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.

Right now I have three major client projects in the works, I’m writing an ebook (due to my editor on Wednesday), and I’ve signed up for Jimmy D. Brown’s Six Figure Formula coaching, which starts today. I’m also helping some friends organize and promote a 300-mile, 5-day bike ride (meeting today) and am in the middle of about six smaller client projects. Oh, yeah, and I’m supposed to be launching my new site and doing some business development work that will make my life easier down the road.

Aaaaauughh!

Today I am going to focus on doing just a small list of (big) things:

• Finish writing, entering, and first-draft-editing ebook chapters three and four, and send to my editor
• Read and follow the first lesson of the S.F.F. course
• Attend bike ride meeting
• Clear inbox (48 messages, most of which require some action or response)

I really want to add more items to that list, because I have so much more to do, but I think that’s realistically all I can handle in the next eight or nine hours. If I get it all done, I can always do more! Part of dealing with email will be communicating my slipping schedule to affected clients.

The big challenge will be not getting distracted. My inbox alone contains enough distractions to suck up the whole day, so I’m going to take Mark Forster’s approach and create a backlog of non-essential items that I can do later (like reading other e-courses), just to get them out of my immediate view.

I’m also going to turn chat off for today. I’ve just started following some ladies on Twitter that I’d really like to get to know, but I’m going to have to save that for another day when I can give it my full attention.

When I complete my tasks for today, I will reward myself with… um… man, I’m so mentally busy I can’t think of anything non-food-related that I want right now. Okay, I will reward myself with permission to read all of my neglected blog feeds, and check my blog stats.

Furthermore, when I get my finished draft of my ebook to my editor on Wednesday, I will get my hair cut on Thursday or Friday.

On the upside, I’ve already succeeded in clearing my clogged kitchen sink. That’s got to count for something!

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.