Don't Don't Break the Chain... Make the Chain!

Make the chain!
(source: Wikipedia)

One of the worst productivity tips I've ever heard came from Jerry Seinfeld.  Here's the "tip": never skip a day of work.  Specifically, as a comedian-writer Seinfeld's goal was to write as much as possible.  To this end, he marked a calendar with a big red "X" for every day he worked.  After a few days of this, a chain of X's would form.  Then came the productivity goal: "Don't break the chain."

I've tried this trick for some activities and I've found it to be a terrible piece of advice.  Here's why: I always failed.  Eventually, I broke the chain.  Eventually, life reared up and made it impossible to stick with a habit.  Something always comes up: illness, events, deadlines, fatigue.  And guess what?  Failing sucks!

The problem with "Don't Break the Chain" is that it is an avoidance goal: it frames a goal or habit as something not to do.  The problem with this is that doesn't describe the behavior that one should be doing and leaves too much room for failure, as I've described.

Instead, I propose the following counter to Seinfeld's tip: "Make a chain."  Track every time you do something.  Make a check mark. Stick a sticker.  Put a coin in a jar. Whatever.  Just give yourself credit for every time you do it right and keep track of how many times you did it.  In this case, it doesn't matter if you skip a day.  Pick up the next day, or the next.  Or the next week.  Small failures don't matter if your goal is to make a huge chain; just pick up where you left off.

This has worked great for me while I've taken up running.  At first, I got all bummed out when I missed a day of my running plan: I broke the chain.  But then I reframed the goal as "make the chain" and now I can never fail.  If I miss a day, I just pick up where I left off.  Each workout I complete, I cross it off.  I see a permanent record of my progress that cannot be taken away.

Stay happy :)

S.M.A.R.T. Goals Are Dumb

Dream small.

If you've ever been exposed to any goal-setting advice of any kind, you've probably heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.  I'd like to add one more adjective: overwhelming.

Who has the time and energy to craft a series of SMART goals and then track progress in great detail? I'm a nerd, but there are only so many excel spreadsheets I can create before I feel ashamed.

Also, what happens if you think you've created a SMART goal, but realize it's not "attainable" or too "timely"?  I know what happens to me: I feel like monkey poo.

SMART goals are also dumb because when they are too "big picture", they cause anxiety.  For example, when I think about some Big Goal, even when it may fit into the SMART paradigm, I get overwhelmed. I get discouraged. I get pessimistic.

What's the solution?  Actually, I think it's a combination of Big, but Vague, goals and small SMART micro-goals that are designed to bring us one step closer to that Big Vague Goal.  This concept of micro-goals is shown to be effective in everything from making tough changes, to procrastination, to extreme physical challenges like training for the Navy Seals.

Why does this work?  Because you can design the micro-goals to be so stupid easy, you are guaranteed to succeed. So, we shouldn't make some huge-ass SMART goal that seems impossible (even if it's not). Instead, we do something so tiny that it seems ridiculously easy (run for 5 minutes).  Then, we do it and feel awesome.  This creates a positive-feedback loop: set more tiny goals, kick ass, repeat.  As long as these tiny, micro-goals are pointed in the general direction of the Big Vague Goal, we're basically guaranteed to come close to our Big Vague Goal over time.

To be fair SMART isn't all bad, setting specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals is essentially what I suggest we do: easy goals are all of those things.  But I would add one more essential criteria: small. The smallness takes the overwhelming scale out of the equation. So, SMARTS goal-setting is the way to go for me, but that's an awkward acronym and it's easier to just say SMART goals are dumb.

Week of Productivity, Level 2

Check, please?

Another Week of Metacognition?  Check!  As I've discussed, I've been playing around with these Daily Mind Games to practice thinking in new ways, and hopefully make some improvements to how I think.  For me, it's been an interesting and challenging experiment.

