Getting stuff done

I have previously introduced you to the idea of focusing on things that are important rather than urgent. Important things will really make a difference to your life if you complete them. Doing urgent things is just being busy for the sake of being busy.

When you are busy for the sake of being busy, it's just an excuse to avoid making decisions. And as Dr. Paul says: "The definition of being alive is making decisions. If you avoid making decisions, you are less alive."

Today I'd like to introduce you to a way of getting really important thing done. Things that will get you closer to the life of your dreams.

Setting your goals

It's time to get completely unreasonable. Throw away all restraints and critical thinking for this excercise. The more you let yourself go and become unreasonable, the bigger effect this excercise will have on your life.

Brainstorm and write down on paper some of your dreams for 12 months from now. It's very important to really write them down. Specifically, write down:

• 4 things you would like to have


• 4 things you woulu like to be


• 4 thing you would like to do

Remember, be unreasonable. Write down really lifechanging things you want. If you want a Lamborghini, write it down and don't worry about how you'll get it. Also, don't worry about being a good person (writing down "world peace" when you actually want a Lamborghini).

Take a few minutes to come up with your goals.

Now.

Ok, done? If you had trouble coming up with some of them, especially things you want to do, that's ok. It's completely normal.

It's interesting how some people keep complaining about being held back in life, but when they're asked what they're being held back from, they rarely have a good answer.

If you complain about anything yourself (even only a few times a day), you might want to try the 21-day no complaint experiment. It can be a really lifechanging experience.

Acting upon your goals

Ok, let's review your goals. The first step is to convert the things you'd like to be into things you can do. Things you want to be are just disguised things you can do. For example "being a great cook" becomes "preparing a thanksiving dinner".

Next pick three of your goals that will really make a difference in your life. If you achieve them, your life will never be the same, or you'll have a memory of a lifetime. This will let you focus on things that are really really important.

Next come up with three actions that will get you closer to your goals. Come up with things you can do:

• immediately


• tomorrow


• after tomorrow

I'm a big fan of finding stuff to do immediately that gets me closer to my goals. I find that planning long into the future is often just an excuse for procrastinating.

That isn't to say that I don't have great goals that will take years to complete, but I find specific actions that get me closer every week.

If you haven't found three specific actions to do for each of your main goals, do so now.

Now that you have 3 actions for each of your goals, it's time to do them. For the ones to do immediately, get started on them within 5 minutes of finishing reading this article.

For the ones to be done tomorrow, finish them before noon, unless that's absolutely impossible (e.g. it involves someone you'll meet later in the day). For the ones for after tomorrow, also finish them before noon.

If you keep it up and finish all of your actions you wrote down, you will find that you moved a lot closer to your dreams in three days than you normally do in weeks or even months.

Setting your goals to do right now and in very near future is a great way to get yourself moving forward. In fact, instead of using a 12-month timeline for my goals, I prefer to use 6-month and even 3-month sometime. I find it keeps me going towards my goals more quickly.

The whole point of this excercise was to get you to do things that are important.

In our culture there is a big emphasis on being busy. People will want you to do things that aren't important just to keep you busy for the sake of being busy. You will find that if you consciously strive to do things that are important for you, your life will be moving forward at an amazing pace.

Raise your intelligence - in NO extra time

You can increase your intelligence, happiness and enjoyment of life. And it won't cost you any extra time. All you need to do is make some little changes to your daily routine, as I describe below.

Scientific background

Your brain is made up of billions upon billions of neurons. These are interconnected in a web-like structure. It is the quantity and quality of the connections between neurons that determines your intelligence. Actively building new and stronger connections in your day to day life will make you smarter while costing you no extra time.

The exact opposite of what builds new connections is routine. In the movie "Stranger than Fiction", the main character goes through the same routine every day for over 12 years - until he's snapped out of it and starts living the life of his dreams. When we see his days being all the same right down to the number of strokes with which he brushes his teeth, it resonates with a deep part of us. Deep inside we all understand that he's not really alive - endless routine kills people's minds.

