deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
5 Ways to Track Your Progress (And Why it's so Important) - RescueTime
11
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
Completion bias
It's where your brain specifically seeks the hit of dopamine you get from crossing off small tasks and ignores working on larger, more complex ones.
1.05k SAVES
2.88k READS
Small wins and motivation
Out of all the things that can boost our mood and motivation, the single most important is making progress on meaningful work.
Just like we love crossing small tasks off our to-do list, being able to see that we’re even one step closer to a big goal is a huge motivator. The problem is that these “small wins” are hard to measure.
934 SAVES
1.81k READS
Jocelyn K. Glei
912 SAVES
1.80k READS
Why we feel busier than ever
... but feel like nothing gets done:
- Our days are filled with meaningless, busy-work (like answering emails).
- We’ve lost the ability to set meaningful, effective goals.
- We don’t set in place methods for tracking progress.
- We’ve lost the ability to handle uncertainty.
876 SAVES
1.77k READS
Tracking progress is a powerful tool
It keeps you motivated and productive.
You become more purposeful about the work you do. And that can create the kind of meaning that so many of us search for in our daily work. You also have more insight into the value you’re creating.
820 SAVES
1.51k READS
Break out large tasks
... into smaller pieces and visualize them.
When you’re facing a large project, your first step should be to break it out into smaller goals. Then, break those goals down into smaller tasks. The more chances you have to feel like you “finished” part of it, the more motivation you’ll get from your progress.
945 SAVES
1.50k READS
Set daily quotas
... and start every day at zero.
Rather than simply looking at your overall progress on a project, set smaller daily quotas.
If your goal is especially complex, a quota can be easier to hit than a goal.
925 SAVES
1.60k READS
Track your metrics on a calendar
Pick a metric (or two) that makes sense for you and then track how many days you hit it.
Your calendar becomes a large, visual reminder of your progress (and also brings in the power of streaks).
809 SAVES
1.43k READS
Write in a diary
... for 5 minutes a day.
At the end of each day, take a few minutes to write about what you worked on. Make sure to note both your “small wins” and any setbacks.
At the end of the month, flip back through your notes and see how far you’ve come. It’s amazing the clarity you get from seeing the progress you made over a longer period
1.02k SAVES
1.56k READS
Teresa Amabile
791 SAVES
1.39k READS
“If you want to summarize the habits of successful people into one phrase, it’s this: successful people start before they feel ready.”
James Clear
1.28k SAVES
2.72k READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
8
Key Ideas
Learning how to prioritize...
...means getting more out of the limited time you have each day. It’s one of the cornerstones of productivity and once you know how to properly prioritize, it can help with everything fro...
Master lists
Capture everything on a Master List and then break it down by monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
- Start by making a master list—a document, app, or piece of paper where every current and future task will be stored.
- Once you have all your tasks together, break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
- When setting your priorities, try not to get too “task oriented” - you want to make sure you’re prioritizing the more effective work.
Eisenhower Matrix
The matrix is a simple four-quadrant box that answers that helps you separate “urgent” tasks from “important” ones:
- Urgent and Important: Do these tasks as soon as possible
- Important, but not urgent: Decide when you’ll do these and schedule it
- Urgent, but not important: Delegate these tasks to someone else
- Neither urgent nor important: Drop these from your schedule as soon as possible.
9
Key Ideas
Productivity Shame
Work is never finished, and we are unable to disconnect from it, causing us to experience productivity shame, impacting our happiness and creativity.
The modern working pro...
The Busyness Paradox: Addicted To Being Busy
- Personal productivity is not about all-round efficiency, and it is wrong to think about your input as that of a machine in a factory unit.
- This is further complicated by our mistaken assumption that being in demand means that we are doing a splendid job.
- We blur our all boundaries between our work and personal life and every minute of the day is to be kept busy as we rush to attend every meeting, cross out every task from the to-do list or to answer every email that we get.
Completion Bias
Our brain starts to favour small tasks that give a false impression of productivity (woohoo! I just sent out fifty emails!) while we neglect the large, complex but meaningful tasks.
This is known as the completion bias.
7
Key Ideas
Why Change Is So Hard
Changing is necessary and takes energy but our brains tend to try to conserve energy as much as possible. So we have mental biases that influence our behaviors and make us shy away from opportun...
Make Change a Team Effort
“Role Modelling” is one of the main factors behind successful change in organizations and consists of inspiring change by example.
While leadership will ultimately give you sign-off, the rest of the team will determine its success. So in an organizational setting, you must convince everyone of the necessity of change.
Know Who You’re Dealing With
In a collection of individuals, one bad seed can kill all the hard work you’re putting in. You must understand who you are working with so you can tailor your message and actions so no one becomes a bad seed. To do this, sort your team in the following categories:
- Fast Yes: those on your team and ready to work to implement the change.
- Slow Yes: slightly skeptical but still open and can see the value in what you’re doing.
- Fast No: quick to dismiss change but clarity and decisiveness can change that and turn them into strong supporters.
- Slow No: look like they can be persuaded but have already decided against you and will stall and undermine. Here, convincing by example is the best route.