What to Do When You Can’t Eat the Frog

By Dee Jones


Have you ever heard the phrase, “Eat the frog?”

It’s actually pretty popular in productivity circles. And here’s the basic concept behind it.

Say that you have to eat a frog.

If you’re like most people, you’ll probably put off eating that frog for as long as possible. And who could blame you?

But the longer you put off eating that frog, the longer you’ll have to think about it, worry yourself sick over it, and dread the moment when you’ll have to start chowing down. In the meantime, you’re ability to concentrate on anything else will be shot. And enjoying your free time? Forget about it. How can you really have fun when you know that you have to eat a frog?

Popular wisdom says that if you absolutely, positively have to eat a frog, you should do it as soon as possible. The sooner you eat that frog, the sooner you can stop thinking about it. And once it’s over and done, you’ll be free to move on.

For the record, the “frog” isn’t actually a frog. It’s that dreaded task on your daily to-do list. The one you’d do anything to avoid.

The “eat the frog” rule says that the task you dread most should be what you do first. Once it’s out of the way, doing the other tasks on your to-do list will be a cakewalk.

This is great advice that really works…except when it doesn’t.

Say you have a task on your to-do list that you’ve identified as your “frog.” You aren’t going to do anything else on your list until you complete that task. And, sometimes, this works. You get the dreaded task out of the way, and breeze through the rest of the day.

Other times, you dread the frog so much that resistance kicks in, and procrastination isn’t far behind. No matter how much you tell yourself you should get to work on that dreaded task, you can’t seem to do it. And since you don’t want to do the other stuff on your list until you eat your frog, most of that “other stuff” won’t get done either.

If you sometimes feel paralyzed by the dreaded tasks on your to-do lists, here are three things you can do that will help you eat those frogs.

1. Start Sooner Than You Have To

Do you have a project that isn’t due for a week or two, maybe even more? You’ve worked out exactly when you need to start in order to be done by the deadline. And, since it’s a dreaded project, you don’t intend to start until you absolutely have to.

But why wait? Instead, start working on that project now.

Every day, make working on that project for just ten minutes your frog.

By the time your original “have to start” date arrives, you’ll have worked up some momentum, and that project won’t be so dreaded anymore. You’ll also be farther along than if you’d waited to start.

2. Ten Minutes at a Time

What if you have a project that has to be done by the end of the week? Or maybe even by tomorrow.

Working on it for ten minutes a day isn’t going to cut it, because there aren’t that many days left until you need to be finished. But thinking of everything you have left to do, and how little time you have left to do it, makes your old buddy procrastination pop in for a visit.

So, once again, make your frog working on that dreaded task for ten minutes. Then work on another project on your to-do list for half an hour or so. Then work on your dreaded project for another ten minutes. Then work on another project for half an hour. And so on.

You might find that, the third or fourth time you work on your dreaded project that day, you don’t want to stop after ten minutes. You’ll work on it for thirty minutes, or an hour. You might even work on it until it’s done.

But that won’t always happen. As the hours tick by, and the deadline really starts to loom, you might have to force yourself to just buckle down and work on that project whether you want to or not. But all of those ten-minute work sessions will have added up. Instead of starting cold, you’ll have made some progress, and built up some momentum. And finishing might turn out to be easier than you thought it would.

3. Start with the Easy Parts

Some of us approach individual projects with the same “eat the frog” mentality. It seems logical to get the hardest parts out of the way first. Then, when there are just easy parts left, you can coast to the finish line.

This isn’t a bad approach. Unless the thought of working on the hardest parts of a project make you procrastinate on getting started at all.

Instead of starting with the hardest parts, start with the easiest.

Every project has parts that are easier than others. And starting with one of those easier parts has many advantages. 

1. If the first few steps of a project are easy, you’re more likely to start instead of procrastinate.
2. You’ll make progress on the project, because doing something “easy” is still getting something done.
3. Working on the easy parts will give you that momentum I’ve been harping on this entire post. And that momentum will help carry you through the harder parts.

If you thought the whole “eat the frog first” idea was a good one, but could never seem to implement it, give these tips a try. Maybe you’ll never enjoy eating the frogs on your to-do list. But these tips might help make completing your dreaded tasks just a little easier.

How to Do Anything Faster: Use Parkinson’s Law

by Dee Jones


So you have an essay to write. You're not sure how long it will take, but you’re thinking maybe an hour or two.

