Sometimes, shit gets real and you really have to work towards a specific goal. The way there is not pleasant though. For purely illustrative purposes1, let’s say you have to prepare for a math exam at uni.
The one (and frankly only) thing that always makes sure I reach that goal is the simplest productivity tool available. A sheet of paper.
And here’s how it works:
- Write your goal at the top of the sheet.
- Count how many days you have left before you have to reach your goal (or set an arbitrary number if you’re not bound to a specific date2).
- Draw a square for each of these days, 7 days per row.
- Put it somewhere where you see it every day. It’s the desk in my case.
That last step is the most important one. It’s also the reason I don’t use a classic habit tracker app for this technique. Two advantages:
- The goal is always visible, you won’t forget it.
- You can’t track too many goals simultaneously. Which helps prioritize your time day to day and combats overwhelm.
Now you simply do the thing and tick the boxes. Day by day, week over week. Nothing magic.
After a certain point, the sheet will look impressive enough to make you not want to skip even one day.
Notice that ticking the box is a binary action. Either you did it or you did not do it. Depending on the goal, I don’t set a duration for my daily action on purpose. One day I might not have time and only work for 2 minutes. On the weekend, I might reach flow state and do the thing for 2 hours.
But the sheet reminds me that every day was important. No matter how small the action.