Get Everything Done

In my posting Chaining: A Way to Keep Going I mentioned a useful website for keeping track of things you want to do every day:

Joesgoals.com

I’ve been using it quite a bit recently, and one thing it is absolutely brilliant at is keeping track of whether I succeed in finishing my Will Do list every day. As those of you who’ve read Do It Tomorrow know, I strongly recommend carrying out a diagnostic procedure if you fail to complete your Will Do list for more than a few days. The number of days depends on your particular circumstances, but I use 3 days myself. If you are using more than 5 days, you are fooling yourself!

Joesgoals allows you to have negative goals (i.e. things you don’t want to do) as well as positive goals. The chain then refers to the number of days you have refrained from doing the undesired behaviour (like smoking, eating chocolate cake, etc.). I put my Will Do list in as a negative goal - Not Complete Will Do List - so that the program shows up immediately if I’ve not completed the list for three days. I get a row of three red crosses!

Never underestimate the power of these types of visual reminders. I regard getting even one cross as a major disaster, and would do almost anything to avoid three in a row. Yes, I might even exercise discrimination in what I put on the list in the first place!

Being busy is a form of laziness - lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. (Tim Ferris, The 4-Hour Working Week)