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Six Ways to Trick Yourself into Working Harder. I suspect that, like me, you’ve had times when you’ve thought if only I could work a bit harder… Maybe you’re worried that your only claim to fame is going to be “World’s Greatest Procrastinator” or “Biggest Farmville Addict”. You’ve got some great dreams and ambitions – but you secretly doubt whether you can work hard enough to achieve them.

I’ve got good news for you. There are a bunch of great little tricks you can use to encourage yourself to work harder. These aren’t just for your paid work or your small business: they work for any goal you have in mind, like dumblittleman.com/2007/08/easy-and-sexy-ways-to-lose-50-pounds.html">losing weight or quitting smoking. Use Your Competitive Spirit I’ve got a huge competitive streak.

You might well be wired the same. Look for a way to turn your work into a competition: this could be something informal with your friends, a competition that you find online, or even something you start up yourself. This works for almost any goal, too: The 8 Habits of Highly Productive People. What do you define as a “productive” person? Is it the ability to robotically churn out work, hour after hour? Is it the amount of discipline one has?

Is it the speed at which one works? Before we can discuss what makes a productive person, we should first define what productivity is. The common notion of productivity is the ability to churn out a lot of work in a short span of time. True, but not complete. For example, let’s say Peter types very fast and can reply 1000 emails a day. The past few months have been my most productive months for the year. At the same time, I’ve also been managing other work, such as 1-1 coaching with clients (I’m handling about 5-6 clients on average at each time), administrative aspects of the business, writing Personal Excellence articles/guest posts, maintaining the site, etc. A few days ago I finished designing my lineup of workshops next year, and earlier this week I conceptualized the idea for a new book. Thank you for being here at the blog.

The Freelancers Guide to Getting Into Flow. 20 Productive Ways to Use Your Free Time - Stepcase Lifehack. If you’ve got a big block of free time, the best way to put that to use is to relax, have fun, decompress from a stressful day, or spend time with a loved one. But if you’ve just got a little chunk — say 5 or 10 minutes — there’s no time to do any of the fun stuff. Put those little chunks of time to their most productive use. Everyone works differently, so the best use of your free time really depends on you, your working style, and what’s on your to-do list.

But it’s handy to have a list like this in order to quickly find a way to put that little spare time to work instantly, without any thought. Use the following list as a way to spark ideas for what you can do in a short amount of time. Reading file. Clip magazine articles or print out good articles or reports for reading later, and keep them in a folder marked “Reading File”. Got some productive spare-time tips of your own? Read full content. Fight Procrastination! I’ve often thought about why we Procrastinate. If one was logical, one would assume if there’s something that needed to be done and was Urgent/Important or rewarding enough, we’d get on to it right away. Here’s what it would look like on a diagram: The reality however is people are seldom logical.

As humans we’re governed partly by our intelligent mind and partly by our feelings and desires. Maybe we’re avoiding a task because we have a low sense of worth or a self-defeating mentality. Here’s what this would look like on a diagram: Whatever the actual reasons are, generally when the Pain associated with doing a particular task increases, so too does the level of Procrastination. Let’s consider a couple of typical examples. Doing the school report: I’d have to do some research at the library and online. I’m sure you can think of better things to do than that school report or 5km run.

The good news is Procrastination is a function of both Pain and Payoff. Related Posts. Haiku Productivity: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential | zen habits. By Leo Babauta I’ve been wanting to write this post for a little while now, about an experiment I’ve been doing. For a few months, I’ve been purposely binding myself. Not as a way to hamstring myself, but as a way to make me focus on fewer, but more important things. As a way to allow myself to do more in less time. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Pareto principle, known also as the 80/20 rule. While I don’t think that the percentages of that rule are exact, the principle is true: you should focus on the few things that get you the most benefit.

But while that’s nice in principle, in practice it’s hardly ever done. There’s no systematic way to focus on the essential stuff, and eliminate the rest. Until now. What this does is forces the poet to focus on only those words that mean the most to the poem. With such a limited form, you cannot just use any amount of words you want to express a concept. Limited but Productive So how does this apply to productivity? That’s it. The Recipe for Student Success - Ingredient Two : Perseverance | Minimal Student. “By perseverance the snail reached the ark”. – Charles Spurgeon The second ingredient to student success is Perseverance. On the surface, perseverance and passion may seem alike. Perhaps you’ve experienced it before. You quickly develop passion over something, a new hobby, project or interest, and you fervently try to find out as much as you can about it.