Tell me: do the Daily Mind Games do it for you?  I know I have a smattering of readers out there, so please!  Give me some feedback. Do you like the format of the posts?  Too short, too long?  More posts, fewer posts?  Be honest - I can take it.  I think :)

I ask, because I fear the DMG-format may have run it's course.  For starters, It's actually very difficult to conceive of, and write up a game every day.  I do have a full-time job :)

In addition, many of these concepts are better thought of powerful habits, rather than isolated "games", although I do think it's important to focus.  In any case, I think I sometimes fail to get my point across when I just rattle off a game.  Instead, I may be better able to communicate with a pithy "article", complete with useful links and references to support my claims.

This Is For You

I'm going strong this week: pushing out the work like a man possessed.  Why? Cuz, I've got the skillz to pay the proverbial bills when it comes to conquering procrastination.  For starters, I'm focused on productivity, not procrastination, because that's what approach goals are all about.  Also, I'm treating work like a game to get into the zone, and reminding myself of the bigger picture to stay motivated.  Finally, I'm taking breaks and scheduling not-working because life would stink otherwise.  But all this has been about me, me, me.  If i'm really going to conquer procrastination, I need to make it about more than just me.

Do it for them.

That's right.  There's nothing more motivating than having someone to work hard for. It can be a child or a spouse, a mom or a brother.  It doesn't even have to be a family member: anyone you respect can be someone to work hard for.  Your boss.  Your mentor.  Your colleagues.

Today, increase your motivation by surrounding yourself with objects and images that remind you of the people who depend on you.  When you see their smiling faces, or the objects that remind you of them, you'll get back to work real quick.  Fo' sho.

Unschedule

Time to get this Week of Productivity, Level 2 back on track.  Previously, we played around with some Daily Mind Games that were designed to get our motivation up, get us in the zone, and make getting things done fun. Today, we're switching from overt productivity to a psychological trick to make ourselves work harder with less pain.  It's time to put ourselves first!

All work and no play...

When it comes to productivity, often the problem is that we're too hard on ourselves: we push ourselves too hard.  I do this all the time.  I think the answer to getting more out of myself is to keep pushing the pace.  Unfortunately, all that drive for more, more, more creates feelings of self-resentment, burn-out, and even fear.

Instead, when I schedule times for recovery, relaxation and reward, I am much more likely to work without resentment and burn-out.  Paradoxically, by putting pleasure first our work sessions will be more effective, because we can see a light at the end of the tunnel and can pick a more appropriate pace.

Kudos

A scheduled break.

My homunculus has been doing such a great job this week, I think he deserves a little reward.  First, the little fella got all positive about his goals for me.  Next, he became all excited when I made my to-do list into a game.  And, yesterday, he was all pumped up after I reminded him of what all the work was about.  Yes, Homunky has been cooperating, so I think a little treat is in order... After we get just a tiny bit more work done.

One of the more demoralizing aspects of most jobs is that it seems that the work is endless.  It just keeps coming with no end in sight!  Even thinking about that fact makes me squirm a little bit.  So, in order to avoid going all cra-cra it helps me to set scheduled work-bouts followed by a scheduled break, or some other reward, for a job-well-done.  Knowing that I have something to look forward to (in my case, some time to goof-off) makes me much more likely to stay focused.

Kudos

Task: Reward yourself for predetermined lengths of focused work.

Info: Depending on my level of motivation, I typically settle on either half-hour or hour-long bouts of work followed by 10-15min bouts of fun.  This strategy is most useful for tasks that are really hard to get started, like long, written documents.  When I promise myself a break after a certain amount of work, I'm much more likely to get started because I know the pain won't last forever!  The more nasty the task is, the shorter the work periods and the longer the break periods should be in order to overcome the inertia of getting started.  Finally, stick to your break schedule!  Even if you're in the zone, I'm of the opinion that working for longer that promised causes some amount of self-resentment.  Instead, take the scheduled break and make the next work-period a little longer.

Goal: Get started on an onerous task using a reward as a motivator.

Don't forget! If you subscribe to The Happy Homunculus by RSS, email, ortwitter, you'll stay up-to-date on all the Daily Mind Games!

