User Guide for the Daily Productivity Habit Form

I have published Daily Productivity Habit form to help you to reach your goals.  I have designed it for the better  focus.

This is the User Guide for the form, but also explains why there are certain fields and boxes and what is the thinking behind them.

User Guide for the Daily Productivity Habit Form

1. Date and Calendar bookings

First row includes date or number and calendar bookings. I like to number things and I will only write number like #1. If you file these forms, perhaps the numbering or date gives better history view.

The box for calendar bookings is there for two reasons.

1. Since we aim for greater focus, the calendar items are there for you. Writing them separately to this box gives you one chance more to control them. You can use your best skill to get out of the meetings or try to move them to afternoon

2. If you are not able to remove meetings or calendar bookings, they are there visible so that you won’t get surprises when your real calendar reminders pop up on your screen or mobile device.

..and of sometimes your “one thing” can also be a meeting or appointment with important contact.

2. Long-term goals

The main purpose for this form is to offer tools to achieve your BIG goals.

That is why I want them to visible whole day.

If you get lazy, you can annotate this PDF and write your goals to it and print the form with goals. However, it is important to revisit your goals daily and it is perfectly ok to change them as well.

These goals are not your daily goals. They are goals for something bigger. Where you want to be in a year? What do you want to achieve in your business or in your work?

According to the research people who write their goals are more likely to meet them. We will multiply this effect and we will write the goals every day.

I want them to be on this form so that you can see your goals whole day. The paper can be on your desk or wherever you are able to see it.

 

3. Worry-list

I try to empty my mind. If I have something that I keep in my mind I will do them first. The most stressful items are always the priority one.

Sometimes they are ridiculously small items – like reserving service to my car, which I have procrastinated for days, but it stays somewhere in back of my head.

Write them here and do them first with highest priority.

I have noticed that I don’t always even realize that the items stress me. I keep thinking them, but when I do them and they are done and gone, I feel better.

When you feel light and open without items that haunt you, you will be more productive and more creative. Your brain has more space to think and you start to enjoy what you do.

4. STOP! Don’t do these today.

We all have work that is mandatory, but does not really move us forward. There is a lot of administrative work that needs to be done. It is better to do that kind of work in bulk and not daily. I have a habit that when I get reminder of invoices that I need to approve or whatever, I jump in to them right away. Don’t do that. Your focus is on your ONE THING.

Stop items can also be Twitter, Facebook or email. If you are Twitter addict, you go to Twitter to check what is happening.

You can do whatever you want after you have achieved your ONE THING for today. Twitter can also be your reward for accomplished work.

5. One thing

Write here the ONE THING you try to do today. Select something that moves you closer to your goals. Try to think it from bottom to up. Something that would start domino effect and makes everything else easier or unnecessary.

(The one thing comes from the book “One thing“.)

You can improve your work methods or anything. Learning a new skill. Finding out how to do something easier or new feature to your product.

Anyway, you need to finish it during the day and remember that it needs to make everything else easier or unnecessary.

6. Interruptions

Being aware of interruptions is important. There are productivity methods build around avoiding the interruptions like Pomodoro method.

I wanted to add here row to track your interruptions. When you realize how much interruptions you have during the day, you will try to cut them.

Interruptions are internal which you cause by yourself or external which are caused by other people around you.

Remember that this is Daily Habit. It takes time to develop a habit. Some studies claim that developing a good habit takes average 66 days! So, don’t expect anything to happen right away.

FacileThings blog has excellent post about habits and productivity written by Francisco Sáez.

Let me know what you think? If you have tried or used this form let me know in Twitter, Facebook, comments or through contact from.

I would like to develop this further with your comments and with my own experiences.

  • amyyoungmiller

    Great stuff, Rami! The interruptions part is the hard part for me!

    • https://www.betterproductivityblog.com/ Rami Rantala

      Interruptions is the main thing why we accomplish so little!

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