4 ms·

Right next to my monitor in plain sight is my dedicated low tech $8.95 yearly wall calendar like this one http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05083134000P

by edw519 16y ago

Right next to my monitor in plain sight is my dedicated low tech $8.95 yearly wall calendar like this one http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05083134000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=05083134000P http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05083134000P?sid=ID... I color every day either black (1 or more things completed) or red (0 things completed). Then I have to look at it all day every day for the rest of the year. Very humbling. [EDIT: A monthly calendar doesn't work as well. Redemption comes too soon. I need to suffer much longer to affect my long term work habits.]

sudont 16y ago
This is the best way to do it. I've been trying out several other apps, such as idonethis and "Epic Win!" but they all fail the visibility aspect of a wall calendar: not using an app hides away the shame of not using it. I know that idonethis uses a daily reminder email, but they generally get trashed: a wall calendar has physical presence.
- fhoxh 16y ago
  I have a working solution for idonethis.com, a conceptual solution for "Epic Win!", and an additional insight to add to yours. The working solution for idonethis.com is to simply set it as your browser's home page. I live on my laptop, and to a significant extent, my web browser as well. For people in this category, a browser's home page may have even more of an unavoidable visible presence than a wall calendar would, not to mention perhaps even a greater frequency of exposure. This also serves as a call to action, meaning that every time that one opens a tab to, for example, read a news site, they'll see their calendar first and have to consider whether reading the news is more important than the goals that they have set out for themselves. As a side-note, I have no bookmarks for any news or related sites, in order to force a view of the calendar. One thing I can see being a solution for "Epic Win!" would be if it displayed its equivalent of the calendar as the iOS device's lock screen and home screen wallpaper. In this way, you simply can't avoid seeing it. I've found that the key here is actually not in the unavoidability, the key here is reducing the effort required by greatest extent humanely possible. "Epic Win!", in its current state, fails because it takes effort, no matter how minuscule, to launch the app. Getting an automated reminder is great, but it still requires effort, again no matter how minuscule, to click into the body of the email to see the calendar. Using the browser home screen or iOS wallpaper approach means that you're always seeing your calendar as a side-effect of something that you were already doing, and thus itself requires zero intrinsic or additional effort. Finally, I think you brought up a great point in that "not using an app hides away the shame of not using it". The practical effect of having to deal with that shame is that it increases the effort required, due to emotional reconciliation, which decreases the likelihood of the app being launched. When you know that shame is unavoidable (since you'll see it as your wallpaper and/or browser home screen) you can no longer "ignore" the shame (e.g., ignore an email, don't open an app). The only way around not feeling the associated negative emotions is to just ensure that you're executing on the goals that you've set out for yourself. This approach is also supremely motivational from the "carrot" perspective. Seeing your chain of successes, day after day, is profoundly self-affirming, addictive, and habitualizing. You'll get to the point, in a relatively short period of time, where there is simply no force on the face of the planet that will prevent you from continuing your streak.
6ren 16y ago
What do you count as a "thing" completed? In dividing up complex overwhelming tasks into small doable tasks, they can become quite small - where do you draw the line, for what counts? Do you also include things from different projects or categories, or from all aspects of your life? as an extreme example, do you include daily chores? Maybe making it as broad as possible would be effective, because completing anything gets you started, and into a productive frame of mind.
- edw519 16y ago
  What do you count as a "thing" completed? Anything. It could be anything from "Add one comment line to function x" to "Read Chapter 7" to "Get sorting in Module 17 working". Obviously, I like breaking up tasks into smaller and smaller doable pieces, doable in hours, not days, weeks, or months. The entire point is the binaryness of it all. Finishing a one hour task completely is better than finishing a one month task 50% (which really means that 90% is still left). I learned this approach years ago from my hero of project management, Tom DeMarco http://www.amazon.com/Controlling-Software-Projects-Management-Measurement/dp/0917072324/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298653811&sr=8-7 http://www.amazon.com/Controlling-Software-Projects-Manageme... Every task is either complete or not complete. In spite of what many bosses of mine have thought, there is no such thing as "partially complete". Even when I break things down like this, I still have many "red days". Amazing how easy it is to go through a whole day and achieve nothing. That is the outcome that each of us should be trying to avoid.
  - derefr 16y ago
    > Every task is either complete or not complete. Say you task yourself to "fix the leaky pipe under the sink." You get down there with some pliers, check it off, and then the pipe starts leaking again. That probably means you didn't "fix" it. Do you avoid that by only using definitionally-finite verbs (e.g. "tighten the leaky pipe under the sink") or can some days retroactively go from black to red?
    - JanezStupar 16y ago
ekanes 16y ago
I like this but took it one little step further by stacking the months, because that worked even better for my brain. Now time simply goes week by week downwards, rather than down and then up and to the right to start a new month. Pic: http://blog.calendars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/aaron_thumb.jpg http://blog.calendars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/aaron_t... If someone would please print these, I'd love to buy one.
PakG1 16y ago
I love this idea and am going to start doing it. Thanks for the tip.

