Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation — 1 Comment
24
Mar 08

Monday Motivation: Get Caught Up

Last week was sort of dully, vaguely unproductive. Nothing I can put my finger on, but I just didn’t make much forward progress. I’d really like to get this week off to a better start!

No overarching theme for this week, just a diverse bunch of things I’d like to move forward on.

Today’s to-do list has just six items on it, plus four emails that need written, and an inbox (only 13 messages!) to clear. However, four of the six to-do list items are big items, and I’d like to be done by 4pm today in order to be ready for tonight’s Bible study (need to read and prepare dinner). I’m also going to commit to a “closed list,” meaning I will not allow interruptions by adding new items to today’s list; anything that comes in today will be added to tomorrow’s list.

If I get my list done today, I’ll be closer to my ultimate goal of making my business run without me. My reward will be the simple joy of being done at 4pm. :)

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.

Creative Commons License photo credit: moon angel

Monday Motivation — 1 Comment
10
Mar 08

Monday Motivation: finish that site launch!

I’ve been puttering away at a new site, WordPress Theme Review, for months now. It was a case of too many dependencies: among other things, I didn’t want to launch it until my main site was done (it’s not), I had to create a plugin to add special features (did that), I needed to customize the theme (did that), and want to create a little badge for theme designers to show their results, so they can help me promote it (haven’t done that).

I eventually realized I was never going to launch the blasted site if I refused to lower my standards a bit. I’m a big fan of the motto “Ready, fire, aim” but sometimes it’s easier said than done. I got the core stuff functioning, but decided to launch without finishing my main site and without the badges.

I need this site to start making me money, and then I’ll be able to justify the time needed to add the other features. Of course, I still need to get my main site perfected functional, but that shouldn’t delay the money-making part of this site.

So today, my “must do” tasks revolve around finishing this site launch. I have already made some progress by inviting some friends to mention the site, but I’m also going to:

I’m also going to do the rest of my 19-item to-do list!

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.

Monday Motivation — 2 Comments
3
Mar 08

Monday Motivation: Let’s Get This Party Started!

I’ve long admired Wendy Piersall’s Monday Motivation concept, and starting this week, I’m going to jump in.

The concept is simple: public commitment (which I call “obligation”) is a powerful motivator. I can harness this power for good by telling you all (okay, since this is my first post, “you all” might be a rather small group, but whatever!) what I’m going to accomplish, and then I’ll be more likely to do it.

Wendy frequently uses either penalties or rewards as additional motivators, but I’m feeling too overwhelmed to add anything else at this point, so we’ll see how a simple public declaration works for me, and adjust as needed.

This Monday

  • I currently have 18 items on my to-do list (and an additional 7 already checked off, woohoo!). As you can imagine, that’s a lot of pressure, but they are all what Covey would call either “important-not-urgent” or “important-urgent”–no busy-work here. So completing this check list is what I commit to do for today.
  • I also commit to update you on my progress before I go to bed.

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link. :)

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