To-do to Goal

Our to-do list as a game: it's a fun, mental trick to help us make it though a day of arduous tasks.  However, eventually, treating our tasks as a game is going to lose its luster.  Even the most fun games can become tiresome after time, especially once we've plateaued, because they seem arbitrary.  Once we "beat" the game, why continue to play without greater meaning?  So, we must layer on an additional trick of motivation to keep our work-day fresh.  Today let's give our to-do list purpose.

What's the goal?

A common problem I experience is that I often lose sight of the bigger picture when I'm trying to get stuff done.  I start to go through the motions, checking things off a list I made, without remembering the reason for an individual task.  My list becomes a generic "inbox", and once items make it into the list, I often just do them without giving it much thought.

However, this lack of "purpose" is a quick path to procrastination.  Why work without a reason? So, today, let's go through our list of things to do and link each element with a larger goal.  What goal does the task address?

To-do to Goal

Task: Assign a larger goal to each item on your to-do list.

Info: This is an easy DMG.  At the end of each task, in parenthesis, come up with some larger purpose or goal that is associated with the task.  For this exercise, the "bigger picture" the better.  You want to remind yourself of the reason you're doing something in the first place.  When I do this, I'm quickly motivated to push through and get to work, because now I have a reason to do so.

Goal: Increase motivation by giving your work purpose.

Don't forget! If you subscribe to The Happy Homunculus by RSS, email, or twitter, you'll stay up-to-date on all the Daily Mind Games!

Game Time

Yesterday, we discussed the merits of framing goals as approach goals.  In simple terms, we want to achieve something, not avoid something.  Avoiding stuff doesn't get us anywhere, we need to do something positive to make our lives meaningful.  In that spirit, today's Daily Mind Game is simple and fun.  It's about our to-do list, which normally isn't fun. But, today, we're going to approach our list as, well, as a series of approach goals.  As many as we can.... Before time runs out!

Approach

Approach.

OK, the good news is that my homunculus is on-board:  "Listen boss, no more procrastinating, you hear?  If you waste any more time, I'm going to get really cranky and that will be bad news for you."  However, the really bad news is that my homunculus is a terrible motivator.  Why?  Because he's framing our goal as an avoidance goal: something NOT to do.  Unfortunately, thinking about something, even in a negative way, is just giving the bad-thing too much of our valuable attention.  Time to re-frame the problem.

Goals can be thought of in two ways: avoidance (don't, stop, no) and approach (do, go, yes).  For example, I could say to myself: "Self, stop procrastinating."  I could also say: "Self, do one task today".  By framing goals as approach goals, we're much more likely to succeed because we are turning our attention to what we want to do.  In contrast, by thinking about what not to do, we are focusing on the very thing we're trying to avoid.  This is the trap of thought suppression in action: don't think about a pink elephant.

Approach

Task: Frame your productivity goals for today as approach goals.

Info: Bottom line: be nice to yourself.  You could say: "Don't procrastinate." But that's mean.  Instead, say: "Just complete that one nagging task and see how you feel."  Every time you find yourself thinking of a motivational issue in terms of avoidance, re-frame the problem in terms of approach.

Goal: Feel good about your goals for the day.

You may have noticed that I've added some advertisements to The Happy Homunculus.  Yes, I'm a sell out.  But, I also want to make some cash!  So, if you see an ad that's relevant to you, do me a favor and click, click, click!  

If clicking ads is distasteful to you, then maybe you'd like to check out The Procrastination Equation.  The book inspired all of this week's DMGs. Thanks :)

Week of Feedback

Give your monkey-brain a pat on the virtual back: some positive feedback for a job-well-done!  The Week of Feedback is over here at The Happy Homunculus, and we've done some good work getting (and receiving) feedback.  Getting feedback about our performance is a straight shot to awesomeness, so let's searching for criticism.  It's the fastest way to be amazing!

Week of Productivity

I know, I know.  Just a single week dedicated to productivity?  In case you are wondering, I am aware that whole sections of the world wide web are dedicated to increasing productivity.  But, The Happy Homunculus is about improving all aspects of our thinking - we don't want to spend too much time on a single subject, do we?  That being said, I'm beginning to suspect that we will definitely have to revisit procrastination and productivity again in the future, so stay tuned!

