How to procrastinate less and achieve results?

I've spent years willing to do long-term improvements and somehow I kept finding myself being super busy, super effective, always with excellent feedback, but still not getting any closer to accomplishing my big ideas. I kept starting them and then once I'm bored, dropped them dead as a bad idea which doesn't work. One of the tricks to get to the finish line was delegating it to someone else and then asking for progress.

Another thing which I kept calling just stupid since my childhood is doing sports. It's like the most no-value activity. Even worse, it takes time and doesn't create anything. Maybe I just hate putting physical pressure on myself and these are all excuses. My weight usually was a bit above that of a normal human guy from the EU, about 92kg and that was okay.?

It all doesn't sound that satisfying, does it? Of course, now and then I was catching myself judging my accomplishments and the ways how I got there.

1. The power of daily self-measurement

I was lucky to organize a training for my DevOps leads by Marshall Goldsmith who was visiting Riga. That was back in 2019 or so. There was lots of cool stuff about what he said but one of the things I decided to start practicing - the daily questions. It's a simple practice - every day rate yourself on different questions to measure your progress. Maybe even set a goal for yourself. I don't remember the full list of the questions anymore, but all of them were generic and should give a full assessment of a successful human (not just a professional).

Over these years I have stopped doing them for longer periods a couple of times. What happens is that pretty fast I found myself starting to lose a feeling of purpose. I started with some 8 questions which over time turned into 7, then 6, today it's just 3 - executing my daily goal, 1-2 specific boring tasks; spending 30min for social contribution or learning; the positive outcome of communication with others. I'm thinking of going back to 4 questions because I notice that I have stopped learning since I merged those together.

The idea of the whole thing is that if you don't measure yourself, you can't expect any growth. Because you don't know the growth. So it doesn't matter.

Some 2 years ago I decided to start applying the same approach to my daily physical exercises. What exercises? None. I needed a way how to push myself into doing them. The motivator was the upcoming marriage in a few months. I tried different apps, and a few cheap gadgets and understood that it's all bull****. I wasn't getting anywhere really. And I hated the exercise itself. It hurts! The wedding was amazing and... I lost motivation to continue. There was also the Covid lockdown, then getting the flu or something - that greatly helped my?motivation.

2. Create a motivating environment

A bit more than a year ago a moved to a new self-decorated apartment where I made sure that I have 2 things in one - the home office and a gym. When I moved in, can't say I was spending much time in the gym, something was missing. Then some 9 months ago I bought an indoor byke. After the first try, it took me a few months to jump on it again. But this time I was smarter - I made daily questions for my morning exercises. I need to trick my brain somehow into getting a visible value out of the exercise. Now, I always do exactly the same thing each workday morning before the shower, track growth, and feel inner accomplishment when it moves 1 point up. Of course, there are days when I just don't feel like doing it and I skip the exercise. Later I feel bad about it which helps for the next morning.

Irregularly I kept monitoring my weight. The first weight of myself that I remember is 82kg. I think I was 19 years old. And, guess what... this morning I found out that I'm back to those 82 kgs! I definitely should continue this. The target as such doesn't really matter because the motivation boost comes from that 1 point up. Just need a little feeling of accomplishment.

3. Keep your stats in front of you at all times

One more thing which I noticed a long time ago, is that those measurements need to be in front of me all the time. Otherwise, it doesn't work. In the beginning, I had plain paper on the wall and it was not effective enough. So, now my 2nd monitor is reminding me about it almost all the time. It helps a lot. Call me a weirdo if you like. I'm telling you - it works!

However, I assume this approach is not for everyone. If you don't like competition and gaining points, maybe try some mindfulness exercises, find your yin and yang, or create an energy ball by hand. I'm an achievement-oriented person. I've been tested. (#Sheldon )

Conclusion

Well, maybe this just comes with age and it would have happened anyway. However, I doubt that's true. Thank you, Marshall!

Anyhow, I'd love to hear your stories about what helped you to procrastinate less or find your intrinsic motivators.