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Jerry Seinfeld used this exact technique to become a great comic. As told by software developer Brad Isaac when he asked Jerry for career advice[0]: He told me

Jerry Seinfeld used this exact technique to become a great comic. As told by software developer Brad Isaac when he asked Jerry for career advice[0]: He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain." "Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis. [0] http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-se...

prawn 14y ago
I've used this in the past to track multiple goals in this way: http://www.joesgoals.com/ http://www.joesgoals.com/
- jbigelow76 14y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion, I like this so far. My biggest beef with idonethis is the single check mark to indicate any activity whatsoever, making it less usable for tracking multiple goals.
  - prawn 14y ago
    Exactly. When I used this, I had some work and exercise-related positive goals, a multi-point goal (cooking, which I love but don't always make time for) and one negative line (caving in to the gaming addiction of the moment). At some point I abandoned it, but I can't remember what caused me to break the habit. I might have more luck with an iPhone app that kept the chains in my face more often?
JohnLBevan 14y ago
This was also recently mentioned by YouTuber "CharlieIsSoCoolLike", who's taken to putting videos online every day for a week to overcome his perfectionism, but who's also been following the technique for a much longer time to keep himself learning.
eee_c 14y ago
Yah, that's actually where I got the original idea: http://japhr.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-chain.html http://japhr.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-chain.html (should have made that more clear). I'm never going to reach Seinfeld levels, but that's all right.
its_so_on 14y ago
There's only one problem. When you do break the long chain you're out for the count. When was the last time you heard anything from Seinfeld after his long-running eponymous show was cancelled? How are you supposed to motivate yourself to start a new chain, when it means you'll be working on this shit for the next 3,000 days?
- stevetursi 14y ago
  True. But you're focusing on the chain for the chain's sake. Remember the chain is a hack - a method of altering your behavior to produce a result - and that result should be the focus. Of course, I'm not going to lie and deny that the chain has its own intrinsic value, which only intensifies as it gets longer. But consider- a.) The longer the chain, the less willing you are to break it, the more you learn not to let superficial things (like the futility of starting a new 3000-day chain) get in the way. b.) The longer the chain, the more you've achieved your result, and the less you need the chain. If that result didn't happen, then you should reconsider the chain in the first place (as per my point above.) Example of a.) As of today I have not missed a day of running in 485 days. After finishing a 100-mile ultramarathon 3.5 weeks ago, I got out and hacked together a 1-mile run the day after. Super painful, and took me 15 minutes, but it was an honest jog, and it counts. If my streak was much less than 460 days (at the time), I would not have continued the chain. example of b.) The result of the chain? It helped me to finish a 100-mile ultramarathon, even at 6'6" 285lbs. If I have to break the chain tomorrow, and its length keeps me from ever starting a new chain, well - look at what I accomplished. I'd say it was worth it. And I suspect Seinfeld would agree regarding his chain.
- mangodrunk 14y ago
  It wasn't canceled, he chose to stop the show, and at the time it was the most viewed show [0]. They offered him a lot more money but he decided to leave on a high point [1]. After having one of the most successful shows of all time, he went on to create a successful movie (Bee Movie) [2] and continues to do stand-up. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld#Ratings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld#Ratings [1] http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9712/26/seinfeld/ http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9712/26/seinfeld/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie
emehrkay 14y ago
This is the reason why I use ["I done this today"](https://idonethis.com/ https://idonethis.com/). I have it send me an email everynight at 11pm and I respond back with what I did for the day. I cant wait to look at it in a year.
nathanbarry 14y ago
This is a fantastic method. I wrote an iPhone app around this concept: http://thinklegend.com/commit http://thinklegend.com/commit One of my current commitments is to write 1000 words each day.
- sireat 14y ago
  I can highly recommend 750words.com if daily writing is what you are after , lots of those little psychological hooks to keep writing. I just love all those semi-useless graphs and stats you can generate if you wish. Completely Free too (it shows around 5% of people as donating something).
  - nathanbarry 14y ago
    I'll check that out. Thanks!
  - gnosis 14y ago
    Gah! You have to log in to use it. Worse, it the login has to be Facebook, Yahoo, or OpenID. No fucking way am I going to sign up for any of that shit, or let them track me as I visit sites I'm interested in. No thanks!
mr-ron 14y ago
http://chains.cc http://chains.cc is a good gui for this
- nathanbarry 14y ago
  Wow, this is a really good UI. Having designed something similar with Commit I think did a really good job!
- dodoflying 14y ago
  Thanks for this.
- BerislavLopac 14y ago
  I'm impressed. My first thought was "I should write an app for this", but seeing what they have done I have no intention whatsoever to even try. :-)
- wyan 14y ago
  This is a really nice site. Thanks.
statenjason 14y ago
Specific to open source on Github, but I've encountered this before: http://calendaraboutnothing.com/ http://calendaraboutnothing.com/
- wyan 14y ago
  Neat :)
LyleK 14y ago
Staying on track with a goal or two is easy. The hard part is that when you have enough goals, they all compete for time. So choosing which goals you want to follow becomes the ultimate problem.
nevster 14y ago
Try out http://dontbreakthechain.com/ http://dontbreakthechain.com/ - it's awesome.