Albeit brief, I hope this week's Daily Mind Games were useful in your battle against self-defeating procrastination.  It's always motivating to look back and see what we've accomplished, so here is the entire Week of Productivity in review:

Week of Productivity

Day 1: Too Easy - No such thing.
Day 2: Divide and Conquer - Or, break it up and win?
Day 3: High Contrast - Compare and contrast.
Day 4: Worst Case Scenario - Get busy, or else...
Day 5: Solitary Confinement - Escape distractions.
Day 6: Distraction-Free Zone - Clean your desk.

Just a reminder, all of these challenges were inspired by the book The Procrastination Equation.  If you want more ideas for defeating the impulses that lead to procrastination, check out the book.

It is not clear what the monkeys
are trying to remember. 

Next week is going to be really fun.  I recently read an another amazing book, this one with a more quirky title: Moonwalking with Einstein.  The memorable title is no accident - the book chronicles the journey of one intrepid journalist as he explores the secrets of the world-wide competitive memory circuit.  The book examines human memory from all angles, both scientific and otherwise, and should be enjoyable for both the empiricist and theorist in all of us :)   If you want to get a taste of the book, check out this article from the New York Times written by the author, Joshua Foer.  Really great read.

Too excited to wait for the Week of Memory to begin?  Check out this video for a sneak-peak of what we'll be up to in the days to come...

Finally, can't get enough metacognition?  Here is some further reading from other blogs, that you might enjoy:

Further Reading

1. How can you reduce stress?
2. The secret ingredient of motivation?
3. Dealing with drudgery...
4. Still stressed? Here's another tip.

Distraction-Free Zone

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Yesterday, we decided it would be prudent to physically extract ourselves from the distractions that tempt us to procrastinate.  But why should we move in order to focus?  Why can't our desks be a bastion of serenity?  An oasis of peace?  An island of focus?  A tree of... OK, that's enough.

In case you need some scientist to tell you that a clean and organized workspace helps you focus, then here you go: a study.  And those aren't any scientists, they're from Princeton so it has to be awesome science...  I don't mean to brag, but I've actually met some people who went to Princeton, so I must be awesome by association, right?  I digress.

The bottom line is that the more stuff you have in front of your eyes, the more time it will take to process any one piece of information. Thus, reducing stuff in your face will free brain-juice to focus on other, more important stuff.  So, clean up your desk.

Distraction-Free Zone

Task: Clean up your desk.

Info: How you get organized is up to you, but I recommend to go through everything piled on your desk and be ruthless about throwing things in the garbage.  More and more I realize that I don't need to save that much stuff to get the job done.  I have been a neat-freak before about filing everything in a super-duper system.  But, I soon realized that I rarely open most files.  So, if you're on the fence about anything... Repeat after me: "in da' trash."

Goal: Enjoy 1 hour of productivity on your newly cleaned desk.

Please don't argue with me that your messy desk is some expression of your individuality.  I don't care what your homunculus says.  Are you a rebellious 13 year-old again?  If you want to express yourself, get organized, get focused, and get a ton of incredible work done.  Rock on!

Solitary Confinement

I need some alone time.

How's the Week of Productivity going for you?  My tasks seem easy, and my motivation is really high.  But I can't seem to resist the temptations around me to not work.  People to chat with, intrawebs to surf, distances to stare out into...  What are we to do?  Answer: run away and hide.

In other words, sometimes we have to physically remove ourselves from all the distractions.  The closer and more in-our-face our triggers, the more likely we will give in to temptation.  Just like the distant future seems fuzzy, unimportant and distant, the objects feeding our impulsiveness seem more important when they are right in front of us.  Sooo, the theme for today's DMG is "Out of sight, out of mind."

Solitary Confinement

Task: Work in a place free of distractions and temptations.

Info: When you procrastinate, what do you do instead of working?  Do you compulsively check email? Facebook? Watch TV? Chat with co-workers?  Whatever it is, your job today is to put yourself in a position that is away from your main distractions and get some work done.  If your main distractions are online, try to bring work with you that is not computer-related.  If you must use your computer, do not open any programs (including a browser) that could trigger procrastination.  Do what it takes, but hide from temptation!

