When it comes to working on a to-do list, there are all sorts of problems that can keep you from getting as much done as you set out to. Many personal productivity systems attempt to solve this problem by helping you become more organized or by assigning time blocks to items. But no matter how well organized your list is, or how much time you assign to work on it, one problem–a difficult problem–remains: motivation.
How Can You Systematize Motivation?
No matter how prepared we are, no matter how well we lay out our to-do lists, it can still be very difficult to get motivated each day. That’s why there has been, and continues to be, a lucrative industry built up around motivation. Think of all the books, blogs, podcasts, and seminars that revolve around getting people more motivated–and sustaining that motivation.
Much of this motivational literature and media is good stuff. It is effective. But only to a point. In order to have mass appeal, it needs to be general. And because the authors of the content aren’t living your life, and don’t know everybody’s specific situations, they have to keep the content abstract.
So what we end up with is a bunch of content that gets us motivated, but motivated to do abstract things. It motivates us to get our lives together, or think positive, or get up and get moving. But it can’t motivate us to take the next step. Yes, it is helpful for me to get moving, but once I’m moving, how can I get motivated to take on this very difficult project, with a lot of very heavy details?
The motivation has to come from a place that is both external to you, but also acknowledges the specifics of your situation, and how difficult they are.
Make it a Game
The Today System aims to harness our natural attraction to games and scores to try to solve this motivational problem. It’s as simple as the scoring system on your card each day. Do the more or the more important things, and get a higher score.
However many items you aim to do today, place them in priority order.
Then, assign each a weighted point value based on how many items are on the card. So, if you have 7 items on your card, item #1 is worth 7 points. Item #7 is worth 1 point. This way, you stop your mind’s immediate pull toward quantity, i.e., getting more items done. And you gently nudge it toward quality, i.e., getting the right things done. You can get a bunch of items done, but if you don’t get the top ones done, you’ll pay for it in missed points.
But it’s not about simply collecting as many points as you can. It’s also about penalizing you for overcommitting. That’s why the score is not a simple sum of your points. It’s your earned points divided by your possible points. The more you overcommit, refuse to plan and anticipate, refuse to take into consideration your fatigue, and so on–the more you’ll pay for it with a lower score.
Games are fun, but games also teach us important thought processes.
Play the game of life better. Pick up an index card, and try The Today System.
If you haven’t already signed up for the one-week crash course, consider doing so now. You’ll be glad you did.
