The statement does make me think, though. I give little bits to a lot of causes, but only a few consistently receive my dollars (and my love). Clearly, I have some kind of criteria, even if they’re mostly subconscious.

First, the easy one: I give because of who’s asking. This isn’t a strong enough factor for me to commit to ongoing or long-term giving, but when one of my friends asks me to sponsor their charity walk or tells me about organization they care deeply about that needs a one-time gift, I’ll usually bite.

For bigger or longer commitments, I weigh a few more factors:

• Is the organization effective? This goes a lot further than just having low administrative overhead. I want to see great results.
• What kind of impact do they have for eternity? There are so many needs in the world that many charities can all work to meet them without overlap, but my money isn’t unlimited so I give preference to those that address spiritual needs as well as physical, mental, social, and emotional needs.
• Am I needed (and do I know it)? There are charities who may be doing great things, but if they feel impersonal or don’t seem like they need my gift, I don’t give again. I’m not looking for a big public awards ceremony or anything—just a sense that my contribution matters.
• How far does my money go? Thanks to radically different costs-of-living around the world, the same dollar amount can go much further in other countries. I do give money domestically (for instance, to my local church), but I like how much my money can accomplish when given strategically. I especially like projects that are self-sustaining—projects where today’s successes set up tomorrow’s victories.
• How urgent and important is the need? Again, there are so many real, important needs in the world that I have to prioritize. I usually go for concrete projects rather than abstract ones as a result.

These are just guidelines, obviously, but they help narrow down the vast field of good charities doing good work in areas that need good solutions.

I’m going to write about some of my favorite charities over the next few days, but in the meantime, I’m curious: what makes you give to one charity over another?

photo credit: Per Ola Wiberg

The first day of a new month (rabbit rabbit!) and it’s the one that feels most like “autumn” to me—nevermind that it’s supposed to get up to almost 90° F today! The only downside: dreaded invoicing day. I really hate invoicing. A lot.

One reason for my passionate loathing is just the simple fact that it involves doing tedious tasks that I’m not particularly good at. If that was it, though, I’d outsource it and be done with it. The worse part is that I have to go through all of my PayPal transactions and categorize them, make sure everything matches, and realize that I’m putting in tons of hours and making very little money as a result. That’s just depressing.

So today I’ll get through evil invoicing first in hopes of having a better rest of the day. I haven’t even showered yet—don’t worry, it will immediately follow invoicing.

I also need to fit in some baking for our church gathering tonight—I’ve committed to bring some bread and I’m thinking about a certain bread machine roll recipe + a pan of cornbread. Neither will take very much active time but I need to remember to start early enough.

Most Important Tasks

• Invoicing
• Do two specific tasks on a client site (being vague here for privacy reasons)
• Create three new videos for my training course and write text versions for all four videos

The reward

I’ll allow myself to read as many of my blog feeds as I want (when my work is done). I have about 150 unread posts, and spent some time last night reducing the incoming flow, so I’m looking forward to catching up.

photo credit: tracyhunter

After my post last week, I carefully considered both of the productivity courses I was thinking of taking… and decided to go with “neither.” Why? Because realistically, I already know most of what I need to do and am not doing it, so I think it would be a mistake to spend money on something else at this point.

One of the great things both of those programs offer, though, is daily encouragement. I’m sure the creators of both programs would counter my reasoning for not enrolling with something like, “Everyone struggles with not doing what they know they should do—my program helps you take action with daily motivation!”

So I’m looking to replicate that—on the cheap. Fortunately, I have a few good ideas. They’re a combination of tools, carrot, and stick (though maybe I should say “chocolate” instead of “carrot,” since I don’t actually like carrots… ooh, or “carrot cake”! ).

• The tool: I have a bunch of motivational podcasts that I’m already subscribed to. I enjoy them when I listen to them, and it would be a great start to each day to just hit play on one.
• The carrot cake: Leo (the Zen To Done guy) recommends rewards, and lots of them early on. I will give myself a small reward each day I hit my targets.
• The stick: I’m posting my plan here, and you’ll all know if I don’t do it. I’m also committing to posting a daily update for the next three weeks (sorry, might be boring reading for you, but I know from experience that public commitment motivates me).

A successful day

So the question is, what am I shooting for each day? I’ve made a specific list (because specific = finite = I know when I’m done!).

• I will start by listening to a motivational podcast. I’m resisting this one a little because it seems kind of frivolous (“why don’t you just get down to work?!?”), but I know that I am more likely to actually get down to work after I feel motivated.
• My first task will be to decide on two or three “most important tasks” (Leo calls these MITs). These are the tasks that matter most for one reason or another; they might be urgent, or they might relieve some particular stress, or they might further a developing business idea. But absolutely no more than three per day—otherwise it’s just not realistic.
• Accountability kicks in when I post the daily plan on this blog. This will probably be a very short post—just a list of my MITs, my reward for success, and any random thoughts that crop up as part of the process. I’ll put them all in the “Daily Check-In” category so that you can skip them easily if you aren’t interested.
• In addition to doing a few things right, I also need to break some unproductive habits. Consequently, I won’t check email or Twitter until at least one MIT is done. And I won’t check it again until all MITs are done.
• For the next three weeks, my specific “good habit” I’m developing is the “Process” habit. That means that my daily target will be to process all new email that comes in each day, plus five older emails (because I’ve got to get through that backlog somehow!). That doesn’t mean that I’ll complete the tasks contained in every email, just that I’ll process them, get them on the appropriate list, and stop using my inbox as a to-do list.
• Once I complete the previous items on this list, I will update the morning’s blog post with a comment.
• Finally, I will turn off my Mac before going to bed. Besides the benefit to the electric bill + environment, this means I will have to put everything away—save files, bookmark sites, etc. The morning will be much nicer with a clean slate.

Today’s plan

I thought of doing a second post for this but it seemed silly.

Most Important Tasks

• Finish the back-end design for my upcoming blogging course
• Record a video walk-through for a client
• Record my first video for the blogging course

The reward

If I get my day wrapped up by 4pm, I’ll take off early (to the living room!) and give myself some time alone with my new John Grisham novel.