My Fav Procrastination Hack - 30-10

We all procrastinate -- let's admit it. And if you're like me, you're always trying to find ways to stop the procrastinating. Here's the trick that works best for me:

1. Find something that you cannot make it through the day without. For me that's email, reading my blogs on Google Reader, or posting to this blog.
2. Set a timer for 30 minutes, and work for 30 minutes straight. Don't stop until the timer goes off! I use Cool Timer.
3. When you're done, you get to do the activity in No. 1 above. It's your reward. Do it for 10 minutes only, and then go back to your timer.
   

Obviously, this only works if you stick to it, and that's the trick. But I've found that it's really boosted my productivity.

Here's the key: resist all temptation to check email or your blogs (or whatever your reward activity is) until the 30 minutes comes up. You will probably be tempted, but don't give in. You will get more done using this simple trick than you can from any motivational seminar.

Posting this to my blog has been my 10-minute reward. Now I have to get back to work.

Purpose Your Day: Most Important Task (MIT)

I've mentioned this briefly in my morning routine, but I thought I'd explain a little bit more about MITs - Most Important Tasks. It's not an original concept, but one that I use on a daily basis and that has helped me out tremendously.

It's very simple: your MIT is the task you most want or need to get done today. In my case, I've tweaked it a bit so that I have three MITs -- the three things I must accomplish today. Do I get a lot more done than three things? Of course. But the idea is that no matter what else I do today, these are the things I want to be sure of doing. So, the MIT is the first thing I do each day, right after I have a glass of water to wake me up.

And here's the key to the MITs for me: at least one of the MITs should be related to one of my goals. While the other two can be work stuff (and usually are), one must be a goal next-action. This ensures that I am doing something to move my goals forward that day.

And that makes all the difference in the world. Each day, I've done something to make my dreams come true. It's built into my morning routine: set a next-action to accomplish for one of my goals. And so it happens each day, automatically.

Another key: do your MITs first thing in the morning, either at home or when you first get to work. If you put them off to later, you will get busy and run out of time to do them. Get them out of the way, and the rest of the day is gravy!

It's such a small thing to implement, and yet I'm raving about it like it's a huge revelation. But it is. Sometimes small things can make big differences. I highly recommend you give it a go.

See also:

• My Morning routine
• How I Became an Early Riser
• Best Way to Jumpstart Your Day (evening routine)
• Top 20 Motivation Hacks
• 5 Ways GTD Helps You Achieve Your Goals

Nifty links for Feb. 2, 2007

• Web Worker Daily posted Dinner Hacks So You Can Work, and while I believe in delineating work and private time (I know, not always possible), I like the dinner hacks.
• Getting Things Done posted the Ultimate GTD Index [via GTD Wannabe], a frequently updated collection of GTD blogs, software and news.
• The Simple Dollar has 23 Ways to Improve Your Finances This Weekend, despite it being Super Weekend. As always, Trent has some good ideas.
• NY Times has an article called Charting a Path from Bed to Desk that discusses the importance of a morning routine and getting a good start to the day. Interesting, because I just posted about Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine, My Morning Routine, and How I Became an Early Riser. I think NY Times is copying me.
  

Ben Franklin's hack tweaked - tracking my goals

A number of people have posted about Ben Franklin's virtues, which is one of the coolest ideas for tracking your habits. I've thought about this idea for quite some time, and just this week decided to tweak it to fit my own goals.

I created a simple spreadsheet for tracking my habits and goals, from exercise to quitting caffeine to my morning routine to my debt and savings goals.

Now, I have a weekly schedule worked out so that each of these is scheduled for different days, so on this chart I have the other days greyed out when I don't need to worry about that goal or habit.

So here's the key: each evening, I review my day (as Ben Franklin did). I look through the boxes for that day, and put a dot for the habits or goals I accomplished for that day, and an "x" for those I didn't. My goal is to have all dots and no "x"s. Then, I look at what's coming up for the next day, so I am prepared for tomorrow.

I do this review as the last thing I do before going to bed. It has been working like a charm. Like any system, it only works if you work it, but so far I've been working it. I highly recommend this system, as it's a great way not only to track your goals and habits, but to motivate yourself to stick with it each day.

OK, I know this is very similar to Joe's Goals, but I like this analogue method even better. I printed out a few small sheets (half of letter-sized sheet), printed out a nice cover with the word's "Habit Book" on the front. Give it a shot!