A couple of weeks ago, a very industrious robin built a nest on my back porch. As I watched her work almost nonstop, I knew I needed to tend ‘my own nest.’ Things were growing in the bathroom, the laundry overflowed, and the dirty dish tower was getting pretty impressive. My only problem: zero motivation. It was time for my ‘ole hat trick, a tried and true method for getting things done. Just follow these simple instructions.
Needed items: hat, slips of paper, writing utensil, timer, an iron will
1. Define your time frame. 2.5 hours is optimal.
2. Write 5 things you must get done on 5 separate slips of paper.
3. Write 5 things you would love to do/can do for 15 minutes (jogging, reading, FB, Youtube videos, gardening, eating a banana split, etc.) on 5 separate slips of paper.
4. Put the 10 slips of paper in the hat, give it a shake, close your eyes and draw one out.
5. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
6. Exercising your iron will, you MUST do whatever is on the slip of paper for 15 minutes. GO!
7. When the timer goes off, draw out another slip of paper and keep on being productive and having fun!
VARIATIONS:
*This hat trick can also be job oriented instead of time oriented (weed the flower bed, pay bills, wash the dog, etc.) In this case, you will need a longer time frame.
*Try it with a family member or friend.
The day I invented this method, I made a cake, paid bills, did some boring housework, and wrote over 500 words in “To Call My Own” – all in about 3 hours.