Three hours later and your essay still isn’t finish. You’re sick of the whole thing and wish you could quit and go cruise Facebook. But the essay is due tomorrow, so…

Or maybe you were doing something else, like cleaning out your email inbox, or organizing the books that are trying to take over your house. For whatever reason, these projects always seem to take a lot more time than you thought they would. It's frustrating. And it makes you reluctant to tackle these kinds of open-ended, "not-sure-how-long-it-will-take" projects.

So why does this happen?

It’s called Parkinson’s Law.

What Is Parkinson’s Law?

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

That’s Parkinson’s Law. And it’s just a fancy way of saying if you give yourself a certain amount of time to do something, that’s how long it will take.

Say you give yourself a month to plan a party. Parkinson's Law says it will take you a month to plan that party. And you’ll probably believe there was no way you could’ve gotten that party planned in less time than that.

But give yourself two weeks to plan the same party and, low and behold, you’ll manage to get it done in two weeks.

And, with personal projects, we often don’t give ourselves any kind of a time-frame or deadline to work with. We say something like, “I’m going to write that essay today.” And writing the essay ends up taking up most of your day.

There’s a quick and easy way to keep projects from getting out of control and eating up precious time.

You just put a time limit on them.

Forming a Habit? Don’t Break the Chain!

By Dee Jones

Did you know Jerry Seinfeld was a productivity hacker?

Or, at least, he popularized a productivity hack that’s both simple and effective.

When Seinfeld was a young comedian, he set one goal for himself. Write every day.

Now we know how these things sometimes go. We tell ourselves we’re going to do something every day. But, for some reason, it just doesn’t end up happening.

Well Seinfeld had a trick that helped him stick to his daily goal.

He got himself a yearly calendar (the kind where every day of the year is on one page) and hung it on his wall. And day he spent time writing, he marked that day on the calendar with a big, red X.

As Seinfeld explained, after a week or two of doing this, you’ll have a chain of X’s. And once you have a nice chain going, you won’t want to break it.

It really is pretty simple. Seeing that chain will fill you with a sense of satisfaction. You set a daily goal and actually managed to stick to it! And the proof is right there on your calendar.

Looking at your chain, seeing it grow every day, will make you feel so good you won’t want to break it. And that will motivate you to keep reaching your daily goal.  

If you’re looking to form a new daily habit, here’s how you can use Seinfeld’s productivity hack to do it.

Seinfeld’s Productivity Hack, Step-by-Step

As with many of the best productivity hacks, this one is pretty straightforward. 

Step 1: Choose the Habit You Want to Form. 

Pick a task you want to turn into a daily habit, like:

• Flossing your teeth.
• Doing 10 stomach crunches.
• Writing in your journal.
• Taking a multi-vitamin.
• Practicing the piano for half an hour.

Step 2: Get a Calendar.

Try to get hold of a “year-at-a-glance” calendar like the one Seinfeld used. But, if you can’t, you can always use a simple wall calendar, at least for now.

You might be tempted to use a digital calendar on your computer or portable phone. But a physical wall calendar, one you don’t have to make a special effort to open up and look at, works better with this hack.

So hang a physical calendar in a highly visible place. Now, any time you walk into your kitchen or look up from your desk, you can see your chain and appreciate how it’s growing. And this will help to keep you motivated.

Step 3: Decide How You’ll Mark the Calendar.

If you want to follow Seinfeld’s lead, use a red marker to mark your calendar with bold, red X’s. Or, if you prefer, you can use some other color. Just make sure the color is bright and bold. You want to be able to see it from across the room.

An alternative to X’s is check-marks. If you’ve ever kept a to-do list, you know how satisfying it is to check off a box next to a completed a task. And using check-marks to check off days on your calendar can be just as satisfying.

Or maybe you were one of those kids who loved getting gold stars in school. In that case, buy yourself a supply of gold, tinfoil stars, and use them to mark the days on your calendar.

What If You Miss a Day?

The only drawback of this system is that you might miss a day. In fact, chances are good that you will miss a day at some point, and your chain will be broken.

The problem with this is that, once your chain is broken, it can be easy to shrug your shoulders and give up. “Oh, well,” you might say to yourself. “I tried but I blew it. It was fun while it lasted but, now, what’s the point?”

But, instead of giving up, get back on track by “gamifying” the system.

