I've been an engineer since 1987 (man, do I feel old). Over that time, a lot of ebbs and flows of my productivity. Probably more ebbs than flows (if that makes sense).
I have read some books on motivation and prioritizing your life. (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" I have tried a lot of different things. Still haven't gotten it mastered. Actually, reading a thread like this gets me a little fired up to try some new things.
A few things I would offer:
- Build on the suggestion above to hit the ground running and start your day right. Except when you hit your desk, you don't dive into your first project. Instead you dive into your to-do file. It has at the top a list of your priorities in order. Might be something like: my attitude, my health, my family, financial security, my job, long-term learning. (that's something like mine is... not that I don't love my family above all else, but I think that I need to control my attitude and my health above all to take care of them best). Built into your priorities, there should be some reasons why you want to do a good job: it enhances your security, reduces stress, getting everything done at work this week will help you enjoy the weekend absolutely guilt free, maybe provides the prospect of promotion etc. Take a moment to review the priorities for your life including what you have to be thankful for and what you want to accomplish. Then when you have reviewed the priorities of your life (and hopefully find yourself inspired), look at your to-do list and make a plan for the day.
- View yourself as an outer parent and inner child. Your outer parent is the sensible and logical one and knows what's the right one to do. Your inner child is the emotional and impulsive one and usually gravitates towards immediate gratification and the like. Every once in awhile when you catch yourself getting off track, the parent needs to have a talk to the child. And I mean literally, talk to yourself using words. Write them down if you have to. That inner parent must talks the truth (not excuses) and needs to get the point across. Some techniques the inner parent might use:
- Include in the daily/weekly routine enough relax/reflect/refocus time to keep the child on track. Some people find that excercize helps.
- Use visualization can be effective. Visualize yourself getting rewarded for your hard work with a relaxing weekend. Possibly a promotion. Maybe you have one aspect of your behavior you want to change. Visualize someone else that acts the way you want to act and then visualize yourself acting like them.
Although as I mentioned I haven't mastered my own actions, I think I know what is the a key for me. It is the 7th habit: "Sharpen the Sword". The story that goes with it is about an observer who comes upon a woodman cutting wood furiously with a handsaw. It takes a very long time to get through that log at which point the observer notices the saw is dull. The observer asks the woodman why he doesn't sharpen it. The woodman responds that he is too busy... look at all the logs he has got to cut today.
Our attitude is our saw. Equipped with the right attitude (sharp), we can do almost anything. With the wrong attitude (dull), we will get in our own way and we can flounder. It is well worth the small investment in time at some recurring point in your daily and weekly schedule to relax, think about what's important, and spend some quality time between the outer parent and inner child to make sure your internal priorities straight.
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