Monday, April 3, 2017

Why you should write down what and exactly when, in a schedule, you will do something.


When I suggest that a person, each day, should fully schedule each hour of the day, ahead of time, I sometimes hear a great "thud", as the idea hits the floor, unheeded, and unexciting.  Perhaps this quote from The Power Of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwarz might give it some import:

“A broad and persuasive array of studies confirms that specificity of timing and precision of behavior dramatically increase the likelihood of success. The explanation lies once again in the fact that our conscious capacity for self-control is limited and easily depleted. By determining when, where and how a behavior will occur, we no longer have to think much about getting it done. A series of experiments have confirmed this pattern…

In perhaps the most dramatic experiment of all, a group of drug addicts were studied during withdrawal—a time when the energy required to control the urge to take drugs severely compromises their ability to undertake nearly any other task. As part of the effort to help them find employment post-rehabilitation, one group was asked to commit to writing a short résumé before 5:00 P.M. on a particular day. Not a single one succeeded. A second group was asked to complete the same task, but also to say exactly when and where they would write the résumé. Eighty percent of that group succeeded.”

For Heaven's sake, for your own life sake, exercise the small amount of discipline to schedule out your day, to fill it with what is the most valuable to you.

And I would consider this book to be one of the special books to have in your library and to restudy every year, to make sure you are doing each of these.  (Of course, the ideas from it are built into my book Life Value Productivity.)
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There is no one on earth you should not use this practice.  A creative artist should use it.  A retired person should use it.  And anyone who has a life that he/she wants to be packed full of value and renewal should use it.

(And you could remind others who are progressive in their thinking by sharing this post, clicking on the little white envelope below this post.)

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