Count how many days you managed to go without breaking the chain. Then set a goal to beat your record. So if you managed to go 39 days without breaking the chain, you’re new goal can be to go at least 40 days without breaking the next chain.

If you’re like most of us, you have a competitive streak. Even people who wouldn’t describe themselves as competitive probably like to win. It’s human nature. And it’s something you can use to your advantage.

By creating a record or “high score” that you can beat, you’re giving yourself a chance to win. And your desire to “win” will motivate you not to break the next chain.

Using Seinfeld’s “don’t break the chain” technique is a great way to form a new habit. It’s simple, easy, and it works.

3 Ways Time Boxing Can Help You Get Things Done

by Dee Jones


Everyone procrastinates. And you know you're doing it when you're doing it. But that doesn’t mean you can make yourself stop.

There you are, with a project you need to start working on sooner rather than later. It might be a project for work or school. Or maybe it’s a personal project you’ve wanted to tackle for a long time. Whatever it is, you just can't seem to get started. And berating yourself for being a lazy, inactive lump doesn't help.

There's probably a reason you're procrastinating. And figuring out that reason could be the cure for your procrastination.

But your project is due in a week or two. You don't have time to do a lot of soul-searching to find the deep-seated, underlying cause of the problem. You need to stop procrastinating now.

That's where time boxing comes in.

What is Time Boxing?

Time boxing is a popular productivity technique that’s both simple and effective.

Just set a timer and start working on your project. When the timer rings, you’re free to put that project aside and get on with the rest of your day guilt-free.

You're more likely to procrastinate on a task when you don’t know how long you’ll have to do it. But it’s easier to start working on something if you know going in when you can stop. And time boxing gives you that "stop time."

You can set a time box for anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour.

Many consider 30 minutes the real sweet spot. But you should pick a time limit that feels right to you. If you can’t stomach the thought of working on your taxes for 30 minutes, set your timer for 10 minutes instead.

If you’re task isn’t finished when the time box is over, don’t force yourself to keep going. That could diminish the effectiveness of using time boxes. Instead, allow yourself to put the project aside for now. You can always do some more work on it later, during another time box.

You can do a time box anywhere as long as you have a timer handy. Many computers and portable phones have timer apps already installed. If yours doesn't, you can find plenty of free timer apps by doing a quick Web search.

Web-based timers like TimeMe are another good option.

Here are some specific ways you can use time boxes to get things done.

3 Ways to Use Time Boxes

 

1. Use a Time Box to Get Started On a Big Project.

Sometimes a project seems so big and overwhelming that you don't know where to start. So you don’t start at all. Instead, you put the project off for as long as possible.

Then, before you know it, the deadline is right around the corner. The panic hits, and you're finally able to get started on that project. You have to put in lots of long hours to get the work done. And you feel frazzled and stressed the whole time.

There’s a better option. Don't ignore the project until the last minute. Instead work on it using time boxes.

Even when a project is big and complex, working on it in short chunks of time can make it feel less overwhelming. And if you spend 15 to 30 minutes on that project every day, you’ll make slow but steady progress on it.

As the deadline approaches, you might have to work for longer stretches to get the project done on time. But because you’ve done some work on it already, it won’t take as long as it would if you were starting from scratch.

2. Use Time Boxes to Tackle Boring Projects

Sometimes a project isn’t all that big or complex. And it isn’t particularly overwhelming.

It’s just plain boring.

Cleaning the house. Organizing computer files. These are things you feel you need to do. But these activities aren’t exactly fun or interesting.

They also aren’t critical, so it’s easy to keep putting them off for weeks, or even months, on end.

Most of us can do almost anything, even something painfully boring, if we don’t have to do it for long. You just need to figure out how much of that boring task you can take at one time.

So don’t try to clean the house all in one go. Set a timer for 10 to 30 minutes, and focus on cleaning one room for that block of time. Then do the same thing the next day, and the next. And once that first room is clean, you can move on to the next.

3. Use Time Boxes to Stop Time Thieves

Time thieves are the things you do when you should be doing something else. Some common time thieves include:

• Playing video games.
• Watching TV.
• Surfing the Web.
• Getting lost on Twitter.
• Checking your email 4 times in one hour.

You can tell yourself you won’t do any of those things until your “real work” is done. But trying to resist can backfire. Oh, you might do fine at first. But, as often as not, your willpower will break down, and you’ll give in to temptation.

