Today’s blog is short and to the point, which is appropriate given the subject matter: personal productivity. Nearly a year ago in blog #46, I wrote about an approach I take to getting things done. I’d like to expand on that now..
If you’re anything like me, you often forget what you need to do within seconds of remembering it. I am aware that there are plenty of productivity driving apps available and I’ve tried a few of them but nothing has worked for me as well as the simple process of sending myself an email, and then converting those ‘to do’ emails into a written tasks list in my own handwriting.
The key point here is that I write the list in my own handwriting, not on an app or my iPhone notes section. I’m not saying these don’t work, I just find that when I can see a set of tasks written in my own handwriting, it stares back at me and drives me to complete them.
There is data to support this. Brain Tracy, probably the top sales skills author over the past 40 years, states that by writing down our goals there is a 1000% increased probability that we will achieve them. Dr. Robert Cialdini, the world’s leading persuasion psychology researcher with whom I studied in 2011 and quote regularly, talks about the power of ‘active commitments’ in driving consistency of action. The process of writing our tasks leverages both these findings; they are in my handwriting, so the chance of completion is much higher, and I had to perform an action to write them so I benefit from the pull of active commitment.
What I do next, is I add an arrow pointing into the task that I have set myself. I have been doing this for so long that the arrow is like a homing beacon for me, I see them wherever they are on a page and I know that until I have completed that task, the arrow cannot be crossed through. Crossing through that arrow is always a satisfying moment, a small weight of my shoulders. It’s the small victories that keep us moving forward. Design your day to have lots of small victories!
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