kind of person who has already achieved that goal or created that habit, and pretend you are that person.

Let's take a quick example: If I want to start running, to make running a daily habit, I think about runners I know or have read about. I read about their habits, their lifestyle, and imagine what it's like to be them. Then, I pretend I'm a runner myself. I think about what it's like to be a runner, how a runner would act, how a runner thinks and feels, what a runner's habits are.

I take the identity of a runner, and make it my own. Soon, I believe I'm a runner. And here's the magic: it becomes true! Just by pretending it, and assuming that identity, I become a runner. I think and act like one. And if I'm a runner, what do I do every day? I run.

This magical trick can work for any goal, and for any person. Imagine that you are that person, and you will be.

See also:

Edit Your Life, Part 3: Closets and Drawers

2007-03-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

Quick note: Every Thursday is Simplifying Thursday, and for the next few weeks, these posts will be a series called "Edit Your Life," looking at ways to simplify different parts of your life.

I'm a former newspaper editor, and one of the things I learned was to edit brutally (no sarcastic comments about why I don't do that with my blog posts). Cut out everything that's not necessary, and you've got a more meaningful story.

I highly recommend editing your life.

Today's edit: Edit your closets and drawers.

Last week, I talked about a method for editing your rooms, removing the clutter, and only leaving what's necessary. I suggested that you skip the closets and drawers, saving them for later, and only focus on what's visible when you walk in the room. The reasoning is that if you include everything at once, including closets and drawers, it can be overwhelming, while if you only focus on what's immediately visible, you can make a big difference on how you feel about that room with a shorter amount of time dedicated to your editing.

But this week, let's focus on what's not immediately visible. Every room has closets and drawers, and they can easily accumulate junk from years of putting stuff in there and forgetting about them. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Yes, but every time we open the closet or drawer, we are reminded of that junk and clutter. Let's create simple, stress-free spaces!

Drawers
Start with drawers, because they're simpler. Take one drawer at a time, and follow these simple steps for each drawer:

Empty everything out of the drawer. Everything.
Clean out the drawer. Clear all junk and debris, then clean with a wet rag or use a cleaning product. Make it nice and clean.
Remove all junk from the pile of stuff (that you took out of the drawer), and toss it.
Now go through the remaining stuff, and sort: stuff you'd like to give away (put this in a box to give away, and put the box in your car to drop off when you're done), stuff you want to put in other places in the house (do this immediately after you're done), and stuff you want to keep in the drawer. Try to keep related stuff in the drawer -- don't have junk drawer. Only keep school supplies, or underwear, or whatever, in that drawer, so you know what belongs there.
Put the stuff back in an orderly manner. You should have a greatly reduced amount of stuff to put back in the drawer. Don't have too much stuff, or the drawer will still be cluttered. Put it back neatly, in some kind of order -- it helps to get a drawer organizer that fits the stuff you're putting in there. This is great for office or school supply stuff, like pens and tape and scissors and paper clips.
Now that it's nice and neat and de-cluttered and simplified, celebrate. And keep it that way! Never just toss stuff in the drawer. Make sure that it belongs there, and put it back in an orderly manner. This habit might take some time, but it will pay off in less cluttered drawers.

You can either stop after doing one drawer, and tackle the next drawer tomorrow, or keep going if you have the time and energy.

Closets
Now on to closets, which are a little more complicated. However, to simplify things, start with one section of the closet: one shelf, or the floor of the closet. For each shelf, follow the same steps as above with the drawers. Do the same with the floor of the closet -- in fact, remove everything from the floor and keep the floor clear if at all possible. A clear floor greatly simplifies a closet.

Next would be clothes or other things hanging in the closet. It's best to take all these out, and follow the same basic procedures, simplifying, tossing, and only putting back what is essential. This is a great exercise that will greatly reduce your wardrobe (get rid of clothes you no longer wear or fit!) and simplify the closet.

Closets can be intimidating, so you might tackle one area at a time, and do it every day for a week. Each day should only take 15 minutes or so, if you work quickly and make quick decisions about each item.

See also:

10 Habits to Develop for Financial Stability and Success

2007-03-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday is Financial Tips Day at Zen Habits.

Just like any goal, getting your finances stable and becoming financially successful requires the development of good financial habits. I've been researching this topic extensively in the last few years in my quest to eliminate debt, increase my savings and increase financial security for my family. I'll talk more about these habits individually, but wanted to list them in a summary (I know, but I'm a compulsive list-maker).

Here they are, in no particular order:

Make savings automagical. This should be your top priority, especially if you don't have a solid emergency fund yet. Make it the first bill you pay each payday, by having a set amount automatically transferred from your checking account to your savings (try an online savings account). Don't even think about this transaction -- just make sure it happens, each and every payday.
Control your impulse spending. The biggest problem for many of us. Impulse spending, on eating out and shopping and online purchases, is a big drain on our finances, the biggest budget breaker for many, and a sure way to be in dire financial straits. See Monitor Your Impulse Spending for more tips.
Evaluate your expenses, and live frugally. If you've never tracked your expenses, try the One Month Challenge. Then evaluate how you're spending your money, and see what you can cut out or reduce. Decide if each expense is absolutely necessary, then eliminate the unnecessary. See How I Save Money for more. Also read 30 ways to save $1 a day.
Invest in your future. If you're young, you probably don't think about retirement much. But it's important. Even if you think you can always plan for retirement later, do it now. The growth of your investments over time will be amazing if you start in your 20s. Start by increasing your 401(k) to the maximum of your company's match, if that's available to you. After that, the best bet is probably a Roth IRA. Do a little research, but whatever you do, start now!
Keep your family secure. The first step is to save for an emergency fund, so that if anything happens, you've got the money. If you have a spouse and/or dependents, you should definitely get life insurance and make a will -- as soon as possible! Also research other insurance, such as homeowner's or renter's insurance.
Eliminate and avoid debt. If you've got credit cards, personal loans, or other such debt, you need to start a debt elimination plan. List out your debts and arrange them in order from smallest balance at the top to largest at the bottom. Then focus on the debt at the top, putting as much as you can into it, even if it's just $40-50 extra (more would be better). When that amount is paid off, celebrate! Then take the total amount you were paying (say $70 minimum payment plus the $50 extra for a total of $120) and add that to the minimum payment of the next largest debt. Continue this process, with your extra amount snowballing as you go along, until you pay off all your debts. This could take several years, but it's a very rewarding process, and very necessary.
Use the envelope system. This is a simple system to keep track of how much money you have for spending. Let's say you set aside three amounts in your budget each payday -- one for gas, one for groceries, one for eating out. Withdraw those amounts on payday, and put them in three separate envelopes. That way, you can easily track how much you have left for each of these expenses, and when you run out of money, you know it immediately. You don't overspend in these categories. If you regularly run out too fast, you may need to rethink your budget.
Pay bills immediately, or automagically. One good habit is to pay bills as soon as they come in. Also, as much as possible, try to get your bills to be paid through automatic deduction. For those that can't, use your bank's online check system to make regular automatic payments. This way, all of your regular expenses in your budget are taken care of.
Read about personal finances. The more you educate yourself, the better your finances will be.
Look to grow your net worth. Do whatever you can to improve your net worth, either by reducing your debt, increasing your savings, or increasing your income, or all of the above. Look for new ways to make money, or to get paid more for what you do. Over the course of months, if you calculate your net worth each month, you'll see it grow. And that feels great.

If you liked this article, please submit it to Digg, Delicious, Netscape, Reddit or your favorite bookmarking site below!

See also:

Social networking, and shameless self-promotion

2007-03-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

To my readers: this will be a meta-post, so if those bother you, please skip over.

You may have noticed some changes in the Zen Habits sidebar. First of all, in addition to joining the Positive Blog Network, Zen Habits has joined the 2000 Bloggers site (where I post every Sunday) as well as the new Getting Things Done network on FeedBurner. I did this to add value to the site, for my readers, so they can access other quality sites, as well as to help Zen Habits reach a larger audience.

I've been getting such great feedback here that I've decided to reach out to a wider audience. (Now here's the shameless plea.) To do this, I'm asking that you bookmark the articles you like on your favorite social bookmarking site (Digg, Delicious, Netscape, Reddit, Stumbleupon and the like). No pressure to do so, but you'll help out the site if you do.

Also, if you're not already subscribed to the Zen Habits feed, please do so ... I like that I'm able to share these articles with people every single day!

This site has been rising in many people's consciousness, and I plan to write a post soon about the quick rise of Zen Habits -- I hope you don't mind, but it's a recent goal of mine to grow the site, and I think it might be an interesting read for some of you. It involves the site's rise on Technorati, the use of such social networks as Delicious, Netscape, Stumbleupon and others, and the use of blogging networks.

Finally, I've been experimenting with different ads, as you might have noticed. I hope that doesn't bother you. I'd like to develop a small side income from the site, as I spend a lot of time working on it (and love every minute of it!), and figure that having that time pay off wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Any feedback on any of this is welcome.

Zen Habits March Challenge, Step 1: Create a Plan

2007-03-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

If you've signed up for the Zen Habits March Challenge, you've already made the most important step: a public commitment. I'm excited about the Challenge, if you can't tell!

Now let's get started. The first thing we need to do is make a plan. If we can't take the time to make a plan, we are not fully committed, and it won't work. So the first step of the Challenge will be to create a plan that will state our goal, strategize, motivate and overcome obstacles. Then we'll print out the plan and post it up somewhere visible -- preferably at home and work.

Here are the most basic elements of the plan (the easy version):

State your goal. This needs to be something attainable (not too hard for this month!), measurable (number of days, number of minutes, number of dollars, etc.) and with a deadline - March 31.
Motivation. Take a look at the Top 20 Motivation Hacks, and pick a few. The more the better. Examples: posting your progress every day (or at least weekly) on Zen Habits, emailing friends and family about your progress, keeping a journal, charting your progress with an Excel spreadsheet, joining an online forum, making a promised to your spouse or loved one, rewarding yourself, etc. Write down your motivations.
Rewards. Set rewards for reaching mini-goals each week. Break each goal into weekly goals, with rewards for each. You might want to add mini-goals and rewards for the first few days, just to encourage you to get started. See this list for some simple rewards.

If you've got another 5 minutes, add these items for the Super Goals version (and for increased likelihood of success):

Obstacles. What are your greatest obstacles to achieving your goal? Now come up with a plan to deal with those obstacles, before they occur. If you get lazy after work, how will you deal with that? Examples could be: working out in the morning, having a workout partner and making an appointment with him/her, getting a coach or trainer, or try to just get started.
Monitor and zap your quitting urges. We all have urges to quit our goal. This is similar to the Obstacles step above, but it's very important to monitor our urges to stop. We might get lazy and say, I'll do it tomorrow. Well, that's an urge. Tally it on a small notebook every time you get an urge. And plan for dealing with the urges beforehand. Examples: take three deep breaths, and get a glass of water. Visualize success. Just get started. Email zenhabits (at) gmail (dot) com if you feel like stopping (we can help each other out). Get your workout partner or spouse or best friend to help you through the urge. Trust me: the urges go away if you have a plan to get through them. They only last for a few minutes. Once you get through them, you'll be glad you did.

OK, so to set a good example, here's my plan:

Goal: Train for triathlon five days a week (with two rest days) through the end of March. Training will include swimming, running and biking, at any distance or length of time (minimum 20 minutes).
Motivation: Joining this Challenge! I will also post my progress at least weekly, and am writing a bi-weekly series of columns for my local newspaper detailing my progress. Other motivations include rewards, keeping a journal, posting up my goals along with a picture of my goal, telling family and friends about it, and having a workout partner (swim and bike).
Rewards: First three days, I will reward myself with a sweet treat. Each week, if I attain my goal, I get a weekend treat! At the end of the month, I get to buy a book I've been wanting.
Obstacles: Being tired is my main obstacle. Therefore, I plan to get more rest, and start out slow this month. I'm not in a hurry to get better, and if I stick with it, I will naturally get better. Later, once this is more of a habit, I can work on a more progressive schedule.
Quitting urges: I will keep a tally of my urges to not train in my journal, and every time I get an urge, this is what I will do: take 3 deep breaths, drink water, and just get started. If that doesn't work, I will call my wife for encouragement. I will get through my urges!

OK, now write down your plan and print it out and post it up! If you don't do this, you will regret it. You may post your plan in the comments if you like, but at the very least please just post that you've done your plan.

Here are the March Challengers so far. Iif you haven't signed up, go do it now! Or do it in the comments here. It's not too late -- you can sign up at any time.

stayfly: Decorate and move into apartment I love. In terms of habits to help with this, I am aiming to do one major and one minor action toward decorating and moving into my apartment everyday of this month :)
Chris Yeung: I'm going to wake up at 5am on the weekdays.
Shaun: My goal is to run a mile 4 days a week for the rest of the month.
kamal: Wake up by 8:30am.
Monica: My goal for March is to read at least one new book every week.
Ann M. Mione: My goal is 4 days a week of either hitting the gym (which I usually enjoy once I get myself there) or some pilates and free weights in my apartment.
tedgotsoul: get back to practicing and composing music. two hours per day for practicing is where i should be. i will start on march 10th (when i get to the new state) and finish ... when i can play guitar better than jimi hendrix. just kidding... i'll keep playing beyond that "plateau"
Samer: My March goal is to jog for one hour, five days a week, until the end of March, and hopefully cultivate this into a habit.
holli jo: My goal is to exercise (probably walking, but any exercise will do) for at least 15 minutes, 5 days a week.
John Wesley: My goal is to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. And to redesign my blog by the end of March.
jen.: doug & i are in. each of us plans to write and complete a short story by the end of march. this morning we woke up earlier than usual and spent a half hour working on them. it felt great!
sommer: my goal this month is to run 5 days a week. This means I must take my lunch hour and use it to run 30 minutes all 5 days, but i have the weekend for back up just in case I miss a day at work. It's going to be hard to get back into it, I've become used to ordering in with my co-workers over the holidays. I need to hold strong!!!
RebeccaB: I'm jumping on the workout bandwagon! At least 3 times a week, i'm going to get up with him at 5 and work out in the apt Gym (because it's free!). As a more long term goal I need to find awesome peopele in my area to hang out with, living in 1 state for 22 years and then moving to another one where you don't know anyone is difficult. So I would love to make some meaningful friendships. So if you want to be my friend let me know, that would just make this goal a whole lot easier :)
Jenn: I have an ongoing goal that I'm hoping to use smaller, monthly goals to augment. My ongoing goal is to read and make notes on at least three items a week from the list of texts I need to to know for my upcoming doctoral comprehensive exam in June (and, thus far, I'm succeeding). In order to help myself out with this, my first month's goal is to exercise for half and hour to an hour, four times a week. I feel and think better when I'm active, which I imagine will only help me to get comps reading done better than I do now, and will also prevent me from turning into an academic slug.