So don’t try to resist time thieves. Instead, put a time limit on them.

When you allow yourself to indulge a little, it’s easier to resist temptation when you're trying to get some real work done. So, instead of resisting, use these activities as rewards for working on one of your projects.

Maybe you aren’t looking forward to writing that essay. But, if you work on it for 30 minutes, you can spend 30 guilt-free minutes on YouTube, or cruising Facebook.

Knowing there’s a reward waiting for you when you finish makes it easier to get started on a project. And, in this case, the reward is doing something fun and not feeling guilty about it.


Time boxing is an easy and effective way to overcome procrastination.  And these suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Here are some articles that will tell you more about time boxing, and how you can use it:

Time Boxing is an Effective Getting Things Done Strategy

Timeboxing by Steve Pavlina

15 Time Boxing Strategies to Get Things Done



Do you use time boxing to get things done? If so, leave a comment below and tell us about it.

How to Reach Your Goals: Make Them Smart

by Dee Jones

According to one study, over 90% of all New Year’s resolutions fail.

This is something I’d figured out by the time I was eight years old.

Every year, I watched the adults around me say things like:

• “This year, I’m going to eat healthier.”
• “This year, I’m going to really start saving money.”
• “This year, I’m going to the gym three times a week.”

And, every year, I watched those people "fall off the wagon," usually before January was over.

Back then, I figured the best way to make sure you wouldn’t do something was to make it your New Year’s resolution. And that’s probably why I’ve never been big on making resolutions of my own.

These days, I know that goals set on January 1^st aren’t any more likely to fail than goals set at other times of the year. In fact, no matter when you make them, most goals fail for one reason.

They aren’t SMART.

What Is a SMART Goal?

SMART is an acronym that can help you remember the characteristics of a “good” goal.

What’s a good goal?

One you stand a real chance of reaching.

A SMART goal is:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Based

Most of us set goals that aren’t very motivating. We might be enthusiastic about the goal at first, but enthusiasm tends to fade. And your motivation can fade right along with it.

Making your goals SMART will help you stay motivated for the long haul, and drastically increase your chances of succeeding.

How to Make Your Goals SMART

You can make almost any goal SMART. All you need to do is follow a few fast and easy steps.

Step 1: Make Your Goal Specific.

“I’m going to start eating healthier.”

That’s a good idea, but it’s not really a goal. It’s more of a vague, undefined wish. It doesn’t tell you how you’re going to start eating healthier, or for how long. Are you going to stop eating junk food for a week? Two weeks? Forever?

That’s another thing. Saying you’re going to start eating more healthier doesn’t give you a real finish line to shoot for. Well, we can imagine that you want to eat healthy forever. But if you love double cheeseburgers, and you tell yourself you can never have another one for as long as you live, that’s going to be a hard goal to stick to.

A SMART goal is concrete and specific. For example:

 “I’m going to lose 20 pounds by eating healthier.”

That’s a goal with a clear end in sight. You’re going to eat healthier until you have lost 20 pounds. That’s a clear, reachable destination, rather than some vague, nebulous desire.

For various reasons, our brains don’t balk so hard at doing something with an end point. So if you’re subconscious believes you can go back to pigging out on burgers and fries as soon as you’ve lost those 20 pounds, you’re more likely to stick to eating healthy.

And, hopefully, you’ll be used eating healthier by then, and will stick with your new diet.

Step 2: Make Your Goal Measurable

Let’s look at our vague goal again.

“I’m going to start eating healthier.”

Okay, how can you measure that? How will you know when you are halfway there? How will you know when you’re almost finished?

When you give yourself a goal that isn’t measurable, it’s hard to track your progress. And tracking your progress is one of the most effective ways to stay motivated enough to reach a goal and cross the finish line.

Luckily, making a goal more specific usually makes it measurable. For example, if you change, “I’m going to save some money,” to the more specific, “I’m going to save $500,” you’ll always know how close you are to reaching your goal.

And when you reach the halfway point, you’ll start to feel psyched. With the finish line so close, there’s no way you’re stopping now!

Making your goal measurable also means you can set milestones (or celebration points) along the way. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, you can make every 5 pounds you lose a milestone that you celebrate with some kind of reward. And those milestones (and the rewards) will help pull you towards your ultimate goal.  

Step 3: Make Your Goal Achievable?

Setting a goal to lose 20 pounds in 4 months?

