“Mind Hack” — Do Just One Thing On Your To-Do List Every Day

Dr Arif Akhtar
Jul 25, 2017 · 4 min read
Doing just one thing that is on your “to do list” every day can make a big difference to your productivity.

Introduction

Like many people I am an endless procrastinator if given the chance, so I am always on the lookout for new ways to help myself get things done.

Anything that helps in getting things done is fantastic.

I thought it would be useful to do some posts to share some of these tips.

This is something that has been working very well for me recently:


Do One Thing on the List Every Day Without Fail

I keep a notepad with me at all times — nothing revolutionary or new there — I use it to record my “to do list” and I’m sure a lot of people do the same.

Make a deal with yourself to do one thing on the list.

I have made a deal with myself that I will make sure I do one thing (the easiest thing on the list) every day and I will not worry if I do nothing else.

When I have overcome the hurdle of doing that one little thing, it actually makes doing some of the other tasks on the list seem much easier.

Often, I can then run through the rest of the list much more easily — sometimes I even complete the entire list on the same day.


Why Does this Work?

In my opinion it works because we create that can (and hence pain) involved in completing even minor tasks.

We create mental barriers which can seem at times insurmountable.

These barriers are unrealistic yet very powerful.

They are created because we are prone to various which affect our perceptions of a situation.

These affect our behaviour and create procrastination which makes the situation appear worse.

The longer the list gets the harder it is to tackle it and we just keep putting it off because it seems more and more difficult to do tackle it!

When we commit to doing a single task without fail we force ourselves to test the reality of the task versus our skewed perception.

Reality testing can shatter the barriers and make us feel empowered.

This breaks the illusory barriers in our way and can also help to shatter the barriers that stand in the way of the other tasks in the list.

In addition there is also an internal reward (pleasure) that comes from completing a task.

This can help to negate some of the pain of initiating the other tasks on the list which also makes them easier to do.

Anyway I hope you found this little productivity tip useful.

Let me know what you think. Have you used this method yourself?


References

  1. Morin, Amy. 2017. “10 Thinking Errors That Will Crush Your Mental Strength.” Psychology Today. Accessed July 3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201501/10-thinking-errors-will-crush-your-mental-strength.

Thank you for reading



All images are taken from my personal Thinkstock Photography account unless stated otherwise. More information can be provided on request.

Thrive Global

More than living. Thriving.

Dr Arif Akhtar

Written by

Doctor and Blogger. Interest in neuroscience, behavioural economics and cryptocurrencies.

Thrive Global

More than living. Thriving.

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