Let's get going fellow Challengers!!!!

Cranking Widgets: Turn Your Work into Stress-free Productivity

2007-03-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday is GTD Tips Day at Zen Habits.

One of the great revelations that David Allen makes in Getting Things Done is his analogy of cranking widgets. In a nutshell, he talks about those simple jobs where you come to work in the morning with a pile of widgets to crank, and you leave work with a pile of nicely cranked widgets. It's a mindless job, but there's not much stress, and it's satisfying, and it's simple. And you know if you're being productive because you are really cranking those widgets.

For most of us, it's not that simple. We've got a million emails, voicemails, phone calls, documents and visitors to deal with. That's on top of a list of projects and to-dos that can drive anyone crazy. With all of that going on, we look at our list and see an item that says, "Redesign website" or "Research market trends". Frankly, those are not widgets that can be cranked. They are intimidating projects that might sit on the to-do list while we go check out our favorite blog (Zen Habits, most likely!).

So what to do? Turn your work into a Cranking Widgets job.

Here's how:

For every project that you have, select one next-action. You can make a whole list of next-actions if you want, but it's most important to get one next-action. This is defined as the very next physical action that needs to be done to move your project forward. Let's look at that carefully: very next means that it's something that should be done first, instead of later, otherwise the project can't move forward; if there are more than one of those, just choose one. Physical action means something you can do in the physical world: things like call, email, write, list, read, decide, talk to, brainstorm, buy. Things that can't be done in one action are multiple actions, widgets that can't be cranked.
Take a look at your to-do lists and make sure that all items are crankable widgets. Sometimes things on our to-do lists are actually multiple widgets combined into one item. Start garden, for example, might entail things like list tools needed, call mom for seedlings, go to store to buy tools, get watering can from shed, turn over dirt, etc. Redesign website might start with a next-action of surf web for inspiring examples of good design, or read article on design, or draw three design ideas, or brainstorm new website name.
List the widgets by the type of crank used. This is another way of saying that you should group by context. Group phone calls together. Group reading items together (in a folder). Group emails to be written together. Group websites to research together. That way, when you're cranking out the phone calls, you have them all on one list, and can just crank, instead of searching for the widgets that need to be cranked.
Just crank. If you've truly broken your to-do list down to crankable widgets, there's no more thinking involved, at least not at a higher level. All you gotta do is crank them. When you crank one, celebrate, and get going on the next. At the end of the day, you should have a nice stack of cranked widgets, and that's pretty satisfying.

See also:

A Challenge: Goals for March

2007-03-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

Every Monday is Weekly Review on Zen Habits.

We're a few days into March, and I'm reviewing my goals for the year. One thing I'm learning this year is that I took on too much at once. I'm closely examining my goals for this year and thinking that I want to focus on one at a time (more in line with my 12 Habits).

So, for this month, I'm going to be more focused, and I invite all of you to join me in a friendly challenge: set one goal for yourself this month, and we will support each other, motivate each other, track our goals and review them every Monday, and help each other achieve that goal.

So, if you'd like to join me in this March Challenge, in the comments, please list your goal or habit for this month. Some tips (as always):

Set something achievable. Don't try to run a marathon if you've never run before. Try to get in the habit of exercising three times a week instead. Work on one small habit, and you will get to your goal eventually (the Zen Habits philosophy).
Make it measurable. Want to save money? Great! How much do you plan to save per week or paycheck. Want to run? Great! Set a goal of days per week, minutes per week, or miles per week. Want to wake up early? Set a goal of a certain number of days per week, at a certain time. If it's measurable, you can track it over time and see if you're successful.
Set a deadline. It's important to attach a timeline to your goal. Our timeline for the March Challenge will be one month -- although you can certainly continue your goal beyond that, set a mini-goal to be achieved by the end of March -- a certain number of days for a habit by March 31, for example.

My goal for the March Challenge will be to get back on track with my triathlon training (I was sidetracked due to illness and a death in the family). More specifically, here's my goal for March: train five days a week (two rest days) each week until the end of March. The five days should include two swims, two bikes and two runs, but at the very least I should be doing one thing on each of the five days.

I need to get back in the habit of exercise. I actually started to get back into it last week, but I really want to focus on this goal this month. That means that I will postpone two other things I was planning this month: my 5th habit of patience (I'll have to be patient about that goal!) and another challenge of trying to cut out sweets (except for a cheat day). I will save those for later months this year -- a lesson that I've learned is that it's important to evaluate and adjust your goals as you go along.

So, join me! What's your March Challenge goal?

Tomorrow, we will work on a plan to meet our March Challenge goals!

Discipline is an illusion; Motivate yourself instead

2007-03-05T00:44:00.000-08:00

Reader Kamal posted a great question in response to my call for topic suggestions:

"I think discipline would be a good topic, as much of what you talk about requires a certain amount of it.

The Army was good for teaching me discipline, but I realized that in the end, it comes from within.

But still, like most things, it is a habit that one can work on over time.

Would love to hear your thoughts and experience on the subject."

Let me start with the conclusion first: if you think you don't have discipline, you don't need it. What you need is to commit to your goal or habit and fully motivate yourself. Read on for more.

I think that most of us believe that discipline is something you either have or don't have -- some believe you are born with it, and some, like Kamal, believe it is something you can develop as a habit. But what exactly is it we're talking about when we say the word "discipline"?

If I wake up early every morning to run, do I have discipline? Most people would say that I do. But, as someone who regularly wakes up early, and who runs frequently (not every day), I can testify that I for one do not have discipline. I am anything but disciplined, and never have been.

So how do I explain my ability to wake up early, and to run on a regular basis? Simple: I have adequate and varied motivation. I get up every morning, not out of discipline, but because I really want to -- and have tricked myself into doing it. I get out the door and go for a run not because I'm super disciplined, but because I really want to.

Let's take the example of someone in the military -- the typical example of someone with discipline. Let's say Sgt. Lamar is a tough Army man. He wakes up very early every day, goes through a strict morning routine, runs and does his pushups and situps, eats a moderate diet and keeps his clothes and living area spotless. He's the epitome of discipline.

But I say he has motivation instead. Review the Top 20 Motivation Hacks for some of the reasons why:

Sgt. Lamar has signed up for the Army and all that that entails. He is a full-time military man, and everyone he knows is aware of this. He has fully committed himself to living a life of discipline, meaning he's fully committed to all the habits of the Army: waking early, exercise, cleanliness, orderliness, etc. That's the No. 2 of the Top 20 Hacks.
He's in the middle of a mutually supportive competition. There is competition among his fellow officers about who has more discipline (wakes earlier, runs more, etc.) -- Hack No. 3.
Sgt. Lamar has powerful reasons (Hack No. 8) to keep those habits going -- to keep up his reputation in the Army, to promote his advancement in the organization, to set an example for those under him.
There are many more, but let me quickly point out others: there's a system of accountability, public pressure, others above him who he must report to, rewards for sticking to the habits, the pleasure of accomplishing his goals and habits, workout buddies, visualization of his goals (even if he doesn't realize it, Sgt. Lamar has a picture of what an Army man should be, and keeps that in his head each day). And then there's positive thinking (Hack No. 1) -- Sgt. Lamar doesn't allow himself to think negatively, or to tell himself he can't do it. He has no choice. If he does start thinking negative thoughts, he will soon be former Sgt. Lamar.

If you removed all of these motivations -- the public pressure, the rewards, the positive thinking, the powerful reasons, the accountability, the full commitment, the mutually supportive competition -- I believe that Sgt. Lamar would have no discipline.

Now, some people will think, "But Sgt. Lamar was disciplined even after he was in the Army. He's still the most disciplined person I know, as a former military man." That may be true (it's not true in every case), but I would argue that he has maintained his habits from many of the same motivations -- he is still committed, to everyone he knows, to being a disciplined former military man, and he has this public reputation to maintain. He probably also still finds pleasure in being an early riser, in exercising and staying fit, in looking clean and being orderly. I also argue that those who do not have those same motivations are those who are former military men who aren't disciplined -- and we all know just as many of this type as the former.

So how can you be "disciplined" about your habits? Get the right motivation (See the Top 20- Motivation Hacks for more). Here are a few tips:

Pick one habit, and fully commit to it. Don't try to be "disciplined" for a whole lot of things at once. I've tried this (many times) and it always fails. I'm re-evaluating my goals for this year for that reason alone. Try one habit at a time, and really focus on it.
Come up with a plan for that habit. See how many of the Top 20 Motivation Hacks you can apply to this habit. Write down your goal, and set a measurable and achievable goal, with a deadline. Write down mini-goals along the way, with rewards for each. Write down a plan for monitoring your urges to quit the habit, and for how you will overcome those urges (write it down beforehand!).
Maintain your focus on that habit for as long as possible. Try not to get distracted from it by other things. Post up pictures, motivational quotes, your plan, a list of rewards, your list of reasons, etc. Send yourself email reminders. Get others to remind you of your focus. Blog about it. Whatever it takes.
Set up your environment so that you maintain your motivation for your habit over time. Look at the example of Sgt. Lamar above. His life is set up so that he can't fail. Set you life up like that too, with motivation all around you, in many forms. Set it up so that that motivation continues for as long as possible, not just for a couple weeks or a month. Maintain that environment of motivation.
Celebrate your success!!! Woo hoo!!!!

Shameless plea: For my readers who like this story ... please add this to your favorite social bookmarking site! It's doing especially well on Netscape (it could use a nudge) but any help you give it on any of the services would be appreciated.

See also:

How to Teach Your Kids Good Habits

2007-03-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday is Family Day at Zen Habits.

Every parent will commiserate with me, especially parents with a good number of kids (I have six): for awhile now I've been trying to teach my kids the habit of putting things back where they belong when they're done with them. As you can imagine, it hasn't exactly been a rousing success.

So I've been giving it some thought, and have hit on some new ideas. The main idea: turn it into a game.

I love creating charts, so I plan on making one that give points to each kid for putting stuff away. They get additional points for helping remind each other (I told them to help their siblings remember as an act of consideration). There will be treats for making a minimum number of points, so they can all win. This will be set up as a friendly challenge, not a cut-throat competition, where they can all help each other win. I don't like to set up competitions for my kids where there are winners and losers, because the only lesson the losers learn is that they are losers. That's not a lesson I'm teaching my kids.

Some tips on creating good habits with your kids:

Use the carrot, not the stick. I've tried punishment as a way of teaching them to remember things, and it not only doesn't work, it's no fun for anyone. Kids learn more about their faults than about the habits you're trying to create. Use fun games or rewards instead, and plenty of praise. This is something I need to work more on.
Be their focus. I've written before about how maintaining focus on a goal is one of the main keys to sticking with it and actually accomplishing the goal. Well, kids have a hard time maintaining focus -- you have to do it for them. Or better yet, teach them ways to keep that focus. You'll have to remind them, post up visual reminders, and remind them some more.
Provide multiple means of motivation. I've written about my Top 20 Motivation Hacks, which work well for adults. They also work for kids. Provide not only one kind of motivation, but as many as you can. Rewards, praise, positive public pressure (tell not only the whole household about their goals but their grandparents and others), friendly competition, journals, charts and more can all be effective ways of creating motivation for your kids.
Try to be consistent for at least a month. After that it should get easier, but you'll still need to provide motivation to keep it going. Consistency, in the beginning, is important in creating habits. There will be failures, sure, but learn from it and don't drop the goal and then pick it up the next week. You need to maintain that focus consistently, so that they are constantly working on improving it (and having fun while doing so!).
Remember that kids aren't perfect. They will make mistakes. They will fail. Do not put a tremendous amount of pressure on them to succeed. Gently help them along. Encourage them, but don't criticize them. And remember that it could actually take months or even years before they learn some habits. Remember that you didn't learn good habits overnight (and may still be trying to do so yourself). Don't expect them to be better than you.
Join them. It would be even more fun if you all did the game together, if you had a joint goal of learning good habits. If the parents are part of the game, the learning process, the fun, the kids can learn from the parent's example of how to set a goal, how to maintain focus, how to motivate yourself, how to reward yourself for doing well, and how to feel great about any accomplishment, no matter how small.
Celebrate often! Kids need positive feedback. If they do something good, no matter how small, celebrate like they just landed on the moon! Have fun, and show them that achieving goals can be a great feeling. Go out for a fun dinner, go to the park or beach, really reward them, especially in the beginning.

Ask the readers: Suggestions for Zen Habits topics

2007-03-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

To my favorite readers in the world: I've been getting so much great feedback from all of you, about the topics Zen Habits has been covering, that I'd like to throw out the question:

What topics would you like to read about on Zen Habits?

All suggestions are welcome. Any problems you've been facing? Any goal obstacles you'd like advice on? Anything Zen Habits isn't writing enough about?

Here's your chance to get exactly what you want. Let me know in the comments!

Trying to eat healthier? Make lifestyle changes, and have a weekly cheat day

2007-03-03T17:40:00.000-08:00

Every Saturday is Health Tip Day.

It can be a difficult thing to change our diets. I'm not a big fan of being on a "diet" in the first place, one that restricts you to bland food and makes you feel like you're suffering. These diets are doomed to failure, as they might work in the short term but we will always, always fall off them. Trust me, I've tried and fallen off many: Atkins, South Beach, the Abs Diet, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, and some you probably haven't heard of.

As others have said before me, don't go on a diet -- go for a healthy lifestyle change instead. That means to make changes that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

Here are some simple lifestyle changes you can make and keep in your diet:

Substitute whole grains for refined carbs. Ditch white bread and eat whole grain bread (note that wheat bread and whole grain bread are different - the first uses enriched wheat flour, which is refined, and the second uses whole grain flour, which isn't). Eat whole grain pasta instead of regular pasta. Eat brown rice instead of white. Whole grain bagels instead of regular. You get the idea. Whole grains are much healthier -- more nutrients, slower to digest, more fiber. Refined carbs offer nearly no nutrition in exchange for lots of calories. And after a little while, you won't want to go back -- whole grains taste better and are more satisfying.
Eat more fruits and veggies. Yes, everyone will tell you this. But it's an easy change to make -- just stock up on them every week when you go shopping, and snack on them throughout the day. Have berries for breakfast. Snack on fruits at your desk in the office. Eat raw or steamed veggies with lunch and dinner. Fruits are a great after dinner snack. Fruits and veggies not only provide nutrients and fiber, but they fill you up without giving you too much calories and fat.
Eat leaner meats (or better yet, other forms of protein!). Switching beef for lean chicken or turkey is an easy switch to make. You might love red meat, but it's killing you. There are very tasty dishes you can make using lean meat. And even better is soy protein, or nuts and whole grains, beans and other such forms of protein. All the nutrients with none of the saturated fat! If this is difficult for you, try doing it one day a week to start with.
Cut back on sweets. This is my most difficult challenge. I have not been completely successful on this, and this will be the topic of a future post, but I have made progress by cutting back on the pastries and candies and other sweet desserts -- I usually just have a little now, and find healthier treats to enjoy instead.