prawn 14y ago

I've used this in the past to track multiple goals in this way: http://www.joesgoals.com/ http://www.joesgoals.com/

jbigelow76 14y ago
Thanks for the suggestion, I like this so far. My biggest beef with idonethis is the single check mark to indicate any activity whatsoever, making it less usable for tracking multiple goals.
- prawn 14y ago
  Exactly. When I used this, I had some work and exercise-related positive goals, a multi-point goal (cooking, which I love but don't always make time for) and one negative line (caving in to the gaming addiction of the moment). At some point I abandoned it, but I can't remember what caused me to break the habit. I might have more luck with an iPhone app that kept the chains in my face more often?

JohnLBevan 14y ago

This was also recently mentioned by YouTuber "CharlieIsSoCoolLike", who's taken to putting videos online every day for a week to overcome his perfectionism, but who's also been following the technique for a much longer time to keep himself learning.

eee_c 14y ago

Yah, that's actually where I got the original idea: http://japhr.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-chain.html http://japhr.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-chain.html (should have made that more clear). I'm never going to reach Seinfeld levels, but that's all right.

its_so_on 14y ago

There's only one problem. When you do break the long chain you're out for the count. When was the last time you heard anything from Seinfeld after his long-running eponymous show was cancelled? How are you supposed to motivate yourself to start a new chain, when it means you'll be working on this shit for the next 3,000 days?

stevetursi 14y ago
True. But you're focusing on the chain for the chain's sake. Remember the chain is a hack - a method of altering your behavior to produce a result - and that result should be the focus. Of course, I'm not going to lie and deny that the chain has its own intrinsic value, which only intensifies as it gets longer. But consider- a.) The longer the chain, the less willing you are to break it, the more you learn not to let superficial things (like the futility of starting a new 3000-day chain) get in the way. b.) The longer the chain, the more you've achieved your result, and the less you need the chain. If that result didn't happen, then you should reconsider the chain in the first place (as per my point above.) Example of a.) As of today I have not missed a day of running in 485 days. After finishing a 100-mile ultramarathon 3.5 weeks ago, I got out and hacked together a 1-mile run the day after. Super painful, and took me 15 minutes, but it was an honest jog, and it counts. If my streak was much less than 460 days (at the time), I would not have continued the chain. example of b.) The result of the chain? It helped me to finish a 100-mile ultramarathon, even at 6'6" 285lbs. If I have to break the chain tomorrow, and its length keeps me from ever starting a new chain, well - look at what I accomplished. I'd say it was worth it. And I suspect Seinfeld would agree regarding his chain.
mangodrunk 14y ago
It wasn't canceled, he chose to stop the show, and at the time it was the most viewed show [0]. They offered him a lot more money but he decided to leave on a high point [1]. After having one of the most successful shows of all time, he went on to create a successful movie (Bee Movie) [2] and continues to do stand-up. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld#Ratings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld#Ratings [1] http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9712/26/seinfeld/ http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9712/26/seinfeld/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie

emehrkay 14y ago

This is the reason why I use ["I done this today"](https://idonethis.com/ https://idonethis.com/). I have it send me an email everynight at 11pm and I respond back with what I did for the day. I cant wait to look at it in a year.

nathanbarry 14y ago

This is a fantastic method. I wrote an iPhone app around this concept: http://thinklegend.com/commit http://thinklegend.com/commit One of my current commitments is to write 1000 words each day.

sireat 14y ago
I can highly recommend 750words.com if daily writing is what you are after , lots of those little psychological hooks to keep writing. I just love all those semi-useless graphs and stats you can generate if you wish. Completely Free too (it shows around 5% of people as donating something).
- nathanbarry 14y ago
  I'll check that out. Thanks!
- gnosis 14y ago
  Gah! You have to log in to use it. Worse, it the login has to be Facebook, Yahoo, or OpenID. No fucking way am I going to sign up for any of that shit, or let them track me as I visit sites I'm interested in. No thanks!

mr-ron 14y ago

http://chains.cc http://chains.cc is a good gui for this

nathanbarry 14y ago
Wow, this is a really good UI. Having designed something similar with Commit I think did a really good job!
dodoflying 14y ago
Thanks for this.
BerislavLopac 14y ago
I'm impressed. My first thought was "I should write an app for this", but seeing what they have done I have no intention whatsoever to even try. :-)
wyan 14y ago
This is a really nice site. Thanks.

statenjason 14y ago

Specific to open source on Github, but I've encountered this before: http://calendaraboutnothing.com/ http://calendaraboutnothing.com/

wyan 14y ago
Neat :)

LyleK 14y ago

Staying on track with a goal or two is easy. The hard part is that when you have enough goals, they all compete for time. So choosing which goals you want to follow becomes the ultimate problem.

nevster 14y ago

Try out http://dontbreakthechain.com/ http://dontbreakthechain.com/ - it's awesome.