One Small Habit to Boost Productivity

** Originally published on LinkedIn

I know very well about the importance on doing actual work, but I just feel like not doing anything. When you are in the moment of not doing anything, you will get a fake sense of happiness, which is actually temporary high. It is this temporary high that keep us from doing actual work. The high I can get from watching a YouTube video is immediate, comparing to learning a new skill or such, it takes time to improve just a little. But deep down, we all understand that to actually achieve something that we will be proud of, to be really satisfy about ourselves, we need to stop procrastinating and start action.

However, even sometimes when we decided it is time to really start doing somethings, we are disoriented. It may seem that we had done a lot of stuff, but actually we did not. We make ourselves seemed so busy, but actually we are just running around looking like a fool without really accomplishing anything. Although we are motivated, it seemed like we are chasing something but never really know what we are chasing.

Therefore, I decided to make a change. Every morning, the first thing I do is spend five minutes writing down a to-do list for what I am going to do for the day. It is really that simple. I had been using to-do list, but they are more on long term task or target that span across days or even weeks to accomplish, for example, a "Books to Read" list. But a daily to-do list is fundamentally different from that. When I spend that five minutes designing what I am going to do for the day, I tend to break those down to very small task. Be as specific as possible. Then, when you finish that task, check it off. I have been using Wunderlist, which gives a satisfying bell sound whenever you check off a task. This is a basic yet powerful positive affirmation reward system that will help you build your habit.

However, I tend to overestimate my ability. Not every task can be done by the day. I am still learning and coping with this new habit, yet it is already impactful to my daily life. What I would suggest if you are trying to start this habit, is to design more accurately on what you are able to accomplish in a day. Do not overestimate your ability. Blindly add more task to your "Today Task" does not make you able to accomplish more task, it just become more burden. Set realistic goal for yourself. At first, you might feel that you could easily finish all those task, then that's great. You could try to assign more task to yourself tomorrow. Gradually, you will learn more about your ability, how you manage time and even your hidden potential. But also make sure you do not just give yourself easy task and pat yourself at the end of the day. The purpose of making a to-do list is to balance your commitments across different task. If you only do all those easy task, hard task get postpone to the next day. This is a downwards spiral, which will not get you anywhere. Limit yourself when working in those easy task, force yourself to do those harder task. Once you start your action, inspiration and motivation will come naturally.

The best advice on productivity is very simple, just start doing something.