Implement these changes one at a time, slowly and over a long period of time. Don't start tomorrow by saying you're going to drastically change your entire diet. You will have a difficult time, and suffer, and fail within a few weeks. When the change is very drastic and restrictive, it is too hard for most of us, and it's just a matter of time before we fail.

A final tip: if you decide to cut back on sweets, or something similar, give yourself one cheat day a week. This will make it easier on you, and give you something to look forward to. It will also increase the likelihood of your success. Give yourself a break sometimes!

Spend time with family and loved ones

2007-03-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Every Friday is Happiness Friday.

When was the last time you told your family and close personal friends that you loved them? Whatever your answer, do it today. Recently my grandfather was admitted to the hospital, just days after his 80th birthday, for heart problems. He's had heart surgery in the past, and this time, just as in the past, he toughed it out. But any day could be his day, the day when it will be too late to tell him how much he's meant to me over the years.

Don't let that day come for your loved ones without telling them what they mean to you.

I know that for many of us, expressing those kinds of feelings isn't easy. That's true for me, but I've been trying to overcome those barriers. But even if that's too difficult for you, I recommend that you just hang out with your family or treasured friends. Talk to them. Listen to them. Understand them.

Just spending a little time with someone shows that you care, shows that they are important enough that you've chosen -- out of all the things to do on your busy schedule -- to find the time for them. And if you go beyond that, and truly connect with them, through good conversation, that says even more. Many times its our actions, not just our words, that really speak what our hearts feel.

Taking the time to connect with those you love will bring you true happiness. The more you do it, the happier you'll be.

Since I'm a notorious list-maker, and because many people are busy and might need help with this, here are some tips:

Have five minutes? Send an email. It doesn't take long to send an email to someone you care about, asking them how they are, wishing them a good day. And that little gesture could go a long way, especially if you follow it up over time with regular emails.
Have 10 minutes? Call them up. A phone call is an easy way to connect with someone. It's conversation, without the need for travel. What an invention! :)
Have 30 minutes? You might not get the chance to do this every day, but at least once a week, take 30 minutes to drop in on someone you love (call first, so you don't catch them in their underwear) and just visit. It'll be some of the best 30 minutes you'll spend this week.
Have a couple hours? Have a good lunch or go somewhere with a loved one. Who among us doesn't have a couple of free hours each month? Weekends, or evenings, there's got to be a time that you spend in front of the TV or mindlessly surfing the internet. Take a chunk of that time, and devote it to a friend or family. (If you truly don't have that time, see Edit Your Life, Part 1: Commitments.)
Really focus on them. Don't just spend time with someone but think about your work, or your blog, or the errands you have to run. Pay attention to that person. Listen. Really be there, in that moment, with that person. Because that's a moment you'll never get back, so spend it wisely.
Have a blast. Tell jokes, crack each other up, do something fun and spontaneous. Really have a great time!

See also:

Zen Habits over at The Good Human: On Veganism

2007-03-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

I just wrote a guest post over at one of my favorite blogs, The Good Human, on the social consciousness aspects of going vegan:

Going Vegetarian and Vegan - A Sustainable Choice

It's a topic that doesn't fit perfectly with this blog, but works nicely with The Good Human. I include a few tips on going vegan, or even partially vegan, so you might want to give it a read.

Also, if you haven't read The Good Human, I highly recommend it. I subscribe to its feed. It covers such environmental topics as pollution, global warming, and other important stuff like that. Check it out!

Edit Your Life, Part 2: Your Rooms

2007-03-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Quick note: Every Thursday is Simplifying Thursday, and for the next few weeks, these posts will be a series called "Edit Your Life," looking at ways to simplify different parts of your life.

I'm a former newspaper editor, and one of the things I learned was to edit brutally (no sarcastic comments about why I don't do that with my blog posts). Cut out everything that's not necessary, and you've got a more meaningful story.

I highly recommend editing your life.

Today's edit: The rooms in your house, one at a time.

Are you surrounded by clutter in every room in your home? Clutter is visually distracting and stressful -- every item that you see demands your mind's attention, and no matter how short that attention is, and despite that it is subconscious, these little distractions add up. It's difficult to have peace and to focus amid this clutter. Add to this the wasted time and energy needed to look for things, to maintain things, and to clean things, and the more clutter you have, the more energy it will take to have it.

So, I recommend that you edit each of the rooms in your house, one per week, until you have de-cluttered your home and made it a peaceful and calming place to be.

Here's how:

First, choose a room to do this week. Don't try to do your whole house at once, as this can be very time consuming (unless you just have a lot of time on your hands -- in which case, go for it!). Focus on one room, and try to do 15 minutes a day (unless you get carried away and feel like doing more). Work on one room each week.
In the beginning, skip the closets and drawers that are out of sight for now. We'll tackle those in next week's Edit Your Life. Focus for now on the things you can see.
Start with the big things. Is there too much furniture in the room? If so, edit them. What is necessary, which furniture do you love, which stuff is just too distracting. Also consider removing other big items, like boxes full of stuff.
Clear all flat surfaces. Desktops, tabletops, countertops, etc. Remove all papers, piles of stuff, little junk, knick-knacks, anything. Put it on the floor. Now get a trash bag and two boxes. Sort through everything in your pile(s), one item at a time. Each item should be either thrown away in the trash bag, put in one box to give away (to friends, family or charity), or in the other box to put in another room in the house. Put back only a couple select items on the flat surfaces, such as a family photo or something that functionally belongs there. But as much as possible, leave the flat surfaces as bare as humanly possible. "Stuff" doesn't belong here -- you need to find a drawer, shelf, or container for whatever stuff you've removed. When you're done sorting through the pile, put the recycle box in the trunk of your car and drop it off the next time you go out to do errands. Throw away the trash bag. Take the other box and put the stuff where it belongs elsewhere in the house (don't put it on flat surfaces unless absolutely necessary!).
Repeat this process for any other "stuff" in the room, including stuff on the floor.
Now go around the room, clockwise, and edit what's left. This might be stuff on the walls, posted to surfaces like the refrigerator, stuff under tables or desks, etc. Only leave the stuff that's absolutely necessary. I mostly have blank walls except for a few choice paintings or drawings (by my dad, an artist). All my flat surfaces are bare. It's nice.
Be merciless. Edit brutally. The more you can get rid of, the better!

OK, your room should look pretty good now. If so, you should feel pretty great! Sit down, relax, look around, and enjoy the peaceful goodness. Savor your triumph.

Now, this editing process is not a destination, but an ongoing process. It won't last long if you don't have a system and develop habits to keep it de-cluttered.

Here's the system:

A place for everything, and everything in its place. An oldie, but valuable nonetheless. Are you about to put something down on a flat surface? Stop yourself. Think about where that item belongs. If it doesn't have a home, find one and stick with it. Always put it in that spot. For example: I have a tray for my keys, wallet, etc., and when I first get in the house, I put these things in this tray. Every time. So I always know where it is. And when I leave, it's as simple as grabbing my stuff from the tray.
Have an inbox for your home for ALL incoming papers. And a filing system for documents you need to keep, from bills to important documents to taxes to kids' report cards. Put all incoming mail, school papers, receipts, etc. into the inbox, and process it once a day (or every other day, but not much longer than that -- otherwise you're just creating a pile). When you process, don't leave stuff in a pile to be filed later -- file it immediately. Trash other stuff. Pay bills immediately or put them in a bills to be paid folder. Don't leave papers laying around elsewhere.
Clean up at night and before you leave the house. If you've developed good habits, you may not need this, but no one's perfect, and if you have kids, you'll definitely need this, because kids certainly are not perfect at this habit. Just take 5-10 minutes to pick up stuff and make sure your flat surfaces are clear.
Every six months (or a year), de-clutter. Despite your best efforts, new stuff just accumulates. You need to have a regular binging process every now and then.

See also:

Inspiration file: Positive Blog Network

2007-03-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Zen Habits has been honored and made part of the Positive Blog Network (see links in sidebar to the right), a group of blogs dedicated to helping people improve their lives. The network blogs cover a broad range of topics including finance, personal development, motivation, efficiency, and the search for personal freedom (among other topics).

I'm putting this post in the Inspiration File because as I read through these blogs, I am truly amazed at some of the wonderful posts. If you like Zen Habits, you'll like many of these other blogs as well.

Some of my favorite posts so far (I've only begun to explore):

Balanced Life Center: Forget Content, Consistency is King. Why doing something over time makes the most difference of all.
Pick the Brain: 5 Simple Ways to Make the Most of Your Intelligence. Very simple things we can all do.
Cultivate Greatness: 10 Creative Ways to Make Your Dreams Come True. My three favorites: Expect your dreams to come true; Imagine it in the now; and Maintain a Laser Focus.
Craig Harper: The Art of Completion. Don't start something you can't or won't finish.
Change Your Thoughts: Breaking Through Your Goal Barriers. Gives you the "Breakthrough Method of Achieving".
Genius Types: A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion. It takes a lot of hard work, but this article provides a 5-stage roadmap to getting to where you really want to be.
Scott H. Young: Set Worthy Challenges. Difficult goals inspire more action than modest ones.
Life Optimizer: Examine Your Life with a Simple Life Map. Mapping out your life's milestones helps you see whether or not you've wisely used your years, and where you should go next.
Steve Olson: How You Can Help Those That Suffer. A very powerful message.
The Dragon Slayer's Guide to Life: Becoming More Disciplined. Good advice on a question we all wrangle with.
Wise Bread: Adaptation: Lessons Learned from Being Unemployed. Amazing story about someone who quit their job and still managed to grow their savings.
Ask Dan and Jennifer: How You Can Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever - Even if You Have No Idea How to Get Started. Be bold and create your Big Bang!

Ask the Readers: How many posts a day is too many?

2007-02-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

I love writing for Zen Habits. It's one of my favorite things to do. I have a million topics that I want to write about, but I find myself holding back because I'm worried about overwhelming my readers. I can easily post 5-8 times a day, but I've been trying to limit myself to 3-4 posts per day.

So I ask you, the readers, to please tell me: How many posts a day is too many?

From reading other blogs, especially those to which you subscribe, how much is too overwhelming to you? I've read that people unsubscribe because it's too hard to keep up with some blogs that post frequently throughout the day. What's your limit?

Thanks for your help, my friends!

Monitor Your Impulse Spending Urges

2007-02-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday is Financial Tips Day at Zen Habits.

Do you have a problem with impulse spending? If so, the first step to controlling it is monitoring your urges. Make it a goal to monitor and track your spending urges over the next week or two.

Keep a small notebook handy, and every time you get an urge to buy something, practical or not, put a little tally in the notebook. Tally every urge, whether it is to buy something online, or at a store, looking at a catalog, thinking about that new iPod while at your desk, or even if it's multiple urges to buy the same item.

Whether you buy the item or not, just keep track of the urges. Many times the urges are subconscious. You won't be able to control your spending if you're not aware of it.

Some other tips, beyond this first step, for controlling impulse spending:

Avoid the mall or Walmart other shopping areas. Just going there practically guarantees you'll buy something on impulse. Do something outdoors or at home instead.
If you have to go shopping, go with a list. And stick to the list. Tell yourself that anything not on the list is strictly verboten.
Keep a 30-day list. If you have an urge to buy something, make it a rule that you have to first write it on your 30-day list. If, at the end of those 30 days, you still want it, then you can buy it (if you have the money). Just the act of putting it on the list (awareness) and forcing yourself to wait (delay) can make a big difference.
Breathe. And drink water. This delay can help you get past your urge.
Find other things to do with your friends or family. Do you hang out with people who love to shop as a pastime? Encourage them to do something else. Go outside, to a park, to the beach. Have a potluck dinner at home. If your friends refuse to change, you may want to give some thought to who you hang out with, if you have different values.

One Month Challenge, Day 28

2007-02-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 28, the final day of my One Month Challenge, has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Pastries; Cost: $12.50; Essential? No
Item: Wendy's; Cost: $5.50; Essential? No

Running total after 28 days is $2,890.35 ($2,413.77 essential - 84%).

Well, that was the last day! The pastries were for a rosary we were attending last night for a relative, and the Wendy's was for me, because I knew there wouldn't be any vegetarian dishes served after the rosary. Not a justification, but an explanation.

Over the next two days, I will post a couple articles wrapping up my One Month Challenge to track my finances, looking back on my totals and what I've learned.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - Overview

2007-02-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

We all need a productivity boost now and then -- sometimes throughout the day. We each want to be productive for very personal reasons -- to accomplish more, to make more money, to get done earlier to make more time for our personal lives, to accomplish our goals. But whatever the reason, these Productivity Hacks will do the trick.

Here they are, in reverse order (click on links for more on each):

#10: Take care of your Most Important Things first. Your Most Important Things for the day -- the things you most need to accomplish that day -- should take priority over everything else. However, we all know that fires come up throughout the day, interruptions through phone calls and email and people dropping by, new demands that will push the best-laid plans aside. If you put off your MITs until later in the day, you will end up not doing them much of the time.

Try to get all three of your MITs done before moving on to anything else. If you can do that, the rest of the day is gravy!

# 9: Wake up early. Decide what you'd like to accomplish each morning, and build your morning routine around that. Like to exercise? Put that in there. Healthy breakfast? Go for it. Check email? Fine. The mornings are a fresh start, peaceful and free of ringing phones and constant email notifications. If you get your Most Important Things done in the morning, the rest of the day is just gravy. (see How I Became an Early Riser.)

# 8: Simplify information streams, crank through blogs & email. Think about all the information you receive (email, blogs, newsletters, mailing lists, magazines, newspapers and more) and edit brutally. You will drastically reduce the time you spend reading. For everything else that begins to come in after your editing process, ask yourself if you really need to be getting that information regularly. Most of the time the answer is no. Now, after this process, you should be left with less to read. Here's the next step: crank through it all, really only reading the really interesting ones.

Editing and cranking through the information you receive can free up a lot of time for more important things -- like achieving your goals.

