Practical Productivity Tip #1: Set an internal deadline and keep it

(Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes)

Here’s one point of view:

When is a work of art finished? When it’s time for dinner. — Alexander Calder

If getting stuff finished is like pulling teeth to you, all bloody and painful and messy, consider Calder’s method: Work on it until you’re finished working, then it’s done.

Set yourself a time limit:

“I’m going to write for 1 more hour, then I’m done writing.”

“I’m going to programming until 3 pm (or 3 am more likely!) then I’m done.”

You have to commit to this. It may not be easy. You will have many incomplete thoughts, half-baked ideas, and launching points for entirely new threads… that you just won’t be able to finish. Be prepared to copy incomplete writing and thoughts to scrap files or your note taking wiki or blog draft queue. Then you can use these scraps as a basis for new articles.

Set a time limit, call it done when you get to that time limit.