It might be a challenge but it’s not impossible. It’s something you can actually believe, deep down, that you can do.

Setting a goal to lose 20 pounds in one month? Now that’s unrealistic.

When you give yourself a goal that isn’t realistic, you’re setting yourself up for failure. And that has two downsides.

First, if you don’t truly believe you can reach a goal. A small yet powerful voice will be constantly whispering in your ear, “It’s impossible. I can’t do it. It’s a waste of time to even try.”

And those little voices are motivation killers.

Secondly, human beings hate failure. In fact, we like to avoid failing as much as possible.

If you fail to save $500 in 2 weeks (something you’d have to take drastic measures to do) it will be harder to make another attempt to save money later on. You already failed at it, after all, and that’s not something you want to repeat.

It’s better to set a goal that almost seems too easy. Losing 20 pounds in 4 months is pretty realistic. However, if you’re not quite sure you can do it, set a goal to lose 20 pounds in 6 months, or even a year, instead.  

Step 4: Make Your Goal Relevant.

Why do you want to reach your goal? Your reasons can have a huge effect on your motivation.

Why do you want to lose 20 pounds? If you don’t pin down a specific reason, you’ll have a hard time motivating yourself to change your eating habits and shed that extra weight.

But what if you want to lose those 20 pounds because you want to have enough energy to keep up with your kids? Or you want to look great come swimsuit season?

If your goal is connected to something that matters to you, something you really care about, that’s a goal you’re more likely to reach.

5. Make Your Goal Time-Based.

Studies show that you’re more likely to finish a project if you have a deadline, even if that deadline is self-imposed.

If you tell yourself “I’m going to paint my bedroom by March 1^st,” you’re more likely to pick up a brush and start painting.

Maybe it’s that competitive spirit we humans seem to have. When we have a deadline, we are setting up a “win condition.” If we meet the deadline, we “win.”

And who doesn’t like winning?

Just setting a goal to lose 20 pounds is open-ended. Since there’s no concrete finish time, you can start whenever you want.  Unfortunately, when we can start working on something whenever we want, we often never get around to working on it at all.

However, if you decide to lose 20 pounds by May 30^th, you have given yourself a concrete deadline. And a chance to win.  

Having a deadline also allows you to break your goals into chunks that seem less daunting.

If you give yourself 4 months to lose 20 pounds, that equates to losing 5 pounds a month. And losing 5 pounds sounds a lot easier than losing 20.

SMART In Action

So, let’s see if we’ve managed to make our goal SMART.

We started with this goal:

“I’m going to start eating healthier.”

Now, our goal looks more like this:

“I’m going to lose 20 pounds by May 30^th, which is 4 months away. I’ll do it by eating less junk food. When I lose those 20 pounds, I’ll have a lot more energy, and will be able to keep up with my kids.”

Which of those goals actually sounds like something you can do, and not just a vague wish or desire?

Have doubts that rephrasing your goals can increase your chances for success? Well, try it for yourself. Take one of your goals and see if you can make it SMART. Sometimes, that’s enough to make your goals easier to reach.

Do you set SMART goals? Or do you do something else to make your goals more achievable? Leave a comment below and let us know.

3 Free Time Management Systems That Really Work

by Dee Jones

When's the last time you spent money on a time management book?

Did the system in that book work for you?

If it didn't, I bet you've been kicking yourself for wasting your money. But don’t beat yourself up over it. That time management book probably isn’t bad. In fact, the system might work for a lot of people. It just didn't work for you, something you couldn't know until you tried it for yourself.

You just wish you didn’t have to spend hard-earned cash on what turned out to be a failed experiment.

If only you could give a time management system a test drive without having to buy a book to do it.

Well, it's your lucky day. Here are three free time management systems for you to try. And they won’t cost you a penny.

Weekly/Daily Goals

Weekly/Daily Goals is a system created by Scott Young, a popular productivity blogger. Young’s claim to fame is that he completed MIT's four-year computer science curriculum in just twelve months.

Anyone who can do something like that probably knows a thing or two about managing your time.

The Weekly/Daily Goals system is simple. In fact, the basics are right there in the name.

1. First, make a list of things you want to get done in the next week.
2. Every morning (or the night before), make a list of the tasks and to-dos you want to get done that day.
3. Once all of the tasks and to-dos have been checked off of your daily list, you’re done for the day, and free to do whatever you want.