by edw519 16y ago

sudont 16y ago

This is the best way to do it. I've been trying out several other apps, such as idonethis and "Epic Win!" but they all fail the visibility aspect of a wall calendar: not using an app hides away the shame of not using it. I know that idonethis uses a daily reminder email, but they generally get trashed: a wall calendar has physical presence.

fhoxh 16y ago
I have a working solution for idonethis.com, a conceptual solution for "Epic Win!", and an additional insight to add to yours. The working solution for idonethis.com is to simply set it as your browser's home page. I live on my laptop, and to a significant extent, my web browser as well. For people in this category, a browser's home page may have even more of an unavoidable visible presence than a wall calendar would, not to mention perhaps even a greater frequency of exposure. This also serves as a call to action, meaning that every time that one opens a tab to, for example, read a news site, they'll see their calendar first and have to consider whether reading the news is more important than the goals that they have set out for themselves. As a side-note, I have no bookmarks for any news or related sites, in order to force a view of the calendar. One thing I can see being a solution for "Epic Win!" would be if it displayed its equivalent of the calendar as the iOS device's lock screen and home screen wallpaper. In this way, you simply can't avoid seeing it. I've found that the key here is actually not in the unavoidability, the key here is reducing the effort required by greatest extent humanely possible. "Epic Win!", in its current state, fails because it takes effort, no matter how minuscule, to launch the app. Getting an automated reminder is great, but it still requires effort, again no matter how minuscule, to click into the body of the email to see the calendar. Using the browser home screen or iOS wallpaper approach means that you're always seeing your calendar as a side-effect of something that you were already doing, and thus itself requires zero intrinsic or additional effort. Finally, I think you brought up a great point in that "not using an app hides away the shame of not using it". The practical effect of having to deal with that shame is that it increases the effort required, due to emotional reconciliation, which decreases the likelihood of the app being launched. When you know that shame is unavoidable (since you'll see it as your wallpaper and/or browser home screen) you can no longer "ignore" the shame (e.g., ignore an email, don't open an app). The only way around not feeling the associated negative emotions is to just ensure that you're executing on the goals that you've set out for yourself. This approach is also supremely motivational from the "carrot" perspective. Seeing your chain of successes, day after day, is profoundly self-affirming, addictive, and habitualizing. You'll get to the point, in a relatively short period of time, where there is simply no force on the face of the planet that will prevent you from continuing your streak.

6ren 16y ago

What do you count as a "thing" completed? In dividing up complex overwhelming tasks into small doable tasks, they can become quite small - where do you draw the line, for what counts? Do you also include things from different projects or categories, or from all aspects of your life? as an extreme example, do you include daily chores? Maybe making it as broad as possible would be effective, because completing anything gets you started, and into a productive frame of mind.

edw519 16y ago
What do you count as a "thing" completed? Anything. It could be anything from "Add one comment line to function x" to "Read Chapter 7" to "Get sorting in Module 17 working". Obviously, I like breaking up tasks into smaller and smaller doable pieces, doable in hours, not days, weeks, or months. The entire point is the binaryness of it all. Finishing a one hour task completely is better than finishing a one month task 50% (which really means that 90% is still left). I learned this approach years ago from my hero of project management, Tom DeMarco http://www.amazon.com/Controlling-Software-Projects-Management-Measurement/dp/0917072324/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298653811&sr=8-7 http://www.amazon.com/Controlling-Software-Projects-Manageme... Every task is either complete or not complete. In spite of what many bosses of mine have thought, there is no such thing as "partially complete". Even when I break things down like this, I still have many "red days". Amazing how easy it is to go through a whole day and achieve nothing. That is the outcome that each of us should be trying to avoid.
- derefr 16y ago
  > Every task is either complete or not complete. Say you task yourself to "fix the leaky pipe under the sink." You get down there with some pliers, check it off, and then the pipe starts leaking again. That probably means you didn't "fix" it. Do you avoid that by only using definitionally-finite verbs (e.g. "tighten the leaky pipe under the sink") or can some days retroactively go from black to red?
  - JanezStupar 16y ago

ekanes 16y ago

I like this but took it one little step further by stacking the months, because that worked even better for my brain. Now time simply goes week by week downwards, rather than down and then up and to the right to start a new month. Pic: http://blog.calendars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/aaron_thumb.jpg http://blog.calendars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/aaron_t... If someone would please print these, I'd love to buy one.

PakG1 16y ago

I love this idea and am going to start doing it. Thanks for the tip.