You buy all of the equipment, the books, you watch videos and read how-to’s. The passion was long gone. You need passion to get you started. I wish there was an easy five step method for making up some perseverance. 1. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. 2. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”. – Bill Gates 3. “I have not failed. 4. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other”. – Abraham Lincoln 5. Some of the things you’re doing might be on the difficult side. Related Posts The Recipe for Student Success – Ingredient One : Real Passion. Ben Franklin’s Virtue of Industry: Being Diligent Develops Self-Respect. This is the sixth in a series of posts on Ben Franklin’s 13 virtues.

Photo by Lewis Hine Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions. If you spend any time on the web, you probably have heard of Tim Ferris‘ book “The Four Hour Work Week.” Basically, what this entails is outsourcing as many menial tasks as you can to some person in India so you can have time to travel the world pursuing your passion. 1. 2. The whole idea of shifting all your work to someone else is elitist and undemocratic. 3. 4. 5. The Case for Industriousness Develops self-respect. Do not live useless and die contemptible. ~ John Witherspoon Fights Depression. The last time I went camping, I took a hike along a beautiful stream. More time for family and civic engagement. In addition to having more time for family, by being industrious you’ll have time to devote to your community.

How to be Industrious Plan. Eliminate distractions. Have a worthy goal. Set worthy goals for yourself. 33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity – Volume 3. Here’s the third installment of 33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity (see Volume 1 and Volume 2). These are a bit sillier and less politically correct than the first two volumes — I had to stretch to come up with more ideas – but many are still valid in certain situations. Just be sure to take them with a grain of salt.

I assume no liability for anyone who actually tries to apply these. Here are 33 more rules to boost your productivity: Halliburton. Cut corners to save time and money when the outcome is mainly for show anyway. If it looks good, it is good. Read the first two parts of this series here: Volume 1 and Volume 2 Steve RecommendsHere are my recommendations for products and services I've reviewed that can improve your results.

Feng Shui Fest (Free) - Alter your space to increase flow and peaceSite Build It! How to Stay Productive During the Winter Holidays - Stepcase Lifehack. It’s December and one side of my brain is already thinking about presents, imagining the warmth of home, and preparing a list of “must-buys” for Christmas entertaining . The other side ois stuck with the reality of my daily life: me, at the office, dealing with day-to-day tasks. My attention has been divided and this can be seen in my results. It’s not the best situation you want to deal with, especially when the boss has clear expectations from you and reminds you that holiday starts only on the 24th of December.

Therefore, we all most refocus and get concentrate to get things done in time. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Like everything else, we have to find a balance between work and Christmas preparations. How do you stay focused at work with the holidays upon us? Better Life Forum - 20 Procrastination Hacks. How to Cut Down Your Commitments. Do you feel constantly busy – and in demand? Are you the one person at work who everyone seems to ask when they need a favor?

Do you have a host of family obligations – driving your kids all over town, helping your mom spring clean her house, cooking dinner for your household? And are you involved in voluntary groups who demand your time and attention? None of these things are bad in themselves – but they can all add up to a frantic and hectic life where you never get time to enjoy each activity before you rush on to the next.

They can sap your energy, and prevent you from going after your own goals. If you need to cut down on your commitments, here’s how: Make a ListI’m a big fan of lists – they help you to organize your thoughts and to get some clarity. Circle any commitments which make you feel tired, dispirited, anxious, or put upon. The truth is, though, that it’s always possible to quit. So how do you get out of the things which you’re already committed to? Are you over-committed? Stop Looking at Role Models to Do the Dirty Work for You.

This is a guest post by Hulbert Lee, @hulbertlee . Role models are great to give us inspiration or motivation. You may have some role models of your own right now. I know I have some of my own, and it still amazes me to this day the certain work ethics of famous people. It leaves me in awe to wonder how famous comedians like Jay Leno can work through a day with only 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night, or how famous bloggers like Steve Pavlina can wake up at up 5:00 AM every day full of energy, or how famous wine-collectors like Gary Vaynerchuk can work 18 hours straight talking to people about wine. Doesn’t that get boring? I used to think, “Wow, if I could be like them, my life would be great.” When you look up to someone all your life, someone that’s always there who gives you hope, courage, motivation, inspiration, excitement, desire, or what have you, what happens one day when they don’t have that same impact on you anymore?

A. But what if we start changing our shoulds into musts ? B. 1.