The concept behind WDG is that you can get plenty of stuff done, and still have time to relax and enjoy life. In fact, those breaks will make you more productive in the long run.    

If you'd like to give this time management system a try, these blog posts describe how Weekly/Daily Goals works in more detail.

• How to Finish Your Work, One Bite at a Time
• Work Less to Get More Done

How to Make Your Dreams Come True

Take a look at almost any time management system, and you’ll usually find some common elements. Most show you how to set achievable goals, make task lists, and schedule your time. The specifics might differ from one system to another. But a few basics seem to pop up again and again.

Now these similarities aren't a bad thing. The basics show up in so many systems because they work.

But maybe you'd like to try something new.

How to Make Your Dreams Come True is definitely a different kind of time management book. Instead of setting goals, you create a vision. There's a list, but it's not a to-do or task list. And the book advises you to do as little scheduling as possible.

Written by Mark Forster (the author of Do It Tomorrow), How to Make Your Dreams Come True started its life in print. And if you wanted to try the system, you had to buy the book. But, after Dreams had been out of print for a while, Forster made it available on his website for free.

So what's the "big idea" behind How to Make Your Dreams Come True?

Don’t try to force yourself to do things. In fact, you should only do things when you feel like doing them.

For example, take washing dishes. If you don't feel like washing the dishes after dinner, don't wash the dishes after dinner.Trying to force yourself to do it will only cause resistance and procrastination.

If you give yourself permission not to wash the dishes, it will actually make you more likely to do it. Eventually you'll get sick of the mess and start cleaning the kitchen. And you’ll do that chore effortlessly, without any feelings of resistance or desire to procrastinate.

If this sounds a little iffy to you, don't worry. The book contains several techniques that will help you feel like doing the things you need to do.

If you'd like to see for yourself what Dreams is all about, you can download a Word file of How to Make Your Dreams Come True on Mark Forster's website, no sign up required. Just follow the link below:

• How to Make Your Dreams Come True

The Action Method

The Action Method first appeared in a book called Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. But you don't have to buy the book to understand the basics of the system. Belsky himself wrote a series of articles in which he explains what the Action Method is all about.

The big draw of the Action Method is its simplicity. If you have a notebook and a pen, you can start using AM to complete your projects, both big and small.

The Action Method breaks any project down into three simple components.

1. Action Steps are the things you need to do to move the project towards completion.
2. Backburner Items are action steps that either can't be done right now, or can wait until later.
3. References are the project-related materials you need to keep. For example, if you're planning a wedding, one of your References might be a list of local caterers.

The Action Method is great for anyone who wants to keep their projects somewhat organized, but also likes to keep things simple.

If you want to know more about the Action Method, you can read all about it in this three part series: 

• Action Method I: Breaking Projects into Primary Elements
• Action Method II: Keeping Projects Alive
• Action Method III: Make Time for Processing Your Next Steps

And there you have it. Three time management systems you can try without spending a dime. And one of them just might be the perfect fit for you.

Do you know of any other free time management systems? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Do a Brain Dump

by Dee Jones


Are you having “one of those days?”

If so, you probably feel pretty overwhelmed right about now. Your mind is buzzing with all of the things you have to do, ideas you don’t want to forget, stuff you have to buy, appointments you have to remember….

On days like this, the buzzing in your head is so loud that you can't really focus on anything. You feel frantic because there's so much to do and not enough time to do it all. And you might feel a little anxious too, because you just know you’re forgetting something important.

Everyone has days like these. Fortunately, you can quiet the buzzing in your head, and restore your sense of control.

How?

By doing a brain dump.

What Is a Brain Dump?

During a brain dump, you take all of the stuff that’s buzzing around in your brain and dump it on a piece of paper.

Why would you want to do this?

First, a brain dump will help you deal with that panicky, “I have too much to do” feeling. When you write down all of your tasks, projects and to-dos, you’ll realize one, if not both, of the following.

1. You don’t have nearly as much stuff to do as you thought you did.
2. A lot of the things you’ve been telling yourself you have to do aren’t really all that urgent or important. So you can either put these tasks and projects aside to deal with later, or you can strike them off of your mental to-do list all together.

Doing a brain dump also gets rid of mental clutter. When you have thoughts and ideas jumping around in your head, they use up a lot of your mental energy. This can make it hard to really focus on other things, like that important project you’re working on.

