Streak

There are a few systems I am using which involve an active streak. For example in both Duolingo and Habitica, they track how many consecutive days that I have done something. I've found that to keep up my motivation, I need to set a minimum value to complete that will count it as continuing my streak. In Duolingo, this mean that I just have to complete one lesson a day (which usually takes about 5 minutes) even though in reality, I could often do more than one lesson. But one lesson it is to count it as my streak being furthered. It's the same with Habitica and my dailies in that program. I have a minimum that must happen to me to check it off and count it toward my streak. It may not be much, but on some days, it's all that's going to happen. :)

Listening to Spoken Media

I've been listening to scripture and podcasts daily. With 8 chapters a day, I can get thru the Bible in a year. I also listen to podcasts like The Tom Woods Show, The Brion McClanahan Show, Coversations (from the Mormon Channel), and Perspectives (also from the Mormon Channel). A few others I sample from from time to time, like the Lew Rockwell Show, Entrepreneur on Fire, Freedom Fast Lane, and others. These are easy to listen to at work or in the car and it feels like I have during that time many friends who are teaching me new stuff. It's good to marinate oneself with good media (more on that later).

Some Calendar

A spin-off idea from the overbudgeting system I wrote about a few days ago (which, if you've tried it, I'd love to hear your experiences) is the getting-ahead calendar. The idea is that you put your tasks on the calendar on every other Saturday. Then you start getting the tasks done ahead of time. I haven't implemented this one fully yet, but I plan on doing so and seeing its fruits.

Seek them out

Feeling lonely or lost in the world? Feeling like you are disconnected from everyone? Here's an idea....contact your relatives and go learn about your ancestors. You'll find both stories of courage and shame, goodness and weakness, happiness and hardship. It's a great experience reading journal entries from your ancestors and their relatives and thinking about what life must have been like back in the day. If you want a silly rendition of what life must have been like, :), you should put Four Yorkshire Men in a search engine and get ready for a laugh. But seriously, it gives one roots when one thinks on the ones who came before.

Overbudgeting

There is a great principle of productivity that I like to call overbudgeting your time. The benefit is that you get everything you budgeted done and a little more. Here's how it works: you write down the beginning time of your budget (800 which means 8 am) and write down the task or acitivity that is happening then; then write down the ending time, after adding triple the time to it (i.e. so if your activity is 5 minutes long, write 15 minutes); write this out for all of your activities; profit; do your best to finish the tasks/activities before the ending time in your budget; decide whether you want to use your new-found extra time to do another small task/activity or start the next one early. The wonderful thing about this system is you get done what is on your list and a little bit more. It's fulfilling. *Note: this works best for smaller and shorter tasks/activities. The bigger or more complex the task, the harder it will be to estimate it in the first place and enlarge the time budgeted in the second. Happy budgeting!

Start small

Sometimes I have not started a project or new habit because I didn't have the wherewithal at that time to automate and do it at the level I wanted. This condition has caused that I have not started some habits or projects. I realize now, that for some things, we should just start. Start small and begin to see the benefits. When you have it running, think about embellishing it (if desired) or automating it. It's like the debate I had with a roommate once on whether it was better to do something for the wrong reason or not do it at all. My roommate suggested that he wouldn't do something unless he was doing it for the right reason. I contested that one should do the right thing, even for the right reason, and move toward doing it for the right reason. I feel vindicated; now let me think if I have an actual examples to share of my approach being better. :)

Missionaries

There are many people in other places serving or teaching other people about religion. They are often called missionaries. While the work they do is worthwhile and rewarding, it is also hard and takes a lot of emotional and physical energy. We may respect these people for their service and their endurance, but do we show our appreciation? I know that when I was a missionary, any letters from my family and friends were gold. I loved to hear about their lives and hear uplifting messages. I also loved pictures. So write a missionary today. You and they will be glad you did.