Goal: Work for 2 solid hours in solitary confinement.

What do you think?  Does this strategy work for you?  Post your thoughts in the comments!

Worst Case Scenario

Caught red-handed!

My inner child.  Cute, cuddly, and cooing, right?  Wrong.  That little brat is more likely to wail, scream, scratch and bite then give me a hug.  He doesn't care if I need to work. He wants to fidget and watch youtube videos. But how do we get anything done?  By making the needs of our inner adult seem very, very important.

Just like we discussed yesterday, there's something about the future that makes it seem really UNimportant.  The importance of future events pales next to the pull of things happening right now.  When this happens - when the future seems distant - our inner child wins out.  We give in to the distractions and temptations that are here, now, at the expense of our long-term goals.

To combat this, we're going to make the future feel more real, more pressing, and really, really scary.

Worst Case Scenario

Task: Visualize the worst possible thing that might happen if you don't get your work done.

Info: The idea here is to imagine the worst possible outcome of not working.  Really go dark and scary for this visualization task.  Here's what I might imagine as I try to motivate myself to work toward my Ph.D:  As I continue to put off important experiments, the days tick past, one-by-one.  I do the very minimum each day and don't think carefully about how to schedule my time to keep myself busy and make progress.  Experiments take two or three times as long as necessary.  Because I never make time for work, I barely make progress day-to-day, month-to-month, and, eventually, year-to-year.  Before I know it, I'm in my 15th year of my Ph.D. program with no papers and no hope of getting a job.  Finally, my committee decides my lack of progress is unacceptable, but instead of giving me a Ph.D. out of pity, I am kicked out of the program with nothing to show.  Yikes.

Goal: Make the negative outcomes that might result from procrastination feel as immediate and real as possible.

For some, this scare-tactic may be demotivating: the seriousness of the situation makes them freeze.  To avoid this, pair this challenge with previous Daily Mind Games to keep things fun and moving forward.  After today's "Worst Case Scenario", go right into "High Contrast" and imagine the positive outcomes that will come from working hard.  Then, "Divide and Conquer" and complete one task that seems "Too Easy".  Rinse and repeat until you're awesome!

High Contrast

Don't let time pass you by.

Our homunculi are really short-sighted.  They are basically little monkeys: it's about right now, me, here, now.  I'm hungry, now!  I'm bored, now! I'm tired, now! Unfortunately, today's "now" doesn't last forever, and before we know it, what was once "the distant future" becomes "now" and we must live with the consequences of our actions.  Perhaps it is time to help our little, impulsive inner-monkeys visualize what the future could be like.

One strategy for increasing our motivation to get to work, now, is to contrast our current state with our dream future state.  This can work for any goal that we're procrastinating on: what is your life like right now, and what do you want it to be like?

High Contrast

Task: Compare and contrast your current state with your dream state.

Info: This is a visualization exercise, so find a nice, quiet spot.  What do you need motivation to do? Get to work?  Lose weight? Start a new business?  Whatever it might be, visualize your life right now.  Really picture in your mind all the aspects of your life, right now that are not ideal.  Then, start to visualize how your life could be if only you accomplished the goal of your choosing.  What would be different about your life?  How would it feel on a daily basis after you've completed the goal?  Really try to visualize all the awesome stuff that will come your way if you can accomplish your goal.  This exercise is known as mental contrasting and serves to remind our impulsive sides that there are discrepancies between what we are now and what we want to be.  This can be a powerful motivator to get back on task.  Give it a try!

Goal: Spend 10minutes visualizing your current state and 10minutes contrasting that with your "dream" state.

As a small aside, try not to think about everything you need to do to get from your current state to your dream state - that can often be overwhelming.  Instead, use a vivid, visualized dream state as a tasty carrot pulling you to get back to work.  Then divide and conquer, and do one easy thing to get a step closer to your goal. Rinse and repeat!

