Six Simple Steps That Helped Me Work 800% More
Few simple tweaks can bring order to life forever
A few months ago, I was dozing off into oblivion, daydreaming of becoming a successful author.
I was always tired.
There was always too much work to do in a day.
Twenty-four hours was always too little time to get everything done.
One day scrolling through memes on Reddit, I saw a post asking for a motivational buddy.
Wait a minute! What the hell was a motivational buddy? If you are also curious like me, you can check the entire subreddit here, with more than 10,000 members in it.
A motivational buddy is a person who helps you in keeping the promises and boosts your confidence. One may expect the same from a friend or a family member. Some days, we expect it from our significant other. Yet, a motivational buddy is a more functional version of the emotional support without unnecessary commitment.
The first thing I did, was allowing myself to join a group of motivational buddies. Without anything specific in mind, I hung around the group reading posts of other members.
Nobody there was a novice like me. They knew what they were doing. They posted their daily schedule in the morning and then posted how much they actually got done by the end.
Bursting with the enthusiasm for a new project, I started to schedule my daily activities as well. I tried to be as honest and as productive as I could be, but after a few days, it started to wear off. I tried to understand why it was working for others but not for me.
After too many days of reading about motivation and the significance of incentives, I realized I needed a reward system. I made a list of things that I wanted to buy and linked it to the level of productivity I would have in the coming week. I made sure that everything on my to-do list was linked to some form of reward.
Often times, we do not make an effort because we don’t have any hope of getting anything out of it. The best part of getting a motivational buddy is that you can do it keeping your anonymity intact. You are making yourself accountable without making it personal. If you don’t want to share every specific detail, you can give it code names.
By allowing myself to be open to accountability and rewards, I managed to achieve more. From writing one article a month because I was ‘too busy’, I am now writing three articles a week because I have time.
We all have time.
But we never know it, because we never track it.
Here is my six steps formula:
#1: Make a schedule of your activities
I made a daily to-do list which was mostly whimsical as I didn’t have any long-term strategy to achieve my goals. I learned my mistake soon. I made sure that every item on my to-do list helps me achieving my long-term goals. You can start with a 3-months and a 6-moths strategy and fragment it down to the daily level.
#2: Log your activities every day
The best thing you can do to yourself is to be honest. First with yourself then with others. If you do nothing in a day for some unforeseen reason, write it down. One of the entries in my daily log book has written on it:
“Did nothing like a shameless person.”
By writing it down, I made sure that there will be fewer such entries in the future.
#3: 100% productivity is a myth
Ask a CEO or a startup owner. They will tell you the same. Most of the successful person has a track record of 70% productivity. Allow yourself to be imperfect. Allow yourself to stagger. Work to increase your productivity rate gradually instead of hoping for a metamorphosis.
#4: Analyze the result
Compare yourself with the one you were last week. Don’t undervalue your efforts. Don’t overvalue your humbleness. It is important to identify weak areas. But it is equally important to reward your hard work because no one else will do it. You are the only one in life who can reward your own hard work. Everyone will judge the hard work by the end result.
#5: Self-Care is a task
It may well be the most important task. Make sure that self-care activities also make way into your daily to-do list. Reading, exercising, meditating and socializing are equally important activities. It should be rewarded accordingly.
#6: Reward yourself
Have a system of reward in place. I start my week by first planning the reward and then plan weekly objectives. Make sure that the reward is something you want very much. Delayed gratification has been scientifically proven to bring more satisfaction, along with the pride of earning it.
Within one week, you will realize how much work you are actually doing and how much you think you are doing.
