Why You Don’t Break the Chain
by Tom LaBaff
During a Reddit AMA, Jerry Seinfeld was asked if he still used a particular technique called the “Seinfeld Strategy” for writing jokes.
Seinfeld said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. He takes a big wall calendar that has the entire year on one page and hangs it on a prominent wall. Then, he grabs a red magic marker and draws an X on each day that he writes new joke material.
“After a few days, you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it, and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”
What’s interesting is that Seinfeld didn’t seem to care about the quality of these daily joke-writing sessions. What mattered, was putting in the time and hitting his quotas. What mattered was “not breaking the chain.”
Back to the Reddit AMA. Does Jerry still do this practice? His response:
“This is hilarious to me, that somehow I am getting credit for making an X on a calendar with the Seinfeld productivity program. It’s the dumbest non-idea that was not mine, but somehow I’m getting credit for it.”
Either way it’s a good practice to get sh*t done!
