IMPLEMENTATION (strategies used): The streak continues, as I was able to complete the task for this week on time. In addition, I had such a productive session on Wednesday and was able to actually outline the first four chapters of the book. :) I incorporated three main strategies to help me this week and have listed them below with short descriptions of what they are and their immediate benefits.
1. 3-Bucket System: Want to become a better writer? Or do you consider yourself a good writer and want to become more efficient? Well search no more, as you have found a strategy that can do exactly that. This strategy has helped me grow from a novice to an intermediate writer, and that is saying a lot as I used to loathe writing. I learned the 3-Bucket system from Jeff Goins who breaks up the process of writing into three easy steps. First, create a place (physical or digital) where you can collect ideas. Second, schedule a time to draft the first version without the pressure of making edits. Third, edit your draft after you have taken time away from it. This process makes writing much easier and I find myself producing better writing in a shorter amount of time.
2. The 2-minute and Got a minute: Ever feel overwhelmed of completing a task even before you start? Or, do you procrastinate or put things off because you think you do not have enough time? The following two strategies are your solution. I learned the 2-minute rule from James Clear and actually researched and came up with the "Got a Minute" on my own. The 2-minute rule helps you initiate a task, as usually this is the most difficult step in completing a task. In this strategy you focus simply on what you would do in the first 2 minutes of starting a task and then complete those actions. I often times do this and then look up at the clock and see that I have been working for well over 2 minutes. I came up with the "Got a Minute" strategy because I was frustrated with not completing everything I wanted to do in the earlier weeks of this process. I had the belief that I needed LARGE blocks of time to complete meaningful tasks. This led me to not utilizing all the pockets of time that I had during the week. I research the reason why we often error in estimating the time required to complete a task, which led me to Vierordt's Law. It states that when estimating a previous task, people overestimate short durations and underestimate long ones. Often times, I would not complete a task as I thought it would require more time, but I have learned that meaningful tasks can be accomplished in a short amount of time. "Got a minute" was spawned form this idea. I can't say I do this all the time, but whenever I do have five or 10 minutes block of free time I try to devout myself to completing things that I would have not normally started. As a result, tasks that I thought would take more time actually get accomplished through these short blocks of time.
3. Read More: Want to read 30 books this year? Here is your strategy. I also learned this from James Clear, pretty smart dude on habits that cultivate success. Today there is an abundance of information that can be accessed with ease. You can find information on how to do pretty much anything and follow the steps from those that have done what you want to do. In theory, you can become a pro in any field by learning from others through books, video tutorials, and other digital resources. Reading is used in some capacity to analyze the text and this is where this strategy comes into play. All you need is a timer and information that you want to read. Each day set the timer for 20 minutes and read for the duration of that time. That is it. Do that on a daily basis and you will be able to get through more books in a shorter amount of time.
REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Well, today marks the 20th post after starting this process over five months ago. With in this time I started not knowing exactly what I wanted to accomplish this year, or didn't have a clue on how to write a book. But through the process of showing up and completing a PIR week, I have gained the knowledge and resources to write a book. In addition, I have a clear outline that is being modified and improved upon on a weekly basis. As a bonus to gaining this knowledge of how to write a book, I have learned an abundance of periphery knowledge about habits, creativity, and the power of 1% improvements and their impact on producing meaningful results.
The idea of the "aggregation of marginal gains" that I mentioned above and in week 19 is something that came up this week. James Clear wrote this great article on this and he said that 1% is unnoticeable or even insignificant by itself. I really felt that this week, as although I completed my task and even did extra work I did not feel an extreme amount of joy. I was even in a little funk on Friday night about this for some reason, sorry Meggo. But as I was writing this post I realized that the completion of the task for this week fits into a grander picture of me publishing a book this year. Just by opening up Scrivener I am able to see all of the 1% improvements that I have completed from previous weeks, which in turn, has brought me to this point of having a clear outline and sequence for the book.
Lastly, I wanted to share how I connected this to what I learned from my WT = DT about being more mindful. A state of gratitude will allow you to see abundance in your life and and leads to appreciation. There was a great quote I heard this week, which was "Appreciate more and expect less." I thought about this when I was in my funk on Friday night and while I was drafting this post and made a huge realization. With any meaningful task, we should not expect things to go exactly a certain way or think that we should feel a certain way. We should strive to APPRECIATE what we have and that often leads us to see the grander picture. This task of taking on this challenge to discover, pursue, and achieve your dreams will be filled with moments when you can not see how your 1% improvements will make a difference, but know that this uncertainty is a part of the process. Show up every week, commit to your task, and you will start to see the fruits of your labor.
Thanks for tuning in and see you in week 21.
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