Divide and Conquer

Divide and conquer may work with monkeys, too.

It's the oldest trick in the book for overcoming procrastination: take a really hard task and break it into much smaller, more manageable tasks.  Why don't we all do it, all the time then?  Well, we are procrastinators, right? Why shouldn't we procrastinate on breaking-really-hard-tasks-into-more-manageable-tasks too?  I mean, it's a task...

Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to the problem.  For whatever reason, the act of breaking up complex tasks into simpler ones is often not fun at all.  But that doesn't change the fact that if you can just get past that initial barrier and force yourself to do it, all the subsequent steps will be much, much easier.

So, that's today's Daily Mind Game.  Your mission is to take some complex, nasty project-task frankenstein and break that monster up into as many tiny little pieces as is humanly possible.  This is your challenge.  It's all you have to do for your metacognitive training today.  Don't wuss out!

Divide and Conquer

Task: Divide a massive task or project into as many simple subtasks as possible and complete one.

Info: Remember yesterday's DMG "Too Easy"?  The goals was to complete a single, stupidly easy task.  Your job today is to take a massive project and try to break it up into as many "Too Easy" tasks as possible.  Don't be shy: brainstorm the heck out of how you might subdivide this task. Go crazy, don't be embarrassed if the tasks get to the level of "Lick stamp and place on envelope."  The point is to create a list of tasks that are so easy you've turned an impossible project into a series of tasks that will get done organically.  Have fun with it!

Goal: Create a list of at least 20 subtasks for a single project or mega-task.

If you're like me, you're going to want to procrastinate on this too.  Don't give in!  Promise yourself you'll do this at the very least today.  It will make future work so much easier.

Too Easy

Complete one, really, really,
ridiculously, easy task.

It's ironic.  This week is supposed to be The Week of Productivity at The Happy Homunculus and here I am, writing this post last-minute. Uggh.  If only I had been able to plan ahead enough to write the post last week, this wouldn't have happened.  But that's ok, why have a Week of Productivity if there isn't some room for improvement, right?  The personal hang-up I wrestle with the most is procrastination, so this is just what the doctor order for Yours Truly.  What about you?  Are you ready to get busy?

I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes", because I don't think I've met a single person who thinks they are productive enough.  There is always some room for improvement.  For that reason, I hope you'll follow along this week as we try some challenges designed to improve our ability to stay focused and get some work done.

I recently read a nice book on the psychology of procrastination: The Procrastination Equation.  The book reports on the most recent research linking impulsiveness and poor self-control with procrastination, and I found the argument compelling.  In addition, the book gave me a bunch of practical ideas for how to combat procrastination in my own life.  These strategies will form the foundation for this week's Daily Mind Games.

For the first DMG, let's start with an easy one.  A really, really easy one...

Too Easy

Task: Pick an absurdly easy task and complete it.

Info: Huge, scary projects are often so intimidating and complex that it can seem totally over our head.  Today's challenge is designed so that we simultaneous get started on the project and gain confidence with a very simple task.  When you choose your task, pick something that seems so easy it makes you feel a little awkward.  The point is to pick a task that is so simple, so mindless, so easy that you have no excuse for not doing it.  If you accomplish this "too easy" task today, you win the game.  If you don't, then the task wasn't easy enough!  Try again.

Goal: Complete a really, really, ridiculously easy task.

This DMG reminds me of Small Change, from The Week of Motivation.  Small wins are the way to go when motivation is low...  Good luck!

Week of Flow

Go with the flow.

Good work masters of metacognition!  You've completed another Week of Metacognition: the Week of Flow is behind us.  But, that doesn't mean we should forget what we've learned...  Oh, no. Flow is a state of mind, a state of engagement with the task at-hand and, as we've discussed already, depends on how we think about the things we do.  I hope you will continue to look at all your activities as opportunities to get in the zone.

Miss The Week of Flow?  Missed The Week of Flow? Try it again for the first time:

Week of Flow

Day 1: Finding Flow - Look out for flow.
Day 2: Feast of Flow - Flow, with food.
Day 3: Physical Flow - Flow, with movement.
Day 4: Liquid List - Your to-do list is a game.
Day 5: Liquid Life - Your life is a game.
Day 6: Stream of Consciousness - Your thinking is a game.

