That noise you just heard was me cracking my knuckles. (Don’t worry, it sounds worse than it feels. But I appreciate your concern.)
I’m about to lay down a long-form example that will tie together everything we’ve learned so far about goal-setting, motivation, must-do lists, time management, prioritizing, strategy, focus, and commitment.
I’ll start by giving you a hypothetical What/Why scenario and talk you through it step by step.
What’s wrong with my life? I spend too much time at work and I haven’t seen Happy Hour in six months.
Why? Whenever the word time is included in a statement about how shitty your life is, poor time management is probably the culprit. You must develop a better understanding of and relationship to time. (How’d that sundial installation go? Send pics!)
So, let’s see… most days you find yourself at your desk (or a comparable post) two hours later than you intended, than you’re expected to be there, or than you’re being paid for. You’re stuck in an overtime-shaped rut filled with complacency. Sounds like you need to get motivated.
Try the Power of Negative Thinking on for size:
• Do you hate working late?
• Does it make you angry?
• Do you spend your lunch break cooking up revenge fantasies involving Xerox machines, pornographic magazines, and your coworkers’ family photos, which you could only implement if you stayed even later?
• Do you want to stop wasting time and energy on hatred, anger, and revenge fantasies, and instead put that time and energy into getting your work done so you can peace out before Happy Hour is but a distant memory?
I thought as much. Let’s apply a little GYST Theory to this situation. Keys, phone, wallet: Report!
Goal: Get your work done without having to stay late.
Strategize: Turn your to-do list into a must-do list. By planning out your tasks and prioritizing them, you’ve broken your day up into small, manageable chunks instead of one giant blob of indistinguishable urgency. This minimizes the work you need to get done, and if you’re trying to cram less into your day, you’re bound to finish sooner.
(If getting out of work on time is actually a problem for you—and I didn’t choose it as my hypothetical because it’s such a fucking rare complaint—give the Must-Do Method a shot in the space below, or on the scrap paper of your choosing.
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Focus: This is where time management comes in. You whittled your list from ten items to five, but remember that focusing is about setting aside a realistic amount of time in which to get a task done AND using that time exclusively to complete that task. SINGLE-TASKING! In order to focus effectively, you have to know how long it takes to complete those single tasks. Of course there will be fluctuations in your workday, but if you’ve improved your time management chops, you’ll be able to instinctively tailor your task-to-time ratio as events unfold.*
Commit: You’ve laid out the must-do items. You’ve set aside the time in which to do each of them. Now you have to bust out your metaphorical wallet and pay the piper. Sit down (or stand up, or hang suspended in midair—maybe you’re an astronaut?) and DO THIS SHIT. This is where the Power of Negative Thinking will continue to serve you well. You already used it to help you formulate your goal—you were tired of being chained to your desk (or spaceship) long after the workday had allegedly ended. You hated missing out on fun plans because you were always “just finishing up”… for three hours. You channeled those negative feelings into action. Keep it up!
If you need more motivation to commit to the plan, summon those feelings of fatigue and FOMO and combat them by completing one small, manageable goal at a time, crossing things off your must-do list, and leaving work not only on schedule, but with a newfound feeling of accomplishment and joyful anticipation of your first half-price martini in months.
There’s a reason they don’t call it Sad Hour.