After yesterday’s post about scheduling time to do things you’re not getting done, (in this case, reading time), a subscriber wrote: “I’ve TRIED something like this many times, but I always just ignore the scheduled thing. Any tips for getting my ass to stick to the schedule? It’s quite frustrating.”
My advice: “Don’t ignore the scheduled thing.”
I’m serious. Annoying, but serious.
We all make choices about what we will and won’t do. If we choose not to do something, even though it’s good for us and we say we want to do it, even though we put it on our calendar, the truth is we really DON’T want to do it.
Because if you wanted to do it, you would.
So, remove it from your calendar or agenda until you want to do it. Or until you decide you must do it.
Here’s what I mean.
If we consider all of our tasks and projects, ideas and someday/maybes, read/reviews, we can break them down into three categories: Must-do, Should-do, and Could-do.
We do a good job of getting our must-dos done because penalties ensue if we don’t. So how about creating a new list or tag for “must-read/review” and scheduling time just for this?
Everything else? I say, don’t worry about it.
If it’s not something you must read or review, read it if you want to and don’t if you don’t. And don’t beat yourself up about what you don’t read.
What about “should-read/review”? I think it’s overkill for discretionary reading, but it’s up to you.
Okay, a couple more ideas for “forcing” yourself to stick to your schedule. Here are two taken from the Kanban world:
- Limit your work in process (WIP). In the case of reading, limit yourself to three articles (for example). If you finish those and have room for more, you can go get more. If you don’t, move on. If three is too many, start with one or two.
- Make it visible. Put your reading list/folder on your desktop or as a top-level bullet or tag in your master list or a column (or swim lane) in your Kanban. By keeping your list in front of you, you’ll continually be reminded that this is something you’ve decided to do and you’ll be one click away from doing it.
Okay, one more: Get a babysitter.
Still serious.
Designate someone to hold you accountable for whatever it is you’re resisting. It could be your spouse, your secretary, your partner, a colleague, or anyone else. Have them check in with you to find out if you did or didn’t do what you said you would. Implement some kind of penalty if you don’t and maybe a reward if you do.
If you designate your secretary for this role, for example, and you don’t do your daily reading or marketing or whatever, they get to take the rest of the day off.
Something tells me stuff is gonna get done.
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