# 7: Declutter your workspace; work on one thing at a time. The decluttering your work space part of it is simply to remove all extra distractions, on your desk and on your computer. If you've got a clean, simplified workspace, you can better focus on the task at hand. (See more on how to do this.)

Now, with distractions minimized, focus on the task at hand. Don't check email, don't work on five projects at once, don't check the stats on your blog, don't go to your feed reader. Work on that one task, and work on it with concentrated focus until you are done. (See How NOT to Multi-task.) Then celebrate your achievement!

# 6: Get to work early; work fewer hours. My best days come when I get into work early, and begin my work day in the quiet morning hours, before the phones start ringing and the din of the office begins it crescendo to chaos. It is so peaceful, and I can work without interruption or losing focus. I often find that I get my MITs done before anyone comes in, and then the rest of the day is dealing with whatever comes up (or even better: getting ahead for the next day).

Added bonus: you skip rush-hour traffic.

But just as productive is the second part of the tip: leave early and work fewer hours. It's paradoxical, but if you work fewer hours, and know that your time is limited, you will be more focused. Then you have more hours to yourself! Everyone wins.

# 5: Avoid meetings; when you must meet, make it effective. I find it best to say no to meetings up front. I just say, "Sorry, I can't make it. I'm tied up with a project right now." And that's always true. I've always got projects I'm working on that are more important than a meeting.

Now, you probably won't be able to get out of most meetings, so here are some tips for making meetings more effective.

# 4: Avoid unnecessary work. If we just do any work that comes our way, we can be cranking out the tasks, but not be productive at all. You're only productive if you are doing work that moves you towards a goal. Eliminate non-essential tasks from your to-do lists, and start to say no to new requests that are non-essential.

If you do not take these steps and speak up, and say no, then you will be overloaded with work that you simply do not need to do. Cut out the non-essential tasks, and focus on those that really matter.

# 3: Do the tough tasks first. You know what those tasks are. What have you been putting off that you know you need to do? Sometimes when you put things off, they end up being things you don't really need to do. But sometimes they are things you just gotta do. Those are your tough tasks.

Do them first thing in the day.

# 2: Work off-line as much as possible. To increase your productivity, disconnect your Internet connection. Have scheduled times when you're going to check your email, and only let yourself check your blogs or surf the web when you've gotten a certain amount done. When you do go online, do it on a timer. When the timer goes off, unplug again until the next scheduled time.

You'll be amazed at how much work you'll get done.

# 1: Do something you're passionate about. This might not seem like the normal productivity tip, but give it a thought: if you really want to do something, you'll work like hell to get it done. You'll work extra hard, you'll put in even more hours, and you're less likely to procrastinate. It's for work that you don't really care about that you procrastinate. Read the full post for tips on how to find your dream job and do work you truly care about.

See also:

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #1

2007-02-28T04:21:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #1: Do something you're passionate about.

This might not seem like the normal productivity tip, but give it a thought: if you really want to do something, you'll work like hell to get it done. You'll work extra hard, you'll put in even more hours, and you're less likely to procrastinate. It's for work that you don't really care about that you procrastinate.

For some people, this tip might not seem too practical, especially if you're in a humdrum job that you don't really feel like doing. It's for you that this tip was written: if you hate your job, or are just doing it for the money, I highly recommend that you give this some thought. If you must force yourself to do work every day, you can only do this for so long before burning out. You'll probably quit eventually anyway, so give it some consideration now.

What do you really want to be doing right now? (Don't say sleeping!) What do you love doing? What is your dream job, and how can you get it? Give this some thought, not just right now but for the next few days. If you can identify that job, your next step is to plan how to get it.

My suggestions:

Do some research. Who else is doing your dream job? What is their experience? How did they get the job? What are the requirements? Research it on the internet, ask people you know, make some calls. The more info you have, the better.
What are your obstacles? What do you need to do to get there? Do you need an education? Do you need to know the right people? Do you just need to fill out an application? Do you need to learn some skills?
Make a plan. Work out some solutions to your obstacles. If you need an education or skills, you will not be able to execute this plan overnight, but if you don't plan it out now, you might never get there. Lay out the path to your success.
Take action. Don't wait for opportunity to come hit you on the head. Go out and grab that opportunity. Execute your plan -- do at least one thing today, and each day, until you get there. It might seem like it will take forever, but if you really put in the work, you'll achieve your dreams someday.
Be persistent. Don't give up because you've been rejected a few times (or even a lot of times). Keep knocking on doors. Keep making those calls. Keep submitting your resume. Keep making appointments. Don't ever let up. The person who is relentless will win over the person who quits.

Land your dream job, doing something that you're passionate about, and you may never need to motivate yourself to be productive again.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Inspiration file: Quotes about Dreams & Goals

2007-02-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

I like to find inspiration every day. On occasion, I'll find stuff and post it here to my Inspiration File, to help inspire others.

Some quotes about Dreams & Goals:

“In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.” -- Henry David Thoreau

“Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams.” -- Unknown

“To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway.” -- Unknown

“We judge of man's wisdom by his hope.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You can often measure a person by the size of his dream.” -- Robert H. Schuller

One Month Challenge, Day 27

2007-02-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 27 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Gas; Cost: $40.00; Essential? Yes
Item: Dining out; Cost: $24.00; Essential? No
Item: Groceries; Cost: $302.70; Essential? Yes

Running total after 27 days is $2,872.35 ($2,413.77 essential - 84%).

I have a feeling that eating out expenses will be higher than I expected. One day left on my challenge -- I've done better than I expected.

Tips for GTD's Ubiquitous Capture

2007-02-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday is GTD Tips Day, starting today.

One of the revelations of GTD is the very simple (and in retrospect, very obvious) mandate to write everything down. Capture all your thoughts on paper (or digitally) -- don't let them float around in your head, where they will surface at inappropriate times, stress you out and be forgotten when they are needed. Have an idea? Write it down, right now, before you forget. Thought of an errand you need to do? Capture that as well. Just remembered something for your grocery list? You know what to do.

If you're not already capturing all your thoughts or tasks immediately on paper, or in a digital system, and carrying that around with you wherever you go, I highly recommend you start today. Even if you don't implement the entire GTD system, this one step can make a big difference. It eliminates a lot of the stress from this stuff floating around in your head, and keeps you from forgetting a WHOLE lot. Trust me.

Here are a few tips on ubiquitous capture, whether you already have a system or not:

Some of the more popular methods: A little notebook, a Hipster PDA, a PDA or smart phone, or a Moleskine notebook. Each of these methods has some very passionate proponents, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. I prefer a simple, small notebook, as it is cheap, portable and easily modifiable to my needs.
Carry it around, everywhere. No matter what system you use, it should be very easy to carry around, and easy to jot down ideas quickly. You need to carry it wherever you go, including to bed, in stores, if you're hospitalized, wherever.
Jot down ideas immediately. Don't wait until later. You'll forget. Even if you don't forget, your mind will waste precious CPU cycles trying to remember, instead of focusing on what you're doing at this moment.
Once you get back to your computer, or wherever you keep your next-action lists, process your notes immediately. If you just write your ideas down, but don't actually transfer them to your action system, it's not worth the effort. The ideas and tasks you write down have to actually be acted upon, or at least decided upon (you might decide to ditch it), otherwise your system won't work. Your mind will keep that stuff in its active RAM, because it knows that writing the stuff down won't help you remember it later.
Don't use your capture system as your action system. This will be a point of hot debate among GTDers, because some like to use their Moleskines and PDAs as both their capture and action systems. But let me clarify: if you use one part of the Moleskine, for example, for capture, and another part (perhaps marked with tabs) for your next-action and project lists, that's fine. Just don't mix them up. If you write down stuff on a list as capture, and then use that same list for your to-do list, you'll run into problems. Things will be confusing, for one, because the list is just in order of capture. You will also not have things broken into context, which means you will be constantly sorting through different types of actions that you can't actually act upon right now. And over time, the stuff you still need to do will be several pages up into your notes, meaning you'll have to constantly flip back through your capture notes to find out what you need to do.
Use tools you love. Some people love the texture of the Moleskine notebooks, and have a favorite pen that feels great in their hand and rolls beautifully on the paper. Others enjoy the technology of the PDA. Just choose something you enjoy using -- you'll be more likely to use it.
If you slip up, just start again. Sometimes we forget about our capture system, or get too busy. It happens to all of us. Don't beat yourself up, or just abandon the system. It works. You just need to get started again. Perhaps try a new system, but just start.

Update: By request, I've posted a photo (above) of my little notebook I use for capture. It's blurry on purpose, but you get the idea.

See also:

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #2

2007-02-27T05:38:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #2: Work off-line as much as possible

You're doing it right now -- the biggest distraction ever invented. The Internet can keep you occupied -- and unproductive -- for hours on end.

To increase your productivity, disconnect your Internet connection. Have scheduled times when you're going to check your email, and only let yourself check your blogs or surf the web when you've gotten a certain amount done. When you do go online, do it on a timer. When the timer goes off, unplug again until the next scheduled time.

You'll be amazed at how much work you'll get done.

This is one of the best productivity tips I've ever used. Period.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Review Your Goals Weekly

2007-02-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Every Monday on Zen Habits is Weekly Review, starting today.

How often do you review your goals? Every year? If so, you may be ahead of most people. Even so, I recommend a more frequent review period that will seem like overkill for some people, but to me it's the key to maintaining focus on your goals and actually making them a reality.

The key habit to actualizing your goals: Review your goals at least once a week.

Let's be honest: if you don't think about your goals, you won't make them happen. If you aren't doing anything about your goals, they are just wishes. (If you haven't set your goals yet, I highly recommend you do so.)

In order to actualize your goals, you need to take the following steps:

Set your goals (see Think About Your Life Goals).
Set action tasks for each goal.
Do the action tasks - one a day is ideal (see Purpose Your Day).
Motivate yourself to stay focused (see Top 20 Motivation Hacks).
Review your goals often (weekly is ideal).

Here's the process I recommend:

Once a year (New Year is convenient, but really any time is good) you should review what you've done this year, and set your goals for the next 12 months. Yearly goals should be mini-goals of your life goals.
At the beginning (or end) of each month, review your progress for the past month, and set your goals for the coming month. Set easily achievable goals -- it's better to set your sights low (at least at first) and achieve them than to set them too high and fail. Monthly goals should be mini-goals of your overall yearly goals.
At a set time each week (Mondays work for me), review your progress for the last week, and set goals for the week. These goals should be mini-goals for your monthly goals. For each of these goals, list a few action steps. Then schedule the action steps throughout the week (one step per day is ideal).
Each day, when planning your day, make your goal action step for that day be one of your Most Important Things for that day. Do it first thing in the morning. Once you complete it, you have done something awesome for that day -- you've taken a small step towards making your dreams come true!

The key is to review these goals and set action steps each week. If you only do it once a year, or even once a month, you won't remember them on a daily basis.

If you fall off your weekly review, just re-focus yourself and start again the next week. Don't let small slip-ups stop you from achieving your goals!

See also:

Are Your Days Crazy? Take Control

2007-02-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

Some of us have such hectic, busy, crazy, chaotic days that we don't have the time to even consider organization, goals, or routines. It's when your days are so crazy that you need to take that time, and get your days under control.

It's important, for your mental health, your sanity, and your productivity. You simply cannot be at your most effective if you are running around, putting out fires, and getting super stressed in the mean time. Taking the time to gain that control will make all the difference in the world.

Here's how:

First, claim a block of time to gain control. Yes, it will take an hour or two. Yes, you can find that time. Schedule an appointment on your calendar. If you really, really can't find the time in your work day, get up early, or do it right after work. You can find that time if you really try. Your sanity demands it.
Make a list. Do you already have all your tasks on a single to-do lists, or several next-action lists broken down by context? If so, you are ahead of the game. If not, this should be your first step. Gather all you papers into one inbox (including post-it notes, phone messages, etc.) and process them, listing the tasks you need to do on your list or lists (see Three Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk). However you do the list(s) is not important at this point. I recommend the GTD method (see Beginner's Guide to GTD), but do whatever works for you. Making a list of your tasks is the first way to get them under control.
Plan your day. Not just today, but every day. You need some sort of regular schedule in order to get things under control. Schedule your regular tasks in blocks of time: email, calls, meetings, processing your inbox, planning time, writing, etc. Try to have at least 15-30 minutes at the beginning of each day when you plan your day out in these blocks of time. This little time for planning each day is a simple way to gain control. (See Purpose Your Day: Most Important Task)
Stop multi-tasking. This is probably the thing that makes your day the craziest. You can't stay sane if you're juggling a million things at a time. If you are doing this, you are not being productive either. Focus on one thing at a time (see How NOT to Multi-task).
Control Incoming Communications. Others won't let you do this? You need to be assertive and claim control of your time. Let others know when they can call you, or how often they can expect to receive responses to your emails. Turn of IM and chat. Turn off your email notifications and only check it once an hour, or on some other regular schedule. Let calls go to voicemail. You simply cannot respond instantly to every cell phone call, every email, every page, every request at your desk. If you have to, put on headphones. Be clear and upfront with others about your availability and the times when you cannot be disturbed. People might not always be happy with it, but after awhile, they will begin to respect your time.
Review your day. Set aside a little time at the end of the day to review what you've done, check off your to-do lists, update the lists with new items, put stuff back where it belongs, clear off your desk, and plan for tomorrow. Leave feeling satisfied.
Set routines. These regular routines are the best way to feel in control of your life. I've been working on a morning routine and an evening routine at home, and it also helps to have a first-thing-in-the-morning work routine (including Step 3) and an end-of-the-day work routine (Step 6). Make them a habit, and your days will be must less stressful.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 26

2007-02-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 26 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

No spending today! Woo hoo!

Running total after 26 days is $2,505.65 ($2,071.07 essential - 83%).

Awesome.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #3

2007-02-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #3: Do the tough tasks first.

You know what those tasks are. What have you been putting off that you know you need to do? Sometimes when you put things off, they end up being things you don't really need to do. But sometimes they are things you just gotta do. Those are your tough tasks.

Do them first thing in the day.

Been putting off that report? Start on it first thing in the morning. It will be a relief to get it over with.

If you're not sure what those tasks are, it just takes a quick scan of your to-do lists: what's been sitting there the longest? Is it something you really need to do? Do that task first thing.

Getting at least one of these tough tasks done first thing in the morning lifts a great load off your back and gives you a psychological boost to go forward in your day.

