[Workflow Series] How to accompolish anything

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This post is part of an ongoing Workflow Series.

If you want to check them out, go ahead, I'll wait.


Everyone has goals they want to accomplish in the near or distant future. This is a very healthy and how life works. Some of these goals may feel out of reach while others you are just too lazy to try.

While pracrastination is likely the biggest barrier to accomplishing your goals, there is a very effective technique to minimize procrastination.

Do something, anything, every day to get yourself closer to your goals.

There it is, that's it. You don't have to read anything else in this post and you are well on your way to accomplishing anything you want in life.

Still here? Ok, I'll give you some more to think about.

One of the biggest reasons people procrastinate is because they don't even know what their goals are or they are too abstract to actually know what what you really want.

For example, a lot of people making money or being rich is one of their main goals. How are you suppose to do this? If I asked you "What's the next thing on your list to do to become rich?" Would you have an answer? Most likely you wouldn't. In fact, you likely have no idea how to even start.

I'm going to go a little off track on my primary purpose of this post. It's really a simple technique and it really doesn't need much explaination anyway.

Before you can actually make progress on any goal, you need to know what the goal really is. You need to know what you need to do to get there.

Take a moment and think about three things you want to accompolish in the next 6-12 months. Write them down, I'm not going anywhere.

Got it?

Look at these goals, do you know exactly what you are trying to accompolish or is it just a general idea? If you cannot see a clear path to accomplishing your three goals, give them more thought and try to narrow them down to a distinct accomplishment.

Once you have done that, take each of these three goals and try to think of something you can do in the next 24 hours that will get you closer to these goals. It doesn't have to be big, just something that will move you closer. Start small and in time you will be making much bigger steps.

One of the things people do is try to catch up on months and years of procrastination, unless your goal is ultra time sensitive, start out small. Just do something, that's the most critical thing here. If you always carve out time every day to make some progress, you will start tackling the low hanging fruit and discover the real obstacles.

It is said it typically takes about 30 days to break or form a new habbit. Once you start making these baby steps, you will find it easier each day.

One of the biggest hurdles you will find is you don't know what these baby steps are. Spend a few minutes thinking about it, tackle one at a time. The more you shape your goals into specifically what you are trying to accomplish, the easier you will find making steps to it.

It's not always easy, some days will be easy to find what you want to do or even doing the thing, some days will be hard to figure out what you want to do but easy to do the thing, and some days it is easy to figure out what you want to do but hard to do it.

Once you make some progress on this, start to look at goals further out like 5 or 10 years. Some of these long term goals you are going to want to look at weekly steps rather than daily. You may even want to zoom out a month for more complicated goals. Then take that month and break it down further to daily or weekly steps.

Now I know I exagerated a bit on the title, I won't expect everyone who wants to be an astronaut to become one following this guide. For most people, it will help a lot.

If procastination is your biggest hurdle, look into the Pomodoro Technique.

If focus is your biggest hurdle, I would still recommend the Pomodoro Technique but also consider some brain storming techniques to identify what you should be focusing on.

If you took nothing from this, just do something tomorrow that will help you accomplish what you want to achieve, then keep doing that each day.


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42 comments
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"Go ahead, check them out. I'll wait." Lolol. It will tOe me some time, so thank you for waiting.
I have been trying to focus on being 1% better everyday. It compounds over time, and I can focus on building upon these little improvements. It has already helped so much since October.

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Workflow is critical and something I constantly work on every day. At the end of each day/weekly/monthly I look over what can be outsources, wasted time, done better and faster, what's getting results etc and seeing if those things are pushing me towards my main goal. It's nothing to spend a ton of time on but working as hard and efficiently as possible allows you to hit some crazy milestones.

You're 100% right on just doing something. So many people read and just get stuck in some type of paralyzed state of mind that they simply don't do anything and wonder why they are getting no where. Take a step no matter how large or small it is making the first move is critical. This series of yours should be awesome!

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(Edited)

Totally agree with you...

We need a master plan, but we also need to have the "baby steps" to accomplish it. Otherwise, the big plan seems almost impossible to complete.

For exemple. You want to travel once per year. If you save $10 each day, you will have $3600 in 12 month.

So big plan... Baby steps to reach big plan.

You want to be an astronaut?
Baby steps: study, learn, spacex interview, study more...

When each step is accomplished, you will have the feeling that you are getting there, so, the possibility to discourage yourself become each step less and less... And you can cheers all your small victories on your master plan path , getting a Great realizarion sensation.

Tks dor your insists. Very valuable.

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That's thinking like a winner :) We can do anything if we just stop sitting there thinking about it, in hopes that it will walk up and offer itself to us.

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The slow movement of a tiger is not a mistake but a calculated accuracy, which means slow and steady wins the race. What most people lack in achieving goals is patience because they are always after quick results which is not suppose to be so. Nothing good comes easy and anything which looks easy doesn't have a fantastic end.

The best thing is to always embark on that journey of success though, the beginning may look rough and tough but at the end of it all there's always a good results that back it up without the aim of giving up.

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One of the biggest reasons people procrastinate is because they don't even know what their goals are or they are too abstract to actually know what what you really want.

Another reason is to reduce stress. If you're pulled in multiple directions, then you might just need to stare at a wall or do something different. In one instance, I delayed writing a course paper until the last 36 hours. My mother in law fell down the stairs, my kids had HFM disease I can only assume they got from daycare, and my wife wasn't available to help. I wrote 20 pages for that paper and I didn't sleep while I tried to finish it up.

The goals are there, but I feel like sometimes life will literally get in the way. I wonder if it's fate trying to tell you something you can't comprehend.

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Sometimes it's just meant to push you to your limits! What if during that misery, you had sacrificed 45 minutes each day to write???

