There is a neat story over at the Lifehacker blog that is getting a ton of buzz. Jerry Seinfeld reveals his secret to staying productive.
Seinfeld's personal philosophy is that "the way to be a better comic is to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes is to write every day." But he needed a way to challenge himself to write every single day, and ended up with a pretty neat approach:
"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."
I love the dual use of challenge to drive personal improvement: (1) setting the goal of writing every day; and (2) using a tool to keep the pressure on. Most self-help programs focus on step one, or setting the commitment. I like the added focus on making it a daily exercise that combines the pinch of pride in seeing a chain of accomplishment - along with the guilt pressure to keep it going.
I'm already looking for ways to use this in my own life. And, as you would expect on the Internet, there are already many free or low-cost tools that allow you to set up personal reminders like what Jerry uses.
UPDATE: Thanks to regular reader, Jonathan, for linking to a very cool/easy web-based "Seinfeldian Chain".
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