Have you been struggling with getting started because you're "not in the mood"? Today I want to introduce the concept of jumpstarts to you.
After that, check out my interview with Zack Knight on the Tactical Leadership podcast where we discuss goal-setting, decision patterns and load balancing your priorities.
Jumpstarts: A Tool To Shift Your Mood
Sometimes it’s hard to get started. To help, you can use a jumpstart.
A jumpstart is something easy that prepares you to do a harder activity. Jumpstarts help you shift gears, and get into the right mood for your next task.
Jumpstarts are personal. What works for one person, may be a distraction for another person. They also depend on what state you want to shift into. Different types of tasks may require different jumpstarts.
Examples of jumpstarts include:
Edit to Create To get
into the mode to create, try editing first. Editing shifts you into an active role with your creative medium, which prepares you to tackle a blank slate. If writing, edit one of your old articles–-or even someone else’s. If coding, refactor your code. If painting, touch up a prior piece.
Create to Flow When you have nothing to edit, start the creation process with a purposeful throwaway. The aim is merely to get your creative juices flowing. Write about what you see in front of you, improvise a song about your troubles writing a song, write a sarcastic opening to your report or proposal. Add constraints to aid the creation process: pick an unusual theme, decide that you cannot pause during the process, do it standing up, etc.
Play to Warmup Play a game that requires you to use the same physical or mental muscles you need for your main task. Identify games you can play quickly that you can quickly disengage from, so you use them as a jumpstart, not a distraction.
Frivolous to Important Start with a small, low-priority task that’s easy to do. Accomplishing the task will give you momentum to tackle your more important tasks. To lift your mood at the same time, choose an indulgent task–-one that you really want to see done, but have been ignoring because it’s low priority.
Pay attention as you go throughout your day, what small
activities give you energy or shift you into a new mood.
Write these down and give them names so you can easily reference them. Then next time you’re having a hard time getting started, try out one of your jumpstarts to help you shift into the task you’re having trouble with.
Key to successfully using jumpstarts is to avoid getting lost in them. Set yourself a time limit, and monitor how long it takes for you to move from your jumpstart to your main activity. You may discover certain activities act as procrastination devices, not jumpstarts. Avoid those in the future.
Podcast Guest Spot: Tactical Leadership
Earlier this year I was interviewed by Zack Knight on the Tactical Leadership: Building Better Businesses podcast about decision patterns, load-balancing your priorities using a daily schedule and clarifying the vision of your future.
Some of the topics we covered include:
What a 100-year goal is, and what it means
Why it’s important to clarify your goals
How Lean Decisions can be used as a common language for decision-makers & their stakeholders
How creating a daily schedule can help you load-balance your priorities and “solve” the Eisenhower matrix
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or read the transcript on the Day Optimizer blog. If you enjoy the episode, reply to this email and let me know what the highlights were for you.
That's all for now. Wishing you health, happiness and productivity.