Next week, The Happy Homunculus is going to be all about Productivity.  I recently read The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel, which made the interesting link between procrastination and impulsiveness.  Reading the book inspired me to inspire my readers to be more productive, so next week I've prepared some fun Daily Mind Games that are designed to help us produce.  Fun!

Are you diggin' The Happy Homunculus?  Please, take some time and show your support!

Liquid List

One funky monkey.

If you've been following The Happy Homunculus this week, you may see a trend emerging. Monday, we looked for activities that naturally produce a state of flow.  Tuesday, we changed our perspective to get in the zone for a daily duty.  Yesterday, we used a physical activity to tap into the flow state.  So, what is the trend? Flow can happen in almost any situation, it just takes a shift in perspective and the right conditions.  Today, we're going to exploit the principles of Flow to morph our soul-crushing to-do lists into a game that makes the very act of accomplishing things a flow experience.  Tell your homunculus to buckle its seat-belt.

As I've described before, tasks that get us into the zone are characterized by well-defined goals, immediate feedback, and reasonable challenge.  These are broad requirements that almost any activity can meet with a little creativity.  To extend this thinking, if individual tasks can produce flow, why can't the task of accomplishing all our tasks do the same?

Today, let's approach our to-do list with the goal of getting in the zone for the whole workday.  In order for this to happen though, we need to tweak our list to make things flow a bit better.

Liquid List

Task: Modify your to-do list to be compatible with the principles of Flow.

Info: You want your each item on your to-do list to be a well-defined task that provides a reasonable level of challenge.  What does this mean?  If the first item on your to-do list is: "Be awesome." That probably isn't going to get you into the zone.  Break the task up into individual tasks that each provide a nice, self-contained flow activity.  So, instead of "Be awesome" you could write 1. "Read chapter one of 'Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience'", 2. "Complete the Daily Mind Game at The Happy Homunculus.", 3. "Brainstorm next steps to being awesome".  Each one of those tasks is well-defined, provides the immediate sense of progress, and is self-correcting in terms of level of challenge.  Rewrite your whole to-do list with these requirements in mind.  Then start working!

Goal: Make it a game: 1 Metacognition Point per completed item.  Earn at least 10 MPs to win the game.

PS. I think for many of us, breaking big tasks into easy, little ones feels like cheating or laziness.  It isn't.  It's being smart and tailoring your to-do list to your Monkey 2.0 brain.  Don't make things harder on yourself!

Post your score in the comments...

Day of Doing

Ready, set, aim, aim, aim, aim....

I'm so proud of myself - I spent all day planning to write this post.  I was drafting strategies for how to start the post.  Possible titles stormed from my brain.  I thought about the percentage of bold, to italic, to regular text.  And, I wrote down a list of all my favorite gerunds in case I had the desire to layer on some gerunds.  Psych! I didn't really do all that planning.  If I did, I would have spent more time planning to write than actually writing.  Too bad I'm not that smart all the time, however: I often waste tons of time planning instead of working.  But not today.

During last week's "Working" challenge, the goal was to determine the ratio of time spent planning to work to the time spent actually doing stuff.  I need to spend more time actually working, so today, the plan is to not plan at all.

Day of Doing

Task: No planning or organizing allowed for one day of work.

Info: Planning and organizing is fun and is a great way to make yourself feel better while you're not working.  Unfortunately, after all that planning, the work still has to happen.  Working, on the other hand, is sometimes painful in the short term, but in the long term feels a lot better than planning ever will.  So, today, no planning.   I'll let you decide what to classify as working vs. planning, but be honest with yourself.

Goal: Get stuff done.  One point for each task completed.  Five points if the task has been on your mind for a week or more.  Ten points if the task has been nagging you for a month or more.

Do you think "not planning" is awesome?  Show your support for The Happy Homunculus by clicking one of the social widgets at the bottom of the page.  Muchas gracias!