be more productive

I’ve tried to be productive in general, and I’ve succeeded to some extent, more in some areas then others.

One area I wasn’t doing well in is writing. I want to write more often, every day if I can, but it hasn’t been happening. I didn’t add this to my goals on 43T because I didn’t think I would actually do it.

When it comes to writing, I have a hard time staying motivated. However, I’ve recently joind writing4all, a site where writers share their creative writing and give/get feedback. This online community has a big emphasys on participation, so I’m hoping it will get me writing.

I think most people would agree that writing down one’s goals helps. However, I found that some lists work better than others, and different goals might need different lists.

I’ve found it helpful to write down short-term goals on paper, so I can have it with me until it’s done. This works well for things like homework, shopping lists, and a list of daily things to do that I might otherwise forget.

For long-term goals, paper is not that great. Loose sheets get lost all the time; I’ve tried using a planner, but I keep forgetting to check it. The only thing that I’ve found helpful for remembering and accomplishing long-term goals is 43things. This site has worked very well for me :)

The goals I post here can’t get lost, and it’s hard to forget about them. I check my email almost every day, so while I’m online I might as well log in here, see what I need to work on, and update my progress.

Now I haven’t been online for some time, and I haven’t done much about my goals during that time, but now I’m back and determined to make up for lost time.

A while ago I used the Personal Challange on one of my goals, and the consequence was a very good motivator, so I tried adding consequences to other things. (I decided to eat a stick of celery for every meal missed. My hatred of celery is indescribable, and I haven’t missed a meal since then.) But after a while I realized that just the thought of getting an ex instead of a checkmark on my checklist provided enough motivation to make me do what I said I would do, so physical consequences (like the Dreaded Celery) are not necessary.

After trying different things, I found that using a checklist works best for me. First of all, it reminds me of the things I need to do. Second, too few checkmarks shows me what I need to work on. And when I get at least 5/7 checkmarks, I can reward myself.

I have 7 columns (one week), but for goals like ‘eat 3 meals a day’ I can have a max of 3 checkmarks a day, so with that I’m aiming for at least 15/21.