Only once you've done the hard stuff should you allow yourself to do the fun stuff (check your email or blogs!). Then take a breather and enjoy the bliss that follows a job well done.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Best Posts This Month

2007-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Zen Habits has had a lot of new readers recently, some of whom might have missed out on some good posts throughout the month.

Here are my favorite posts so far this month:

Get the Kids Outdoors

2007-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday is Family Day on Zen Habits.

Do your kids spend a lot of time in front of the TV or video game system? Are they on the internet a lot? If they are like most kids (in America at least), most of their free time is taken up by the TV or other electronic entertainment. In fact, after school, television is the second source of education for our kids. Parents come in third.

My kids are no different, but as a dad I try to limit this kind of passive entertainment. And when I can, I encourage them to read or go outside.

Every Sunday is Family Day for my family, and one of our favorite activities is playing soccer in our front yard as a family. We put on our sneakers, set up orange cones to function as goals, choose teams and start having fun. Sometimes we like to play kickball instead.

When I started running, I started getting the kids running with me. They also like to ride their bikes in the park while I run.

However you do it, get your kids outside. They need to reconnect with the world. They are shut inside the house, insulated from the outside world. They become lazy and in bad shape. It's unhealthy.

Playing outside gets kids in better physical shape, healthier, and forces them to use their imaginations rather than the imagination of some Hollywood executive.

Here are some ideas for things to do outside:

soccer
fly kites
explore the woods
treasure hunt
go to a playground
go to a swimming pool, beach or lake
play pirates, or make a pretend fort
go jogging
ride bikes
wash the car
rake the yard
water balloon fight
squirt gun fight
play tag
hide-n-seek
obstacle course race
just go for a walk, and talk
walk to a store for a treat

There are thousands of other things to do. Coming up with ideas can be a game in itself.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 25

2007-02-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 25 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Chocolate pies; Cost: $13.00; Essential? No

Running total after 25 days is $2,505.65 ($2,071.07 essential - 83%).

Pies were for a cousin's birthday party. But overall, not a bad spending day.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #4

2007-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #4: Avoid unnecessary work.

The key word here, of course, is "unnecessary". How do you know if work is necessary or not? You must first know what your goals are -- work that forwards you towards your goals (which should probably be in line with your organization's goals) is necessary, essential. Trim everything that is not essential, or you will be wasting your time.

If we just do any work that comes our way, we can be cranking out the tasks, but not be productive at all. You're only productive if you are doing work that moves you towards a goal.

Someone calls you and says they need something right away. Well, they might need it right away, but that might not be your problem. Is serving this person immediately part of your job description? It might be if this person is an important client, but if they are just a co-worker who is trying to make you do their work, then that's unnecessary work for you. Cranking out that task is a waste of your time.

It's good to do an inventory of your to-do lists every week or so ... look at each task, and ask if it's truly necessary, and what goal it is moving you towards. If it's not necessary, see if it can be eliminated or passed on to the right person.

And this next step is just as important: as new tasks come in, say no to unnecessary tasks. Evaluate each request. If it's not necessary, tell the person that you simply do not have time to do it. Tell them that you have high-priority projects that are due soon, and you regret not being able to help them. Refer them to someone else who might help. Be polite, but regretful. If it's your boss, you might need to have a talk with your boss about priorities and goals. Be sure that you are both clear on what your work objectives are, and ask that extraneous tasks be assigned to someone else. Tell your boss that the extra tasks are getting in the way of your productivity.

If you do not take these steps and speak up, and say no, then you will be overloaded with work that you simply do not need to do. Cut out the non-essential tasks, and focus on those that really matter.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Health tip: Try eating vegetarian sometimes

2007-02-24T17:21:00.000-08:00

Every Saturday is Health Tip Day.

The simple act of replacing meat with something healthier, like soy protein, can make a big difference to our health. Doing this on a regular basis, perhaps once a week or more, can add up to a lot in the long run. Meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and it's much better for your body if you can avoid it. I became a vegan last year, and I've never eaten healthier. You don't need to become vegan (although I highly recommend it!) to eat healthier, but trying vegan or vegetarian dishes now and then can be a good and healthy experience.

I suggest trying out an easy-to-make vegetarian dish at first, something simple yet delicious. There are some good soy protein replacements out there, for ground beef, chicken, sausages and more. Like spaghetti? Try using the soy ground round instead of ground beef.

To get you started, I'll give you one of my favorite, yet easiest to make, vegan recipes. This is my original recipe, so if you like it, you are obliged to close your eyes, and savor the deliciousness.

Zen Habits Three Bean Vegan Chili
1 package Morning Star Meal Starters (or any ground beef replacement)
one 14.5-oz. can each: black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans
one 14.5-oz. can corn
one 29-oz. can each: stewed tomatoes & tomato sauce
half a yellow onion, diced
half a green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
2-4 cloves garlic, diced (depending on how much you like garlic)
black pepper, salt, chili powder to taste
olive oil

Dice up the veggies first, because the cooking will go fast. On medium high heat, heat up some olive oil, then saute the onions, then the garlic and bell pepper. Throw in the Meal Starter ground beef replacement (still frozen is fine), and let it brown. Add a liberal amount of chili powder and black pepper, and a bit of salt (I never measure, sorry).

Now dump in the beans and corn, one can at a time, stirring as you go along, making sure the bottom doesn't stick and burn. Add more chili powder and black pepper. Spice it up nice! Throw in the stewed tomatoes, stir, and then dump in the tomato sauce. Done! Lower the heat and let it simmer for as long as you can resist. You can actually eat it right away (prep and cooking time: 10-15 minutes) or you can simmer it for 30 minutes, an hour or more. The longer it simmers, the better the flavors will all mix together. Taste it and spice it as needed. I like to add a lot of chili powder and black pepper. To crank up the heat, feel free to add your favorite red peppers early on in the cooking process.

Serve with brown rice, good bread, or blue corn chips.

This is a favorite at every party, whether people are vegetarian or not. They're often amazed that it's vegetarian. Enjoy!

One Month Challenge, Day 24

2007-02-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 24 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Slushees; Cost: $3.00; Essential? No
Item: Water; Cost: $1.00; Essential? Yes

Running total after 24 days is $2,492.65 ($2,071.07 essential - 83%).

Did much better on our all-day soccer day today (5 hours in the hot sun!) than we did last week. We packed a lunch and snacks, and of course lots of drinks, and the only thing we bought were a couple of slushees as a treat, since it was so hot.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #5

2007-02-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #5: Avoid meetings. When you must meet, keep it short and effective.

I hate meetings. I think most people do, unless there are coffee and donuts in the meetings, and you really like coffee and donuts, but even then, the meeting itself is just something you have to put yourself through in order to get the good stuff. Point is, most of us hate meetings, and yet we have so darn many of them.

And if you really analyze most meetings, you'll see that they are a huge waste of time. In the hour or more that you were sitting in that meeting, you could have gotten 10 times more accomplished if you were working alone. And so could each of the other meeting attendees, which means that the amount of lost productivity is huge.

Are there meetings you go to regularly that you can avoid? If you think the answer is no, think about it a little more: perhaps you've been told it's mandatory, but it's still possible that if you make a good enough sales pitch to your boss, you could get out of the meeting -- show him/her how much more you could accomplish by not being there, and how you could send a simple email to accomplish the input you would have given in the meeting, at 1/10th the time.

I find it best to say no to meetings up front. I just say, "Sorry, I can't make it. I'm tied up with a project right now." And that's always true. I've always got projects I'm working on that are more important than a meeting.

Now, you probably won't be able to get out of most meetings, so here are some tips for making meetings more effective:

Every meeting should have an agenda. People should know, beforehand, what will be discussed, so they can be prepared.
The agenda should include the desired outcome. If it's not on the agenda beforehand, it should be the first thing you bring up in the meeting, right when (or even just before) the meeting starts: what do you want to accomplish in the meeting?
Take notes of important points, especially next actions. Mark the next actions with arrows or asterisks or something, so you can see them at a glance later.
Review the next actions at the end of the meeting. Everyone should leave the meeting knowing what decisions were made, and what everyone needs to do next.
Harvest all next-actions to your to-do lists immediately after the meeting, so you don't forget.
If you're still stuck going to a completely useless meeting, take your read/review folder into the meeting. At least you can use that time productively by cranking through your stuff that you need to read or review. I also like to use this time to brainstorm for ideas or plan projects.

The best long-range strategy is to convince the higher-ups that most meetings are a waste of time, and that meetings that must take place should be short and effective. I know someone who installed a countertop, with no stools, as his office's conference room. If people wanted to meet with him, they had to do so standing up. It made for fairly brief meetings.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 23

2007-02-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 23 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Wendy's; Cost: $12.65; Essential? No
Item: Groceries; Cost: $31.00; Essential? Yes
Item: Gas; Cost: $40.00; Essential? Yes
Item: Drinks; Cost: $2.00; Essential? Yes

Running total after 23 days is $2,488.65 ($2,070.07 essential - 83%).

We were starving so we ate at Wendy's. Otherwise, not a bad day.

Happiness Friday: Savor the Little Things

2007-02-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

Every Friday is Happiness Friday.

Do you eat while reading? If so, you might have noticed the phenomenon I've noticed: sometimes you can eat an entire meal without even really tasting the food. This applies to a lot of things in our lives: we can spend an hour with our family without really talking to them. We can go to a park or the beach, and not really notice the things around us.

Here's a tip that seems so simple, and yet can be difficult to maintain in practice: stop, and notice what you are doing in this moment. Become more aware of the present, instead of always thinking about the past and the future.

This is hard to do throughout the course of a day, but being perfect isn't the point. Stop and do it once in awhile, at different times of the day, and just notice the little things. And enjoy them.

Try these little exercises (they're very easy, so don't be scared by the word "exercise"):

When you eat your next meal, don't read and don't think about anything else except the food you're eating. Really experience the smell of the food, the texture of the mixture of food in your mouth, the heat or coolness of it, the multiple flavors. This is best if you're eating something you really enjoy (berries for me!).
The next time you're with someone, whether it's a loved one or a co-worker, stop what you're doing, clear everything aside, and take a few minutes to really talk to them. Really listen to what they're saying. Really appreciate this person, and try to understand them. Really be with that person, fully.
The next time you're outside, stop, and look around. Appreciate the incredible beauty and simplicity and complexity of nature. Notice living things, from plants to birds to insects. Notice the elements - air and wind, water or rain, the earth, the sun or the moon or the stars. In fact, tonight, go outside and look up at the stars. The stars and the ocean always give me incredible perspective.
When you shower next, try not to think about anything else but the shower itself. Think about the feeling of the water beating on your skin. Really enjoy the sensation. Feel the suds slipping down your body.

You can probably think of other things, but these are just a few ideas. And if you really experience these things, they can be incredible. And life won't pass you by as quickly as it normally does, which can be a good thing.

Also see:

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #6

2007-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #6: Get to work early, and leave early. Work fewer hours.

This is one of my favorite tips. My best days come when I get into work early, and begin my work day in the quiet morning hours, before the phones start ringing and the din of the office begins it crescendo to chaos. It is so peaceful, and I can work without interruption or losing focus. I often find that I get my MITs done before anyone comes in, and then the rest of the day is dealing with whatever comes up (or even better: getting ahead for the next day).

Added bonus: you skip rush-hour traffic.

But just as productive is the second part of the tip: leave early and work fewer hours. I don't mean to shift your 8-hour day to 7 a.m.-4 p.m. ... that by itself would work well, but I'm recommending you take it even further: work only six or seven hours.

I know: you may not be able to take this option, depending on your job. But you might be surprised. Many bosses are not worried so much about the number of hours you work, but the amount that you produce. So think out a plan, write up a proposal, and talk to your boss. The worst that can happen is he/she will say no. If you work for yourself, you have no excuse.

Why does this hack work? If you commit to working only six hours today, and leaving by 3 p.m., you have a much tighter deadline. You have no time to waste surfing the net or playing solitaire or talking to your coworkers or sitting in long meetings. You must crank out the work, and get everything done, so you can get out of the office on time. On the days when I leave early, and know that I have to get out of the office early, I am focused. I'm a productivity machine.

Motivation tip for this hack: set a daily appointment, so that you'll be sure to get out of the office on time. This could be a workout appointment with a workout buddy, or the need to pick up your kids, or something you need to do with your significant other. Whatever it is, be sure that you will not miss it, and get out of the office in time to be there.

It's paradoxical, but if you work fewer hours, and know that your time is limited, you will be more focused. Then you have more hours to yourself! Everyone wins.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Meta post: Zen Habit's New Weekly Routine

2007-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

I've been giving some thought to the multitude of subjects I'd like to cover on Zen Habits, and I've decided it would be more orderly, both for myself and for my beloved readers, if I had a weekly routine that covered most of the bases. This routine means that I will have one post on the assigned day about the assigned topic ... I will also post about other topics that day. It's not going to be exclusively about these topics. For example, each day I might also post something more specific to creating habits and achieving your goals.

So here's the Weekly Routine:

Mon - Weekly Review (a mechanism for each of us to review our goals each week)
Tue - GTD tips
Wed - Finances
Thu - Simplicity
Fri - Happiness tips
Sat - Health tips
Sun - Family Day

This isn't set in stone, and is subject to tweaking, so suggestions are welcome in the comments.

Edit Your Life, Part 1: Commitments

2007-02-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Quick note: Every Thursday I'll have a post about Simplifying (in addition to other posts). Starting today. For the next few weeks, the Simplifying Thursday posts will be a series called "Edit Your Life," looking at ways to simplify different parts of your life.

I'm a former newspaper editor, and one of the things I learned was to edit brutally (no sarcastic comments about why I don't do that with my blog posts). Cut out everything that's not necessary, and you've got a more meaningful story.

I highly recommend editing your life.

Today's edit: All the commitments in your life.

Take an inventory of the commitments in your life. Here are some common ones:

Work - we have multiple commitments at our jobs. List them all.
Side work - some of us free-lance, or do odd jobs to take in money. More commitments.
Family - we may play a role as husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter. These roles come with many commitments.
Kids - my kids have soccer, choir, Academic Challenge Bowl, National Junior Honor Society, basketball, spelling bee, and more. Each of their commitments is mine too.
Civic - we may volunteer for different organizations, or be a board member or officer on a non-profit organization.
Religious - many of us are very involved with our churches, or are part of a church organization. Or perhaps we are committed to going to service once a week.
Hobbies - perhaps you are a runner or a cyclist, or you build models, or are part of a secret underground comic book organization. These come with - surprise! - commitments.
Home - aside from regular family stuff, there's the stuff you have to do at home.
Online - we may be a regular on a forum or mailing list or Google group. These are online communities that come with commitments too.

