Do you use a system to improve your motivation/productivity?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I do quite well when I have finite tasks with firm deadlines. But I’m trying to write a thesis, where I have to set my own goals, and the only penalty for failing is not getting my thesis done so fast. Turns out, I totally suck at that.

I had to develop some actual organization and time-management skills. I’ve had a lot of success with a modified version of the The Printable CEO and just a dash of Unschedule.

Do you have any good tools or systems for motivating yourself to tackle big, ill-defined tasks?

2

So far, the method I’ve been using is known as the Straight Dope Message Board.

It has been spectacularly ineffective.

3

For big, undefined tasks that don’t depend on anybody else, it’s easy. I just break them down into smaller chunks and set my own deadlines. I don’t set penalties, but I do set rewards: “ok, if I can get this pile here done by the weekend, I’ll go watch a movie at the movie theater”. The deadlines must be reasonable, not ridiculously easy and not absurdly hard. The rewards must be something that will be nice if I get it but won’t kill me if I don’t.

4

Before starting on anything that’s bound to be annoying or difficult, I eat chocolate. Seriously, it seems to help. That and the baby steps thing are about all I use.

5

Billdo, that, strangely, has been my experience as well. :dubious: Fascinating.

Good advice about breaking things down, Dragon Drop and Nava. That’s been a big help for me. That’s what I use the Task Progress Tracker for. I have made up my own forms, with room for 25 tasks, and I currently have five (!) of them filled up for my thesis work, each one with varying number of things completed or . . . not.

The TPT takes the baby-step idea one step further by giving you a line of bubbles to fill in, one bubble for 15 minutes spent. If even your baby-step seems too intimidating, you can tell yourself that you’re going to do 15 minutes on it, then skip on to something else.

I also find it incredibly freeing to write down everything, every little step I can think of. Then it’s out of my head and I don’t have to worry about it any more, and I can skip around to my heart’s content without worrying about forgetting anything.

I’ve never had any luck with rewarding myself, though. I always end up deciding that, meh, I can live without the reward. Or else (shame on me) I give myself the reward anyway. Even when I reach my goal, and go off and do the reward, I dunno, I guess I don’t connect it up in any important way with reaching the goal.

But, yet, filling in bubbles, woooo! I find that extremely fulfilling and rewarding. How weird is that?

kelly, they’d have to roll me into my thesis defense on heavy-duty rolly-cart. Oy!