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I think about that possibility. If I did, then I probably would have written poorly or next to nothing. Once my wife was able to help out, I was able to be productive again.

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Added: The time my wife was able to give me allowed me to write continuously over that period. I got an 'A' for the research paper on change management. I just wouldn't have been able to make it there without her support. Sacrificing those 45 minutes each day, I felt, would probably have prevented me from caring for my family. During that time, I made peace with the possibility of academic failure on that assignment. I would have paid that price gladly.

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Awesome choice ❤️ I'm glad it worked out, and everyone is ok :)

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Before you can actually make progress on any goal, you need to know what the goal really is. You need to know what you need to do to get there.

I stumbled upon a post sometime back and if I can remember the post said something like if you have tried and it’s not working out, keep changing.

My question is what will you say about someone that doesn’t really know what to do. That everything he does crashes.

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(Edited)

You should always be willing to change your approach when needed. The most successful people will adapt.

My question is what will you say about someone that doesn’t really know what to do. That everything he does crashes.

Look at what you have tried and what you are trying to do, and see if you can find a pattern. Maybe take a smaller bite out of the problem.

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(Edited)

The most successful people will adapt.

So so true! The most certain thing in this life you can be sure of is change. That everything is in a constant movement.

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Okay thanks for this. Pray the smaller bites will be healthy

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Good ideas. I like lists and baby steps. There is something satisfying about knocking items off a list. Baby steps work for me because the feeling of make some progress no matter how small is rather motivating to me so I will then do more.

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Lists🥰🥰🥰 I love lists too and you are so right, checking something off feels good!

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I know right, especially on paper when you take a pen and line that completed task out! Done and done! Love that lol.

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Yes, it is very satisfying. It builds a momentum, a stepping stone for further progress.

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That's the plan :) ... Have you used the technique before?

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I have! Especially the two minute rule of completing an easy task immediately. If you knock off the low hanging fruit, it makes it easier for me to concentrate on the harder tasks without all the clutter. I just need to work on my consistency!

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Try doing a post a day, that definitely helps in self motivation 🙌

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Are you using any tools to help you organize tasks that you need to do or want to do? I am using project management software Asana. I was trying some "to do" apps as well.

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If you look at the beginning of the post, I reference "Remember the Milk" my favorite ToDo program.

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Great! I will check it right now. I just found your Workflow series I need to catch up :)

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Do something, anything, every day to get yourself closer to your goals.

I have found that one especially useful! It's definitely done wonders with my writing. For example, if I have trouble finding the time to do a full post, (which is usually upwards of three hours) due to jumping down a curation rabbit hole (or some other distraction or legitimate reason) then I can always either do a five minute freewrite, or enter an easy contest.

This forces me to write something which keeps me in the habit of posting daily. Even if my connection acts up, I can still write it, and post the next day. It's not about the streak, it's about the habit 🙌 !

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After recognizing your goal, it takes great amount of self discipline to actually work towards those goals. Because procrastination is an evil sweet feeling, once tasted, hard to let go.

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And probably this is my biggest problem. I do have goals but I don't know where to start. And at the same time I am shy of starting because it's probably I want to stay relax, lazy. When I start, and I don't get a positive response for some time, I quit.

I don't know if these are the characteristics of a loser. But I do think that I am a loser because with all the facilities if I couldn't do anything that myself or my family is proud of, then I think I am a loser.

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And probably this is my biggest problem. I do have goals but I don't know where to start. And at the same time I am shy of starting because it's probably I want to stay relax, lazy. When I start, and I don't get a positive response for some time, I quit.

I find not knowing where to start is frequently not knowing where you are going with complete clarity.

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This is just a replica of me.... I'm just happy to meet you guys in here, dishing out solutions to my problems

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Alasan lain adalah untuk menghilangkan kaku yang menyeret seseorang kepada stres

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I was sure I would find a hidden explanation for the "accompolish" topic! Still, this is great content, as usual, and I read it carefully. Easy to digest, food for thought, slap on the face for some. Thank you for sharing!

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My goodness, I think I may have just found yet another turning point in my life. Thank you so much!

I'm one to procrastinate(it's a very bad attitude I always struggle with) but I find when I actually try to meet my goals all that struggle, laziness, and complain becomes a mere illusion.

Your notion on "baby steps" have enlightened me a lot. It's almost certain that if we take it easy and slow, one step at a time, we wouldn't even know when we have reached and possibly surpassed our own goals and expectations!

I would adhere to your advice on seeing what we can achieve in the next 24 hours in order to get closer to our goals.

In fact, I'll go get started right now... Thanks again!

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Write them down. Might be the most important thing of all! I've known so many who will use the excuse of "I've got it in my head." Best thing I've suggested to many is a white board. Write them in a place where you will see them and review them every day. I tend to subscribe a bit to the process James Clear mentions in Atomic Habits, 1% better or movement toward those goals every day. Focus on today, and great things will come. Looking forward to going back and reading the prior posts.

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Really dear friend @themarkymark , your publication is very interesting, walking through three very essential purposes as a goal to be fulfilled, I consider that in my case for three months, for example I am 69 years old and in my life I have made a video about yoga, practice in the Which are my publications in Hive, and I want to fulfill it from here from December 2021 to July 2022, secondly, to travel to Argentina to be with my son, 3) to be a senior curator in Hive. They would be my goals. Thank you for your guidance, hugs from Venezuela. @omarrojas, with much affection. Successes

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Thanks dude for the Pomodoro technique never knew this existed. The 5 min break after every 25 mins could actually change my life. Thank you heaps!!!

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I personally prefer 60 minute windows, but find what works for you.

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thanks for the tip, Mark.

For me, what works is having a single goal. rather than having a plethora of things I need to do, I prioritize one single goal. This way I can concentrate on it and take those baby steps each day to actually achieve it.

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