The less routine, the more life.
- A. B. Alcott

New experiences, on the other hand, create new connections in our brains. You become smarter by seeking new experiences. You can greatly magnify this effect by consciously introducing various new stimuli. But more on that later.

Scientists have traced the effect I describe to certain processes in our brains. Every time we do something new, our brain is much more active than when we do something routine. We even sometimes say we "switch off" when doing something routine (like driving a car). This refers to a very real measurable decrease in brain activity.

So how can you increase the number of connections in your brain? I thought you'd never ask...

Raising your intelligence

The goal is to break your daily routine. Depending on how much you break it, you will get a corresponding increase in brain activity, and therefore more connections in your brain. (There are also some cunning techniques that give your brain a LOT of new stimuli. I'll introduce you to those in a moment).

But wait! That's not all. Breaking your routine not only makes you smarter, it also releases chemicals in your brain that make you happier! Two for the price of one!

You can start breaking your routine in little ways, like:

• brush your teeth with the other hand than usual


• use the other hand to open doors, lock locks, eat, etc.


• take a different route to work


• shuffle around the order of your morning activities. You normally get showered and dressed before breakfast? Try it the other way around.

The techniques above are just the start. The really big effects come when you start breaking your routine in major ways. But I don't mean major ways as far as the actions are concerned - I mean major ways as far as your brain is concerned.

We humans use sight as our primary sense. About 90% of the information comes through your eyes. Guess what happens when you rule out sight? A huge change as far as your brain is concerned. You will notice things you never noticed before. Here are some things for you to try:

• do your morning washing with your eyes closed. Get in the shower, set the right temperature of water, wash, comb your hair, shave. All of what you normally do, but with your eyes closed.


• prepare the clothes you want to put on the evening before. Then, in the morning, get dressed with your eyes closed. Alternately, you could try picking your clothes with your eyes closed, according to the material. The materials could be similar or contrasting, you choose.

Introducing other senses

You could also introduce new senses to your routine. Smell is an especially powerful one, as it has a direct connection with the part of your brain responsible for emotions.

Are you used to waking up with the smell of coffee? How about you try replacing it with something else, like the smell of vanilla?

Associating new smells with your experiences with greatly increase the number of connections created in your brain.

Another good thing is to associate unusual sense combinations together like associate a certain song with certain smell.

In summary, the whole point is to break your routine. Every time you do something in an unusual, non-routine way, you come a little bit more alive.

Double your productivity

There are a lot of blog posts out there that talk about productivity. Most of them are just wishful thinking on the part of the writer. I've assembled the three most effective methods out there. You are guaranteed to boost your productivity with them.

1. Focus on the most important things first

There's a very important distinction between the things that are most important - and those that are most urgent. Most people spend their time doing the things that are most urgent, never getting to the things that are important.

Tim Ferriss talks about "letting bad thing happen" - the fact that to get the good things done, you will occasionally have to let some bad things just happen.

Another blogger likens your day to a bucket. You can fill the day with big rocks (your most important tasks), or sand. If you start off filling your day with sand, you'll find the big rocks don't fit anymore, and you'll postpone them until the next day. And the next. And next.

Also, if you don't fill your day (your bucket) with your own tasks, others will be more than happy to fill it with their own sand.

2. Maximize your creativity, not your productivity

This is related to the last point. You won't see a newspaper headline like: "Office worker stuns the world by managing his time efficiently". Your creativity is more important than your productivity.

If you focus your time and energy on the really world-changing things, you'll see the difference in everyday life.

3. Get out there and DO IT

Bear with me for a sec. Just going out there and doing it isn't easy. I know it myself. If procrastination is your problem, check out How to be more productive blog post by Aaron Swartz.

Another simple trick is not worrying about the whole thing you want to do. Just the first step.
For example, let's say you want to go jogging. Of course you don't have the mind power to go jogging. But do you have the mind power to put on your running shoes and close the door behund you? That's all it takes.

If you want to get something done, just do the first step. The rest will take care of itself.

By following these three simple points, you can double your productivity starting tomorrow!