You might have other categories. List everything.

Now take a close look at each thing on the list, and consider: How does this give my life value? How important is it to me? Is it in line with my life priorities and values? How would it affect my life if I dropped out? Does this further my life goals?

These are tough questions, but I suggest seeing if you can eliminate just one thing -- the thing that gives you the least return for your invested time and effort. The thing that's least in line with your life values and priorities and goals. Cut it out, at least for a couple weeks, and see if you can get along without it. Revisit this list at that time and see if you can cut something else out. Edit mercilessly, keeping only those that really mean something to you.

Each time you cut a commitment, it may give you a feeling of guilt, because others want you to keep that commitment. But it's also a huge relief, not having to do that commitment each day or week or month. It frees up a lot of your time, and while others may be disappointed, you have to keep what's important to you in mind, not everyone else. If we committed to what everyone else wanted all the time, we would never have any time left for ourselves.

Take the time to edit your commitments, and your life will be greatly simplified. You will thank yourself for it.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 22

2007-02-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 22 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Snacks; Cost: $10.57; Essential? No

Running total after 22 days is $2,403.00 ($1,997.07 essential - 83%).

OK, so I caved in and bought the wife, kids and myself some snacks. Gosh, you guys are judgmental!

Ask the Readers: Should Zen Habits get its own domain?

2007-02-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been contemplating a move to a separate domain, away from Blogger. Readership has been growing enough to justify a new domain, and I know a lot of people have a hard time remembering the current address with "blogspot" in the middle of it.

The problem: zenhabits.com is already taken (but not being used apparently).
Following my own advice, this is an opportunity -- I can come up with a new title for the blog, which might be a good thing as some people think it's about Zen, when it really isn't. I like the name Zen Habits, but it may be confusing.

However, changing the name of the blog would make it confusing for people who are trying to find it again, and I may lose readership (especially if I have to change the RSS feed, as everyone would have to resubscribe).

So I have two questions for you, my favorite readers in the world:

Should I get my own domain or stay with the current address?
If I get my own domain, what name should I give the new blog?

Help me out, my good friends.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #7

2007-02-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #7: Declutter your workspace, and work on one thing at a time.

The decluttering your work space part of it is simply to remove all extra distractions, on your desk and on your computer. If you've got a clean, simplified workspace, you can better focus on the task at hand.

Here's how to do it:

Gather all papers on your desk (including any scraps, post-its, phone messages, etc), put them in your inbox, and process through them rapidly. (See 3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk)
If you've got folders or stacks of paper on or around your desk, process them and put them away as in step 1 -- listing them on your projects or actions lists, and filing them out of sight.
Get rid of distracting knick-knacks, posters, pictures, etc. A few photos of your family is fine, but if you've got a lot of other stuff, it's probably distracting.
Clear your computer desktop of icons. File or trash them, then turn off desktop icons so you've now got a clutter-free desktop. Close unnecessary windows on the computer (especially solitaire or minesweeper or whatever your current distracter is). Now choose a nice, serene desktop picture (and using a photo of a magazine model doesn't qualify as serene).

Ahhh. A peaceful working environment. I also suggest using headphones if you have a problem with the ambient noise in your office, or people dropping by too much.

Now, with distractions minimized, focus on the task at hand. Don't check email, don't work on five projects at once, don't check the stats on your blog, don't go to your feed reader. Work on that one task, and work on it with concentrated focus until you are done. (See How NOT to Multi-task.) Then celebrate your achievement!

Removing distractions from your workspace and really focusing on one task at a time will greatly increase your productivity. If your distraction is reading Zen Habits ... well, that's OK. But only that one exception.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

How I Ended My Love Affair With the Credit Card (and Why I Use Cash)

2007-02-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday will be Financial Tips Day, starting today.

Confession time: My name is Leo, and I'm a recovering creditcardaholic.

When I was just starting out in the world of adulthood, I shied away from credit cards. My parents had had some troubles with them, so I had a bit of a phobia. In my early 20s, I caved in and got a card, simply to build credit. It only had a $500 limit, and I pledged to pay off the balance every month. I did this for a few years, but for one reason or another, eventually let the balance creep up until I could no longer pay the balance every year. I then paid it off and canceled the card, out of pure fear. I went without a card for a little while, and then came the bad days.

I need to buy something important, and didn't have the cash. I got a card with a $5,000 limit, and felt the fear creep back in. The first charge was well over $1,000. Then there were other large charges -- expenses I wanted to pay for, but didn't have the cash. I tried to pay as much as I could each month, but when I started having other expenses, the credit card bill wasn't a priority. I could pay it later.

Fast forward to a couple years ago: I could no longer afford to pay my minimum balance on my card. I had other bills that were also out of control. I canceled the card, and worked out a payment plan. I struggled with my other bills until the beginning of 2006, when I started getting things under control. But I still had a Mastercard debit card, and I used this to buy stuff over the Internet. Since it wasn't a credit card, that was OK, right?

Today, I am scraping by, but here's the cool thing: I don't have a credit card at all. Not even the Mastercard debit card. I am paying off my debts (the card should be paid off this summer) and things are looking much rosier.

My recommendation: if you have problems paying off a card's balance each month, and have a hard time resisting impulse purchases, cancel your credit card. Today. They are a plague.

This point can be debated ad naseum, so I'll just say this: do what works for you, but be very careful with credit cards. They are dangerous, and have caused many financial wrecks for many families. The best policy for many people, and you may differ, is to go without a card for as long as possible.

But how do I live without a credit card? Here's how:

I pay my bills online or through automatic deduction. It's simple, convenient, and automatic. Hey presto!
I use cash for everything else. Everything else? Pretty much. Once in awhile I'll write a check, or use my debit card (it doesn't have a credit card label on it, so I can't use it online), but those occasions are rare. I withdraw cash for groceries, gas and "spending".

What about online purchases? Exactamundo! You've hit the nail on the head. One of the biggest dangers of credit cards these days is that they make purchases so darn easy. Doing some research on how to pay off your debt? Hey, there's a great book about it by Dave Ramsey. One Click(tm) and it's headed to my door. Credit cards allow you to buy stuff, anything really, without having to think about it. And that's dangerous.

So if I REALLY need to buy something online, I might ask a relative to order it for me, and give them cash. Obviously, this is inconvenient and you don't want to do this too often and wear out your welcome. Which is why it works. Before I canceled my Mastercard debit card last year (about four months ago), I bought stuff online at the rate of about two things a week. Not exactly a spending spree, but it adds up to a lot over the course of a year. In the last four months, I think I've ordered one item. A reduction of nearly 95% of my online discretionary spending.

I could also pay using PayPal or similar methods, but I haven't yet. The point is that it's much harder for me to buy things online now (and to some extent, in the real world too), so I rarely ever do. While we might think that buying things online is necessary, in almost every case, it's not. Buying online simply makes you spend more than you normally would. Take it from me, someone who is living evidence.

Using cash has other benefits. I can see at a glance (looking in my envelopes for each cash spending category) how much I have left in that budget category. That's hard to do when you're using a credit card. Sure, you could check your balance online, but most people never do this. Sure, you could update Quicken or Money, so you know your available balance, but this is much harder to do, especially if you're away from home, and so many people guesstimate their balance when they're on the road, and sometimes don't even bother to do that. With a credit card, you can worry about it later. At a high interest rate.

This has been a hot topic in the last month or so on personal finance blogs, with people weighing in on both sides. I think it's a highly personal issue, and different methods work for different people. See posts on this topic from Get Rich Slowly, No Credit Needed, and Digerati Life. All good posts.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 21

2007-02-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 21 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Gas; Cost: $33.00; Essential? Yes
Item: toilet paper, rechargeable batteries; Cost: $33.00; Essential? Yes
Item: flowers; Cost: $26.50; Essential? No
Item: Groceries; Cost: $57.00; Essential? Yes
Item: church tithe; Cost: $2.00; Essential? No
Item: refill two 5-gallon water bottles; Cost: $2.50; Essential? Yes

Running total after 21 days is $2,392.43 ($1,986.51 essential - 83%).

Not the best spending day. Most of these were essentials. The flowers were for my daughter, who was inducted this morning into the National Junior Honors Society. I'm so proud of her. I don't regret the purchase.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #8

2007-02-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #8: Simplify your information streams, and plow through feeds and email.

The first step of this hack is the more necessary -- we often have an overload of information coming at us in different ways, and it is distracting and a waste of our time. Do we really need to read 100 blogs every day? Edit your feeds to just the ones that you really love. Trust me -- you can let go of the rest. Also edit the email (and snail mail) that comes in: can you unsubscribe from mailing lists, newsletters, or other unnecessary, regular emails? Can you filter out all the forwarded chain mail you get from friends and family (or ask them to stop sending them)? I've done this, and it saves a lot of time. The few chain mails (or joke emails) I still get, I delete immediately. Stop getting catalogs in the mail too.

What other information are your receiving on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? Can you cut out your magazine and newspaper subscriptions without really missing anything? Do you get routed email from coworkers that you really don't need to be getting? Do people routinely cc stuff to you unnecessarily? Think about everything you receive, and edit brutally. You will drastically reduce the time you spend reading. For everything else that begins to come in after your editing process, ask yourself if you really need to be getting that information regularly. Most of the time the answer is no.

Now, after this process, you should be left with less to read. Here's the next step: crank through it all.

I make sure to empty all my inboxes every day -- physical, voicemail, email, blog reeder. I just crank through them, making quick decisions as necessary, saving some important ones to be read later if I don't have the time to read them now. Sometimes I'll print them out and take them with me on the road for reading when I catch some unexpected spare time, like waiting at the doctor's office.

Reading my blogs is a good example: I use Google Reader, and when I check my feeds in the morning, I use the "view all" mode, where I'm reading all the blogs at once. I use the mouse wheel and just scroll down through them all, reading the headlines quickly. If I see a headline that sounds interesting, I'll click on it to open in a new window to read when I'm done, then continue to scroll through the rest of my unread posts. I can quickly get through more than 100 posts this way. Then I'll go and quickly read the posts I've opened in new tabs. If I don't have time to read them now, I'll bookmark them in a folder I call "Inbox" to read later. When I have time later, I'll read through all my Inbox posts, and delete them (or save them elsewhere if I want to post about them). But the key is to crank through them, really only reading the really interesting ones.

Editing and cranking through the information you receive can free up a lot of time for more important things -- like achieving your goals.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

How to do a Weekly Review in Under an Hour

2007-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

It's one of the reasons we put off GTD's Weekly Review: because it can take so darn long. Many of my reviews have come in at 2-3 hours, and if I get interrupted a number of times, even longer. When something takes so long, and we are so busy with other projects, no wonder many people skip this critical component.

I'm here to say that it doesn't have to take that long.

I recently posted that the Weekly Review is the key to both GTD and to achieving your goals. That being said, if you are a busy person, it's key that you are able to get this critical component done in under an hour, or even 30 minutes if possible.

It can be done. Here's how:

Process your inbox daily, and review your next-action lists daily. Try to get your inbox down to zero by the end of each day -- you don't have to do everything in the inbox, but you should go through it and for each item, trash, delegate, file, or put it on a to-do list (see 3 Steps To a Permanently Clear Desk). You should also review your next-action lists at least once a day, checking off completed items, adding new things, deleting unnecessary things. Try to get into this daily habit if possible. If you neglect this step, do not stop -- it will just make the review a little longer, but you can still do it in under an hour.
Before your review (either that morning, or the day before) make sure your inbox is down to zero. If you haven't been keeping it empty all week, well at least do it this once, right before the review. It will save a lot of time during the actual review. This includes your email inbox, btw. (See Email Zen: Clear Out Your Inbox)
Clear off your desk, if you haven't already. A clear workspace is important to minimizing distractions.
Close all distractions, and tell people you are not to be disturbed for an hour. Close your email (inbox should be empty), your blog reader, games, anything that isn't necessary for the review.
Have a checklist ready. I printed a bunch of checklists for the weekly review -- all the steps of the review, and the checklist for the mind dump. (See the end of this article for links.)
Focus on the review, and plow through it. You need to get into the zone. There are times when I am writing an article, and I just crank it out. There are times when there are 200+ unread blog posts in my Google Reader, and I can crank through them in 20 minutes. Do this for your review. Just crank. Do not let yourself get distracted. Just crank!
Reward yourself when you are done. Ahhh. The satisfaction of a completed review is unmatched except perhaps by things that should only be done by your significant other.

Update: By request, here are links to the checklists I mentioned in Step 5 above:

Weekly Review checklist: Davidco [free pdf download, but you need to register]; alternatively, try MineZone wiki [scroll down to Weekly Review]
Mind Sweep triggers list: 43 Folders [taken directly from the book]

I print both these checklists out for my Weekly Review (I have a stack of them in my desk).

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 20

2007-02-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 20 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: Water and snacks; Cost: $4.00; Essential? No

Running total after 20 days is $2,238.43 ($1,861.01 essential - 83%).

Not a bad day, especially after my $0 spending in Day 19.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #9

2007-02-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #9: Wake up early.

I might get flamed for this hack by night owls, so let me qualify this tip by saying that if you stay up late at night and get a lot done, then do what works for you. Late night hours are really not much different from the early morning hours, as both times are much quieter with fewer distractions. However, as a former night owl, I recommend the morning hours simply because many times I would stay up well past midnight, but be very tired and not get anything done for the last 6-7 hours. Mornings are much more productive for me.

I started becoming an early riser last year, gradually waking earlier over the course of more than a month (see How I Became an Early Riser). This month, I've been trying to develop the habit of a Morning Routine, and the great thing about a morning routine is that you can develop whatever routine works best for you, and tweak it as you go. Decide what you'd like to accomplish each morning, and build your routine around that. Like to exercise? Put that in there. Healthy breakfast? Go for it. Check email? Fine.

The morning is your time.

The mornings are a fresh start, peaceful and free of ringing phones and constant email notifications. If you get your Most Important Things done in the morning, the rest of the day is just gravy.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Happiness Tip: Do something good for yourself

2007-02-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Each day of your life, put something on your daily agenda: do something good for yourself.

It can be anything -- from something small, such as buying a book, to a real pampering, such as getting a massage, to something intensely meaningful, like visiting a loved one.

Just a few ideas:

eat something that gives you joy
watch your favorite program on TV
go to a movie
go for a stroll in the park
take a nap
spend some time reading
exercise
get a hug

How NOT to Multitask - Work Simpler and Saner

2007-02-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

You're working on two projects at once, while your boss has placed two new demands on your desk. You're on the phone while three new emails come in. You are trying to get out the door on time so you can pick up a few groceries on the way home for dinner. Your Blackberry is going off and so is your cell phone. Your co-worker stops by with a request for info and your Google Reader is filled with 100+ messages to read.

