This is off-topic, but I thought I’d share with you a little nugget of wisdom I found today. I’m one those habitual procrastinators that will always find a way to put something off until I absolutely have to do it - and if I don’t have to do it, then there’s a good chance it’ll never get done!

It’s not like I haven’t read all of the productivity and time management books, but nothing ever seems to stick, you know? But after reading ‘Thirteen Tricks to Motivate Yourself‘ on Lifehack.org, I found one tip that really stood out:

Go for Five - Start working for five minutes. Often that little push will be enough to get you going.

This one is perfect for me, as it’s usually getting started that’s the hardest part. Once I get on that bike, though, it’s non-stop ride to the finish line. This is what productivity gurus refer to as ‘flow’: that state of consciousness when you’re truly absorbed in a task.

One of the commenters to the Lifehack.org post helpfully suggested that setting a kitchen timer or other such device for 5 minutes is a great way to get started. That way, the task doesn’t seem so insurmountable. All you have to do is promise yourself five minutes of doing the task, and then you can stop. If you’re anything like me, that’ll be all you need to get the entire task finished!

Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got five minutes of cleaning to do!

3 Original Responses to “Tricks for staying motivated”

1. 1 traumaphobic Sep 18th, 2007 at 6:10 am

   Yay! Finally a simple yet a very effective motivator trick - I just have to login and reply! I always find myself overwhelmed with the thought of finishing LOADS of schoolworks! Most of the time I get weekends pass doing nothing but worry of how I’m going to finish them all. Well, it just makes sense that for me to FINISH something, the first thing I need to do is to START! LOL. Thanks for the tip. I’ll remember that!

2. 2 reidme Sep 18th, 2007 at 6:52 am

   That’s a good one! There’s a corollary to that I learned a long time ago called the “Swiss Cheese” approach. Often when a job seems overwhelming you don’t know where to start. In that case don’t worry about starting “at the beginning”, just do anything. That “pokes a hole” in the job. After you’ve poked a few holes in the job it starts to look less daunting (and more like swiss cheese.)

3. 3 Jenneth Orantia Sep 18th, 2007 at 6:54 am

   Oh I used the Swiss Cheese approach over the weekend! I had to write a 1000 word article, and I just couldn’t get started. So I started writing one random sentence after another, and after awhile it just started to flow into a big 1000 word block! Nice one