In my effort to become ever more productive throughout the day, I’ve done several more things:
For starters, if I need to concentrate for a prolonged period of time and start to drift, I’ve found these things work pretty well:
Ear plugs. Blocking all audible input greatly reduces the amount of things to concentrate on, therefore helping concentration. I use them time to time if I have a large amount of “boring” work to do.
————————————————-
When I work out now, I bring a checklist of exercises to do. I wish I had started this years ago!
There’s a quote I like by Brian Tracy that says: “At the age of 24 I began setting clear, written goals for each area of my life. I accomplished more in the following year than I had in the previous 24.”
Setting goals and creating plans helps accomplish more in any field, so I don’t know why it took me so long to apply it in the gym. Instead of simply stopping when I get tired or unmotivated, I now finish long workouts, and I can see my progress in visual form on the checklist.
I got the initial checklist from this workout plan post at AskMen.com, then slightly modified it to be one workout with more sets.
————————————————-
My latest motivational addition to my room comes in the form of a large poster I had printed out at Kinkos on foam board. It’s a quote I stole from Stephen Stephanian’s website.
I put this board right in front of my desk so I can’t ignore it.