Do you ever find that you have a long to-do list of things to complete throughout your day, but you can’t find the motivation to get them done?

 

I think we’ve all been in this position – where, perhaps there’s no urgent external deadline for things and we find it hard to keep ourselves to account, so things tend to slide.

 

Well, a few years ago, my human, Annie, came across a useful technique that’s helped her get things done.

 

It’s called the presupposition of success.

 

In Annie’s case, she has borrowed a convention from central and local government employees in the UK, a lot of whom end their work week by writing a blog post of everything they’ve achieved over the previous few days. This is called Weeknotes.

 

Annie has amended the practice to suit her own purposes. Her first task on every work day is to write a Weeknotes entry for the day, as if it’s actually the end of the day and she’s already completed all the tasks on her list.

 

She says this creates a mindset of productivity and utilises the assumption that she will succeed in achieving all her tasks. Also, she finds it very annoying to have to go back and change the entry at the end of the day, to take out anything she hasn’t completed!

 

Why don’t you give it a try? When you’re writing your entry, focus on the sense of satisfaction you’ll feel when you actually tick the tasks off your list and write in terms of celebrating your success.

 

Don’t forget to let me know how you get on, or if there’s anything in your life you’d like my thoughts on!

 

You can email me at wisebearstanley@gmail.com

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