You are juggling tasks with a speed worthy of Ringling Bros. Congratulations, multitasker.

In this age of instant technology, we are bombarded with an overload of information and demands of our time. This is part of the reason GTD is so popular in the information world -- it's a system designed for quick decisions and for keeping all the demands of your life in order. But even if we are using GTD, sometimes we are so overwhelmed with things to do that our system begins to fall apart.

Life Hack recently posted How to Multi-task, and it's a good article on the nature of multi-tasking and how to do it while still focusing on one task at a time.

This post is How NOT to Multi-task -- a guide to working as simply as possible for your mental health.

First, a few quick reasons not to multi-task:

Multi-tasking is less efficient, due to the need to switch gears for each new task, and the switch back again.
Multi-tasking is more complicated, and thus more prone to stress and errors.
Multi-tasking can be crazy, and in this already chaotic world, we need to reign in the terror and find a little oasis of sanity and calm.

Here are some tips on how NOT to multi-task:

First set up to-do lists for different contexts (i.e. calls, computer, errands, home, waiting-for, etc.) depending on your situation.
Have a capture tool (such as a notebook) for instant notes on what needs to be done.
Have a physical and email inbox (as few inboxes as possible) so that all incoming stuff is gathered together in one place (one for paper stuff, one for digital).
Plan your day in blocks, with open blocks in between for urgent stuff that comes up. You might try one-hour blocks, or half-hour blocks, depending on what works for you. Or try this: 40 minute blocks, with 20 minutes in between them for miscellaneous tasks.
First thing in the morning, work on your Most Important Task. Don't do anything else until this is done. Give yourself a short break, and then start on your next Most Important Task. If you can get 2-3 of these done in the morning, the rest of the day is gravy.
When you are working on a task in a time block, turn off all other distractions. Shut off email, and the Internet if possible. Shut off your cell phone. Try not to answer your phone if possible. Focus on that one task, and try to get it done without worrying about other stuff.
If you feel the urge to check your email or switch to another task, stop yourself. Breathe deeply. Re-focus yourself. Get back to the task at hand.
If other things come in while you're working, put them in the inbox, or take a note of them in your capture system. Get back to the task at hand.
Every now and then, when you've completed the task at hand, process your notes and inbox, adding the tasks to your to-do lists and re-figuring your schedule if necessary. Process your email and other inboxes at regular and pre-determined intervals.
There are times when an interruption is so urgent that you cannot put it off until you're done with the task at hand. In that case, try to make a note of where you are (writing down notes if you have time) with the task at hand, and put all the documents or notes for that task together and aside (perhaps in an "action" folder or project folder). Then, when you come back to that task, you can pull out your folder and look at your notes to see where you left off.
Take deep breaths, stretch, and take breaks now and then. Enjoy life. Go outside, and appreciate nature. Keep yourself sane.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 19

2007-02-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 19 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

We didn't spend any money today (woo-hoo!)

Running total after 19 days is $2,234.43 ($1,857.01 essential - 83%).

We rock.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #10

2007-02-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: This is one in a series of Top Productivity Hacks - little tips and tricks that are designed to make you more productive. At the end of the series I'll post them all together in an overview.

Productivity Hack #10: Take care of you MITs early in the day.

Your Most Important Things for the day -- the things you most need to accomplish that day -- should take priority over everything else. However, we all know that fires come up throughout the day, interruptions through phone calls and email and people dropping by, new demands that will push the best-laid plans aside. If you put off your MITs until later in the day, you will end up not doing them much of the time.

Before you check email or blogs or do anything else in the morning, plan out your day and start on your first MIT. Don't let yourself be distracted by anything else, and work all the way until you finish that first MIT. There. Now you've gotten at least one important thing done. Now, take a 10-minute break, and if you can stand it, get started on your next MIT.

Try to get all three of your MITs done (or 1 or 2 or 4, depending on your setup -- but don't do more than that) before moving on to anything else. If you can do that, the rest of the day is gravy!

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

See also:

Happiness tip: Smile at a stranger

2007-02-19T04:02:00.000-08:00

We should all smile more often, in general. Just the simple act of smiling or laughing can make you happier.

But even better: smile at a stranger. Too often we brush past strangers without a glance, or a straight or scowling face. At best, we might give people a tolerant little smile, to show that we are not mean. Usually most of us try to avoid any eye contact at all.

Try this instead: look strangers in the eye, and give them a genuine smile. In most cases, you'll get a smile in return. The more you smile, the more smiles you'll see in return.

End result? A happier world. So simple!

Weekly Review: Key to GTD and achieving goals

2007-02-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

David Allen says that if you are not doing your weekly review, you are not doing GTD. I agree completely, and I'd like to add to that: if you are not reviewing your goals weekly, you are not focused on achieving your goals.

Every GTDer has put off the weekly review, sometimes for several weeks at a time. Every GTDer has felt the guilt of not doing the weekly review. Every GTDer, to live up to that title, needs to get back on the wagon and do the weekly review!

It is the key to the system. Here's why:

In GTD, you capture everything, and process it, and use context lists for your next-actions ... but things still slip through the cracks. The weekly review catches all those things that slip through, and empties your head of the "stuff" that keeps your brain working overtime.
Often, even if we're good at processing our inboxes and checking our context lists on a daily basis, we still forget to check our project lists. This means that there might be projects that don't have next-actions on your context lists, or maybe you've forgotten to add a project or check it off as done. Or maybe the project's stalled and you need to jump start it.
Without the weekly review, the system begins to atrophy over time, until you no longer can be sure that it is complete or even working at all. Then you stop trusting it, and soon you're not using it at all, really.
The weekly review clears your head and leaves you feeling calm and satisfied. Mmmm!

A weekly review doesn't have to take long if you do three things:

process your inboxes on a daily basis, so you don't have a huge pile of stuff waiting for you;
set aside time dedicated to the weekly review, and clear aside all distractions; and
really focus on getting the review done quickly and completely.

Here are the basic steps to a weekly review:

Pull out all loose papers, receipts, post-its, etc., and put in your inbox. Process your inbox.
Process your notes.
Review previous and upcoming calendar data to trigger next actions.
Mind dump - empty your head of everything not already in the system. Process it as you would your inbox.
Review next-action lists, project lists, waiting-on list, and someday/maybe list.
Review your goals.

Note the last step: review your goals. This is the key to keeping your goals on track -- you have to review them regularly. First you have to set your goals, of course, but then you have to review them (preferably daily, but at least weekly). If you're not, then you'll forget about them, and when you remember them, you'll do some things towards your goals, and then forget again. You have to have a regular review of your goals on a weekly basis in order to keep that focus.

Here's my best tip for doing the weekly review: make an appointment, either on Monday morning or Friday morning, with yourself to do the weekly review. I suggest the mornings because by afternoon time, you are way too busy with other stuff that comes up to keep this appointment. If you do it first thing in the morning, you can get it out of the way and move on to the rest of your chaotic day. Stick to this appointment -- keep it sacred -- or your system will begin to fall apart.

A good article on this topic: Doing the Weekly Review, Weekly

See also:

Nifty links for Feb. 18, 2007

2007-02-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted links for a couple days due to technical difficulties, so it's a relief to post this today:

Happiness Project: 5 tips for performing good deeds. "We don’t always have time to perform a heroic act of thoughtfulness, but even quick good deeds can make a difference."
Life Hack: Want results? Frame your work. Excellent post on productivity.
Alex Shalman.com: a nice personal development site with original articles and great links to other articles on setting goals, achieving them, and motivating yourself.
Kipplinger: Secrets to Marital and Money Bliss. "Yes, love and money really CAN mix. Use these practical techniques to cool off even the hottest financial issues."
Simple Dollar: Debt Collectors breathing down your neck? Five ways to stop the insanity.

One Month Challenge, Day 18

2007-02-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 18 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: sugar, brown sugar; Cost: $4.45; Essential? Yes
Item: Chinese dinner for 9; Cost: $215.50; Essential? No

Running total after 18 days is $2,234.43 ($1,857.01 essential - 83%).

We took my mother-in-law out for her birthday and treated. I don't regret it, but it wasn't one of our best spending days. We don't usually spend this much on eating out though.

One Month Challenge, Day 17

2007-02-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 17 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: McDonalds; Cost: $19.45; Essential? No
Item: gas; Cost: $40.00; Essential? Yes
Item: drinks; Cost: $3.00; Essential? Yes
Item: ice cream, snacks; Cost: $7.00; Essential? No
Item: rent; Cost: $500.00; Essential? Yes

Running total after 17 days is $2,014.48 ($1,852.56 essential - 92%).

We treated the kids to McDonald's before their soccer games and then to ice cream after. I think most of our non-essential spending seems to be on treating the kids.

Happiness tip: Count your blessings

2007-02-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Do it today! This is something that is so obvious, we rarely ever do it. Make a list, post it on your blog. It's so life-affirming, that it can't help but make you happy.

Ignore the problems (read: opportunities) in your life, and think about all the good things, little and small.

Got your health? Be thankful! Have loved ones? You are truly blessed. Not starving or dying of horrible diseases? Praise life!

Your list can be as short or as long as you want, but when you're done, look over it, and give a little prayer of thanks (no matter whether you believe in a higher power or not). We are very lucky people -- and we should never forget it!

Technical difficulties

2007-02-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't been posting as frequently as usual simply because I'm having problems with my monitor at home, but I will resume regular posting shortly when I go to work in a few hours. I'd like to just say welcome to all the new subscribers who've signed up in the last few days. Please stick around!

If anyone wants to give me a free monitor, I won't turn you down.

Or maybe you know how to fix the one I have: a Dell monitor, keeps going black about two seconds after I turn it on. It used to stay on after I kept turning it on and off for awhile, but it got progressively worse and now it won't stay on no matter how many times I do that.

I'll probably have to splurge for a new monitor, but following the frugal advice of my own site, I'm going to look for a used one first.

Top 20 Motivation Hacks - An Overview

2007-02-17T18:42:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks I've been posting the Top 20 Motivation Hacks, one by one. These are the tips and tricks that, if used in combination, are a nearly sure way to achieve your goals.

Achieving goals is not a matter of having "discipline". It's a matter of motivating yourself, and keeping your focus on your goal. Follow these hacks, or any combination of them that works for you, and you should have the motivation and focus you need.

Here they are, in reverse order (links take you to more on each):

#20: Chart Your Progress. Recently I posted about how I created a chart to track my progress with each of my goals. This chart is not just for information purposes, for me to look back and see how I'm doing. It's to motivate me to keep up with my goals. If I'm diligent about checking my chart every day, and marking dots or "x"s, then I will want to make sure I fill it with dots. I will think to myself, "I better do this today if I want to mark a dot." Well, that's a small motivation, but it helps, trust me. Some people prefer to use gold stars. Others have a training log, which works just as well. Or try Joe's Goals. However you do it, track your progress, and allow yourself a bit of pride each time you give yourself a good mark.

Now, you will have some bad marks on your chart. That's OK. Don't let a few bad marks stop you from continuing. Strive instead to get the good marks next time.

#19: Hold Yourself Back. When I start with a new exercise program, or any new goal really, I am rarin' to go. I am full of excitement, and my enthusiasm knows no boundaries. Nor does my sense of self-limitation. I think I can do anything. It's not long before I learn that I do have limitations, and my enthusiasm begins to wane.

Well, a great motivator that I've learned is that when you have so much energy at the beginning of a program, and want to go all out -- HOLD BACK. Don't let yourself do everything you want to do. Only let yourself do 50-75 percent of what you want to do. And plan out a course of action where you slowly increase over time. For example, if I want to go running, I might think I can run 3 miles at first. But instead of letting myself do that, I start by only running a mile. When I'm doing that mile, I'll be telling myself that I can do more! But I don't let myself. After that workout, I'll be looking forward to the next workout, when I'll let myself do 1.5 miles. I keep that energy reined in, harness it, so that I can ride it even further.

#18: Join an online (or off-line) group to help keep you focused and motivated. When I started to run, more than a year ago, I joined a few different forums, at different times, on different sites, such as Men's Health (the Belly-Off Runner's Club), Runner's World, Cool Running, and the running group at About.com. I did the same when I was quitting smoking.

Each time I joined a forum, it helped keep me on track. Not only did I meet a bunch of other people who were either going through what I was going through or who had already been through it, I would report my progress (and failures) as I went along. They were there for great advice, for moral support, to help keep me going when I wanted to stop.

#17: Post a picture of your goal someplace visible -- near your desk or on your refrigerator, for example. Visualizing your goal, exactly how you think it will be when you've achieved it, whether it's financial goals like traveling to Rome or building a dream house, or physical goals like finishing a marathon or getting a flat stomach, is a great motivator and one of the best ways of actualizing your goals.

Find a magazine photo or a picture online and post it somewhere where you can see it not only daily, but hourly if possible. Put it as your desktop photo, or your home page. Use the power of your visual sense to keep you focused on your goal. Because that focus is what will keep you motivated over the long term -- once you lose focus, you lose motivation, so having something to keep bringing your focus back to your goal will help keep that motivation.

#16: Get a workout partner or goal buddy. Staying motivated on your own is tough. But if you find someone with similar goals (running, dieting, finances, etc.), see if they'd like to partner with you. Or partner with your spouse, sibling or best friend on whatever goals they're trying to achieve. You don't have to be going after the same goals -- as long as you are both pushing and encouraging each other to succeed.

#15: Just get started. There are some days when you don't feel like heading out the door for a run, or figuring out your budget, or whatever it is you're supposed to do that day for your goal. Well, instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell yourself that you just have to start.

I have a rule (not an original one) that I just have to put on my running shoes and close the door behind me. After that, it all flows naturally. It's when you're sitting in your house, thinking about running and feeling tired, that it seems hard. Once you start, it is never as hard as you thought it would be. This tip works for me every time.

#14: Make it a pleasure. One reason we might put off something that will help us achieve our goal, such as exercise for example, is because it seems like hard work. Well, this might be true, but the key is to find a way to make it fun or pleasurable. If your goal activity becomes a treat, you actually look forward to it. And that's a good thing.

#13: Give it time, be patient. I know, this is easier said than done. But the problem with many of us is that we expect quick results. When you think about your goals, think long term. If you want to lose weight, you may see some quick initial losses, but it will take a long time to lose the rest. If you want to run a marathon, you won't be able to do it overnight. If you don't see the results you want soon, don't give up ... give it time. In the meantime, be happy with your progress so far, and with your ability to stick with your goals. The results will come if you give it time.