You can do a brain dump whenever you feel overwhelmed. And many find it beneficial to do brain dumps weekly (even daily) to get rid of mental clutter before it gets out of control.

How to Do a Brain Dump

Doing a brain dump is quick and easy. It won’t cost you a penny, and doesn’t take up much time. And that’s the kind of productivity technique I like most.

Here’s how you do it.

Step 1. Grab Some Paper. 

You can use anything for a brain dump. Like that cheap little notebook you found lying around the house. Or that scrap printer paper that you haven’t gotten around to tossing yet.

In fact, using something cheap is probably best. When you use a “nice” notebook, it can be hard to fill those beautiful pages with the kind of mess a brain dump can make.

If you like, you can do your brain dump on your computer. But you might find that your thoughts flow better when you brain dump by hand.

Step 2. Set a Timer.

Some people don’t put a time limit on their brain dumps. They just start writing and keep going until their brain is empty. But, if you’re like me, your brain never feels empty, and you could keep writing for hours as new thoughts and ideas pop into your head.

So give yourself a time limit of 5 or 10 minutes. If the timer rings, and you still feel like there’s too much mental clutter crowding your brain, just set the timer for another 5 or 10 minutes and keep brain dumping.

Step 3. Start Your Brain Dump. 

Start your timer and start writing. Just dump everything in your head onto the page, including:

• Stray thoughts.
• Unfinished projects.
• Half-formed ideas.
• Random tasks.
• Things you want to buy.

Write down everything, no matter how irrelevant or silly it might seem.

If you try to censor yourself, you’ll stop the flow of thoughts and ideas, and a lot of the stuff you’re trying to get out of your head won’t find it’s way to the page.

When you let yourself write down whatever pops into your head, even the “silly” stuff, you’ll truly be freeing your brain of mental clutter. You might also find yourself remembering important things you didn’t even know you’d forgotten.

A brain dump can also help you remember things you know you’ve forgotten, but can’t recall no matter how hard you try.


Okay, your ten minutes are up. You now have a several pages of “stuff” written down in your notebook.

So now what?

What To Do with a Brain Dump

Actually, you don’t have to do anything with your brain dump. You can do a brain dump just to clear your head and quiet your mind. Once the brain dump is finished, you can toss it in a drawer  (or even throw it away) and never look at it again.

But most of us will want to do something about all of the stuff we’ve written down during a brain dump.

One thing you shouldn’t do is treat a brain dump like a to-do list. If you come away from the brain dump with the idea that you need to do everything on that list, you’ll just end up feeling overwhelmed again.

Instead, here are some things you can do as you read through your brain dump.

• Put a dollar sign next to things you need to buy. 
• Put a star next to important projects and tasks, things that really need to get done or else there will be “consequences.”
• Draw a clock next to items you need to add to your calendar, like appointments, holidays, or birthdays.
• Add a symbol next to things you want to move to a list. For example, if you’re a writer, you can draw a light bulb next to story or blog post ideas. Draw a question mark next to things you need to find out (like when someone's birthday is), and an eye next to things you want to look up.

Once you’ve finished going through your brain dump, move anything with a symbol next to it to a list or your calendar.

What About Things That Aren’t Critical?

There are probably some projects or tasks in your brain dump that aren’t really critical. For example, there won’t be major “consequences” if you don’t renew your library card. But you’d still like to do it some time soon.

Go through your brain dump one more time and put check boxes next to some of these “want to-do” items. Five is a good number to shoot for. Maybe even ten or twelve. But don’t do more than that or, you guessed it, you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed again.

Finally, move these “want to-do” items to a “To Do When I Have the Time” list.

As for the rest of your brain dump, put it out of sight and out of mind. It’s there, just in case you want to look over it again. But once you’ve moved the important stuff elsewhere, the brain dump has served its purpose.

In fact, many suggest never looking at old brain dumps again. Instead, you should always start fresh with a new brain dump.


If you want a fast and simple way to stop feeling overwhelmed, try a brain dump. You’ll be surprised by how much quieter your brain is as a result. And how much more focused and in control you feel.

Do you do brain dumps? Is it something you do regularly, or only when you feel overwhelmed? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Get Things Done in Just 10 Minutes

by Dee Jones

We all have them. Those projects we tell ourselves we'll get to…eventually. And we mean it when we say it. But somehow we never even get started, and those projects remain ignored and rejected.

