"Don’t break the chain" - Deepstash
Productivity Systems

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Productivity Systems

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"Don’t break the chain"

"Don’t break the chain"

This is a productivity and motivation technique used and popularised by Jerry Seinfeld.

Each day you complete your task, you put an X in your calendar. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. The temptation to skip a day will be weaker because you'll enjoy seeing that chain form, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt.

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Creating momentum

Creating momentum

  1. Start by defining your one goal, the purpose of your chain. Schedule uninterrupted times into your day for it.
  2. Pursue your chain using whatever tools make sense to you: you can choose to use a digital calendar or an analog one.
  3. Create outcome-based requirements for every l...

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Momentum vs friction

Not breaking the chain leads to momentum, the force that allows something to grow stronger or faster as time passes. But like everything else, momentum has an equal and opposite reaction.

Friction is the resistance caused when one object is moving at a dif...

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The compound effect

The compound effect

Sustained momentum toward a singular goal creates a compound effect.

This means that consistent, incremental changes can result in fundamental changes over time.

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The endowed progress effect

This shows that a person who feels like they're making progress toward a goal is more likely to complete it and faster than a person who feels they’re starting from scratch.

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Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

“Where I’d had huge success, I had narrowed my concentration to one thing, and where my success varied, my focus had, too … Success is sequential, not simultaneous.”

GARY KELLER AND JAY PAPASAN

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"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." - Lincoln

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"Don't break the chain" productivity method

"Don't break the chain" productivity method

Jerry Seinfeld keeps his commitment of writing a joke every single day with a calendar: Each day that he writes, he puts a big X on the calendar.  

After a few days, he'll have a chain. If ever he’s tempted to skip a day, he just has to look at the calendar where a single miss...

Don’t Break the Chain

Don’t Break the Chain

Keep track of how many days in a row you’ve successfully followed your habit. As your chain gets longer and longer, you become increasingly committed to the habit.

Pros:

  • Maintains habits over a longer timeframe than a 30-day trial.
  • Better for thing...

Seinfeld’s “Don’t Break The Chain”

The challenge with consistency is that it’s quite difficult to sustain. One strategy incredibly useful is Seinfeld’s “Don’t Break The Chain,” whereby on the very days you show up to work toward your goal, you mark an X on your calendar. Your objective then becomes very simple: Do...

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