#12: Break it into smaller, mini goals. Sometimes large or longer-term goals can be overwhelming. After a couple weeks, we may lose motivation, because we still have several months or a year or more left to accomplish the goal. It's hard to maintain motivation for a single goal for such a long time. Solution: have smaller goals along the way.

#11: Reward yourself. Often. And not just for longer-term goals, either. In Hack #12, I talked about breaking larger goals into smaller, mini goals. Well, each of those mini goals should have a reward attached to it. Make a list of your goals, with mini goals, and next to each, write down an appropriate reward. By appropriate, I mean 1) it's proportionate to the size of the goal (don't reward going on a 1-mile run with a luxury cruise in the Bahamas); and 2) it doesn't ruin your goal -- if you are trying to lose weight, don't reward a day of healthy eating with a dessert binge. It's self-defeating.

#10: Find inspiration, on a daily basis. Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Every day, seek inspiration, and it will help sustain motivation over the long term. Sources of inspiration can include: blogs, online success stories, forums, friends and family, magazines, books, quotes, music, photos, people you meet.

#9: Get a coach or take a class. These will motivate you to at least show up, and to take action. It can be applied to any goal. This might be one of the more expensive ways of motivating yourself, but it works. And if you do some research, you might find some cheap classes in your area, or you might know a friend who will provide coaching or counseling for free.

#8: Have powerful reasons. Write them down. Know your reasons. Give them some thought ... and write them down. If you have loved ones, and you are doing it for them, that is more powerful than just doing it for self-interest. Doing it for yourself is good too, but you should do it for something that you REALLY REALLY want to happen, for really good reasons.

#7: Become aware of your urges to quit, and be prepared for them. We all have urges to stop, but they are mostly unconscious. One of the most powerful things you can do is to start being more conscious of those urges. A good exercise is to go through the day with a little piece of paper and put a tally mark for each time you get an urge. It simply makes you aware of the urges. Then have a plan for when those urges hit, and plan for it beforehand, and write down your plan, because once those urges hit, you will not feel like coming up with a plan.

#6: Make it a rule never to skip two days in a row.This rule takes into account our natural tendency to miss days now and then. We are not perfect. So, you missed one day ... now the second day is upon you and you are feeling lazy ... tell yourself NO! You will not miss two days in a row! Zen Habits says so! And just get started. You'll thank yourself later.

#5: Visualize your goal clearly, on a daily basis, for at least 5-10 minutes. Visualize your successful outcome in great detail. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome will look, will feel, will smell and taste and sound like. Where are you when you become successful? How do you look? What are you wearing? Form as clear a mental picture as possible. Now here's the next key: do it every day. For at least a few minutes each day. This is the only way to keep that motivation going over a long period of time.

#4: Keep a daily journal of your goal. If you are consistent about keeping a journal, it can be a great motivator. A journal should have not only what you did for the day, but your thoughts about how it went, how you felt, what mistakes you made, what you could do to improve. To be consistent about keeping a journal, do it right after you do your goal task each day. Make keeping a journal a sensory pleasure.

#3: Create a friendly, mutually-supportive competition.We are all competitive in nature, at least a little. Some more than others. Take advantage of this part of our human nature by using it to fuel your goals. If you have a workout partner or goal buddy, you've got all you need for a friendly competition. See who can log more miles, or save more dollars, each week or month. See who can do more pushups or pullups. See who can lose the most weight or have the best abs or lose the most inches on their waist. Make sure the goals are weighted so that the competition is fairly equal. And mutually support each other in your goals.

#2: Make a big public commitment. Be fully committed. This will do the trick every time. Create a blog and announce to the world that you are going to achieve a certain goal by a certain date. Commit yourself to the hilt.

#1: Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts. Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, a lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with positive thoughts. Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful.

See also:

Happiness tip: Volunteer at least once this month

2007-02-17T04:11:00.000-08:00

Want to feel great about yourself? Give to others. It's a feeling beyond anything you could get from buying something for yourself or treating yourself in any way. And it's extremely easy to do.

During the holidays, my family volunteered for bell ringing for Salvation Army, and it was an experience we all enjoyed very much. But even better than that was when we volunteered to serve at a local homeless soup kitchen. We prepared food enough for everybody, and served it to them one night. The kids were able to see people in real need, not just someone deprived of a few sweets or television. And they were able to give something to those people. And so was I.

We were so moved by the experience that we've decided to make it a regular thing, and we hope to volunteer for other good causes this year as well.

Finding a good cause is easy. Look in your local newspaper. Look in the phone book. Do an online search.

Then make a phone call or send an email. Today. And sign up to volunteer once this month. It will be one of the best things you've ever done.

Develop clean-house habits one at a time

2007-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Personal blogger Mrs. Ronk posted about trying to keep her house clean:

"I've just been frustrated (once again) by the fact that my house doesn't stay clean longer than five minutes. I don't have a system set up, and I also have bad habits such as putting my clothes in a pile by the side of my bed at night instead of hanging them up or putting them in the laundry hamper.

I'm tired of it. The clutter gets to me and I feel unsettled. And I feel like I can't start a new project or do anything fun until I get the house in order. But my house is never fully in order, so I never really get any projects done."

I totally understand where she's coming from. A messy house can be overwhelming, and the habits required not only to get it cleaned but to keep it that way can seem like too much to tackle.

But here's the key: I've found that it's best to use small steps in getting where you want to go.

Try these habits for at least two weeks each before going onto the next:

hang your clothes up or put them in hamper immediately
put all papers (including school papers, post-in notes, bills, etc) in one in basket, and process at the end of each day (use the steps in Clearing Your Desk)
keep you sink clean and shiny (wash dishes immediately, clean sink after)
pick up before you go to bed and before you leave the house
empty your trash daily
15 minutes decluttering sessions each day (see How to Declutter)
clean your shower, toilet and bathroom sink after each use (only takes a couple minutes!)
have a place for everything, and put everything in its place immediately
make your bed each morning
keep flat surfaces (counters, tables, desks) clear of clutter
put away your stuff as soon as you get home

Now, these are a lot of habits, and it might seem overwhelming, but if you tackle one at a time (in whatever order you like), it won't be that hard. Give yourself several months to get there - don't expect overnight change!

Here's how to tackle each habit:

Write down your goal.
Post it up somewhere visible.
Keep a log and make sure you write in it each day, noting whether you were successful or not for that day.
Post your daily results on your blog or on an online forum, or email to family and friends.
Reward yourself for each day of success.
Give yourself electric shocks if you fail that day (just kidding!).
Actually, if you fail that day, take a minute to see what went wrong, and how to correct it. Now forgive yourself for failing, and tell yourself that you will do better starting now!
Find a way to keep yourself focused on this goal for at least 2-3 weeks.
Celebrate when you're done.

If you can conquer that habit (and it may take a month or more), then move on to the next. Do not try to do them all at once! Take baby steps, and you'll get there.

See also:

One Month Challenge, Day 16

2007-02-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 16 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: McDonalds; Cost: $6.75; Essential? No
Item: soccer water containers; Cost: $10.98; Essential? Yes

Running total after 16 days is $1,445.03 ($1,309.56 essential - 91%).

Soccer season is upon us again, and we had to replace the old water bottles we'd been using. They are broken and torn and dirty.

Top 20 Motivation Hacks - #1

2007-02-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

OK, here it is! After about two weeks of waiting to get to the No. 1 spot, the best of the Top 20 Motivation Hacks ...

A number of people have commented that I must be dedicated to achieve some of the goals I'm going for: exercise, frugality, organization, healthy eating, etc. Well, I don't believe in someone being naturally "dedicated" ... it's all a matter of motivation. You can achieve anything if you motivate yourself enough.

NOTE: This series is coming to an end, and tomorrow I will do a roundup of all 20 Motivation Hacks.

Motivation Hack #1: Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts.

I cannot stress this motivation technique highly enough. If you've read My Story, I can tell you that there's one driving force that helped me achieve all that I've accomplished so far: and that one force is the power of positive thinking.

I know: this sounds like so much motivational public speaker mumbo jumbo. I've been cynical like you, and I know how I sound. I wish I could stop sounding like this, but it's impossible to help -- I'm speaking a truth that has astounded me every time I put it into practice.

Let me use running as an example. There've been many times when I wanted to quit, to just stop and give up. But here's the trick: when you sense these negative thoughts coming into your head, squash them immediately! These negative thoughts will conquer you if you don't conquer them, and you will never achieve your goal that way. So that's what I did -- I became aware of the negative thoughts, and I pushed them out. I told myself, I said, "Self! Don't think thoughts like that! You can do this!" And I kept telling myself that I could do it, and that optimism just multiplied until I was running faster than before and I had no thought of stopping.

Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, a lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with positive thoughts.

Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful. It's been used by many successful people, and I've only recently discovered its untapped potential. While all the motivation hacks I've listed on this site work extremely well, they will be 10 times stronger if you combine them with positive thinking. Maybe a thousand times stronger.

Top 20
#20
#19
#18
#17
#16
#15
#14
#13
#12
#11
#10
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1

Happiness tip: Don't complain, find solutions

2007-02-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

Every day we are faced with problems, but the key to our happiness is not whether or not we have problems, but how we look at them.

We have two choices:

Be negative, complain about the problem, wallow in self-pity, make others miserable because of your problem. OR
Be positive, try to find a solution to the problem, remain optimistic that it can be overcome, look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow, and inspire others around you to conquer challenges.

Which one do you do?

Which one do you think will make you happy?

One Month Challenge, Day 15

2007-02-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

This month, Zen Habits is taking up the One Month Challenge and I will be tracking all of my expenses and logging them throughout the month of February.

Day 15 of my One Month Challenge has passed. Here's how it turned out:

Item: water & snacks; Cost: $2.57; Essential? No
Item: loan to relative; Cost: $15.00; Essential? Yes
Item: two 5-gal bottled water; Cost: $2.50; Essential? Yes

Running total after 15 days is $1,427.30 ($1,298.58 essential - 91%).

I consider a loan to my relative essential, although we could have said no.

Alow yourself to be happy and proud of your progress

2007-02-15T15:49:00.000-08:00

Too often we are hard on ourselves and feel bad about our lack of progress. We feel guilty that we've missed a couple of workouts, or that our progress on our goal has stalled, or that we slipped up and ate some really fattening stuff.

But that's looking at the glass as half empty, and it is almost guaranteed to hinder your progress towards your goal.

Look at the glass as half full -- look back and see what you've done so far, and feel proud of your progress. Be happy about how far you've come so far, even if you have a long ways to go yet.

Take myself as an example. You might have read my story ... and looking back, it seems like I've achieved a lot in a short amount of time. But there were plenty of times when I missed workouts, and felt plenty guilty. There were times when I ate unhealthy, and felt bad. There were times when my organization system went to pieces, when my email inbox had 10 messages sitting there, not acted upon.

But if I let those bad feelings have any power over me, I'd probably have given up then and there, and never have reached my destination.

The key is to step back, and look back on what you've done. Sure, I missed some workouts, but look at how many I've done! And it wasn't long ago when I wasn't even a runner at all! Instead of beating yourself up, celebrate your success, no matter how small!

We will always feel guilty about what we haven't done, but it is important that we remind ourselves that it is only a temporary setback. I always tell myself that it's just a small bump on a long road.

Take the long view, both behind you and ahead of you. Small glitches can't derail a train as powerful as you!

Nifty links for Feb. 15, 2007

2007-02-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

Ririan Project: 10 Timeless Lessons From Dalai Lama. I love this guy. One of my favorite quotes from him, which also starts off this article: “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
The Telegraph: Man readjusts after 175 lbs. of weight loss. For your inspiration file.
ProBlogger: What a Buddhist Monk Taught Me About Blogging. Summed up in one line: When someone attacks you with anger and hatred say to them: “thank you for your ‘gift’ - but I think you can keep it for yourself.”

Top 20 Motivation Hacks - #2

2007-02-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Quick intro: I first intended this Top 20 list to be in a single post, but I decided that breaking them into separate posts would allow me to concentrate on each a little more. So, I present my list of the Top 20 Motivation Hacks.

A number of people have commented that I must be dedicated to achieve some of the goals I'm going for: exercise, frugality, organization, healthy eating, etc. Well, I don't believe in someone being naturally "dedicated" ... it's all a matter of motivation. You can achieve anything if you motivate yourself enough.

NOTE: This series is coming to an end, and after I post the #1 Motivation Hack tomorrow, I will do a roundup of all 20 the next day.

Motivation Hack #2: Make a big public commitment. Be fully committed.

This will do the trick every time. Create a blog and announce to the world that you are going to achieve a certain goal by a certain date. Commit yourself to the hilt.

When I decided to run a marathon, I didn't just tell my wife or mom that I would do it. I didn't just write it down. I didn't just set mini-goals and rewards along the way. I did all those things and more, but I went a giant step further: I began writing a bi-monthly column in my local newspaper about my journey to my first marathon. It was huge. People I didn't know would recognize me in the supermarket and ask me how my running was going. People would honk at me as I ran and cheer me on. People emailed me all the time with encouragement.

Now I ask you: after all that, how likely was it that I would back down? Not bloody likely at all. And I didn't -- largely due to all that positive public pressure, I achieved my goal last December.

You don't have to write a newspaper column, but you can tell as many people as possible about your goal. Tell your whole office, your whole family, all your friends, everyone you meet. And don't just tell them about it -- keep them updated. Ask them to encourage you and remind you and pester you every time they see you. Start a mailing list of everyone you know and send them weekly updates. Post your results up in your office and house. Put daily or weekly results on your blog. Join an online forum and commit yourself there, and post updates frequently.

Be creative and do what you have to do. But the more positive public pressure you create for yourself, the more likely your eventual success. This is guaranteed.

None of us like to look bad to other people. To ourselves, sure, we can look really bad. But to everyone else, we hate to fail in the public's eye. Make this simple trait of human nature work for you, and help you achieve your goals.

Top 20
#20
#19
#18
#17
#16
#15
#14
#13
#12
#11
#10
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2

Happiness tip: Really listen

2007-02-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

How many times do we talk to someone without listening, instead only thinking of what we want to say next? Many conversations are a disconnected series of statements as two people try to express themselves without really listening to the other person.

Show your respect and appreciation for others by actively listening to them.

Here are some tips:

Never interrupt.
Focus on the person speaking to you, and show that you are listening by looking into their eyes.
Always make sure your next statement relates to what was said.

Taking these three simple steps will help make people feel appreciated and respected, which are the foundation to a good relationship.