Or maybe we do start. But we don’t work on them often enough to see any real progress. And, after a while, that lack of noticeable progress kills our motivation to keep going. And the poor project gets abandoned, never to be touched again.

Part of the problem is that these projects don’t seem critical. After all, no one else is really counting on you to organize your filing cabinets, or clean out your messy hall closet. Still, actually doing these things would have benefits...which is why they’re on your mental “want to do, but never get around to” list in the first place. But, with all of the other, “more important” stuff going on in your life, it’s easy for these tasks to fall through the cracks.

Well, what if I told you there was a way to start taking a serious chunk out of those projects? And all it will take is 10 minutes of your time.

Okay, It’s Not Just 10 Minutes

Full disclosure. No one is expecting you to clean out an entire basement in 10 minutes. But I bet you can commit to spending just 10 minutes a day on getting your basement in order.

A lot of organizing advice suggests you set aside a block of time every day (say thirty minutes or an hour) to work on that project that’s been nagging at you. And, if you spent an hour a day cleaning out your basement, you’ll definitely see fast progress.

But here’s the thing. Thirty to sixty minutes still feels like a lot of time, especially when you have so many other things filling up your busy day. And if it’s a project you’ve been dreading, working on it for an hour every single day just doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. As a result, you probably won’t do it.

But ten minutes? Ten minutes really does feel like nothing. No matter how busy your day is, being able to find ten free minutes a day actually seems doable. And if it’s a project you’ve been dreading, knowing that you’ll only be working on it for ten minutes makes it much easier to get started.

And getting started is almost always the hardest part.

Moving On

So you’ve decided to spend ten minutes a day cleaning out your closet. Once your ten minutes is up, you’re free to put the project aside and forget about it until the next day.

But here’s the awesome part. There will be some days when you actually feel like working on your project for more than ten minutes...believe it or not. Not only will you realize the project isn’t as bad as you thought it was, you’ll have gotten into a zone, and you won’t want to stop.

It’s actually a little strange. If you tell yourself you have to do something for an hour, every minute can feel like a dreadful chore you can’t wait to escape. But when you tell yourself you can stop after ten minutes, you’ll often end up working on that project for an hour or more with ease. And when you see the progress you’ve made, you’ll look forward to getting back to the project the next day.

Action Steps

If you want to use this tried and true technique to make progress on one of your neglected projects, here’s how you do it.

1. Try to find a block of free time in your daily schedule. Ideally it will be the same time every day, so working on your project will become a habit.
2. Make a list of projects you’ve been meaning to get around to, but never have.
3. Pick something from that list. Starting out, choose the project that will take the least amount of time. The faster you complete this first project, the more eager you’ll be to tackle the next one.
4. When your chosen time arrives, set a timer for ten minutes, and then work on your project until the timer goes off.

When the timer dings, you’re finished with that project for the day. Unless, of course, you really want to keep going.

But here’s where things can get tricky.

To Stop or Not to Stop?

When the timer goes off, really examine how you feel. Do you want to keep going, or do you want to stop?

If you really want to keep going then, by all means, do it. But make sure you really, truly want to.

There will be times when you find yourself thinking, “I really want to stop now but, since I’ve already started, I might as well keep going for another half hour or so.” Which sounds perfectly reasonable in the moment. But this line of thinking will do more harm than good.

If you force yourself to keep going when you really don’t want to, you’ll find it much harder to get started the next time. Why? Because the next time you say, “Okay, let’s work on our project. And, remember, I can stop after ten minutes,” your subconscious will cry out, “Liar! Last time you said we only had to work for ten minutes, but you made us keep going for a whole hour! And I bet you’ll do the same thing today. So I’m going to do everything I can to kill any desire you have to work on that project.”

And it will. And, before you know it, that project will go back to being ignored and neglected.

So ask yourself, “Do I really want to keep going?” If the little voice in your head doesn’t answer with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Put the project aside for the day, and celebrate the fact that you put in your ten minutes, just like you promised yourself you would.


Committing just ten minutes a day to a project isn’t a revolutionary new technique. It’s just a simple little trick that happens to work.

If you have a list of projects that you never seem to get around to, ten minutes a day is all you need to get one of those projects moving forward. And once you start using this method, you’ll be surprised by how much you can get done in just ten minutes a day.


Have you ever used the “ten minute method” to work on one of your projects? If so, how did it work for you? Leave a comment below and let us know.