I was recently inspired by this blog from Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist, where he wrote about ten things you can accomplish by taking small steps. He offers ten brief thoughts on how to make changes in your life in various ways by just taking one small, initial step. It made me consider what ten easy, simple tips I could offer to someone who is looking down the barrel towards the end of the year and desperately wanting to improve their productivity and organizational habits.
I know the thought pattern that occurs at this time of the year, “January is coming – I’ll do it then!” But consider that implementing just one or two, very small changes right now could make a huge difference when January comes around, and may make those big changes significantly easier to develop.
Inertia is a productivity killer. Consider Newton’s 1st law of motion: “An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion…” Just taking that one, small first step NOW will get that ball rolling so that you can gain momentum as the new year rolls out!
Here are my ten, small tips for NOW. Pick one and give it a try over the next six weeks. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much even just one will change your life for the better!
- If you can do it in five minutes, do it now.
- Sort snail mail into junk, action, file, as soon as it comes in the door. Don’t just dump it on the kitchen counter to be dealt with later.
- Don’t keep your phone in your bedroom at night. Consider how having a buzzing, blinking, dinging machine that has ALL THE INFORMATION IN THE WORLD in it right next to your brain may affect the quality and duration of your sleep!
- Stop saving digital documents to your computer’s desktop. Name it with a consistent formula and put it in a folder.
- Clear off your work space before you leave for the evening.
- Don’t put it down. Put it away.
- Unless your immediate thought is, “hell, yes!”, say no.
- Ask for help more often (learn the joys of delegating.)
- When you’re thinking of buying one more thing, first ask yourself three questions:
– “Where will I keep this?”
– “Do I already own something else like this?”
– “Does this help me live the (productive, uncluttered) life I want to be living?” - Resist “bright, shiny object” syndrome. You don’t need another app. Sometimes it’s just about using what you already have and know more consistently.
You have six weeks left of 2023.
What small, regular action can you start now that will bear fruit in 2024?
Wishing you all a happy and gratitude-filled Thanksgiving!
“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
~ Meister Eckhart.
