Don’t Break the Chain!

Just another tick in the wall…

I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that sometimes I find it difficult to sit down and get motivated to do something, like my writing. It’s a subject I’ve come to be fascinated by even though it keeps bringing my own personal flaws to pass, but maybe by doing so I can help to alleviate and conquer those flaws.

As I work steadily on with Colonisation, my sci-fi novel that will be sent out to beta readers in just under 35 days, I’ve discovered that when it comes to motivating myself, sometimes I need a stick much more than a carrot.

But I have discovered a delightfully easy productivity tip that fits right in with how I work. Simple: Don’t Break The Chain!

Don’t Break The Chain is a simple motivational tool developed, according to urban legend, by Jerry Seinfeld to help him write jokes and the premise is absolutely dead simple – you print off a year or month calendar and, for every day in which you achieve the task you set yourself, you can tick off that day with a big cross. The idea is that as you gain momentum you start to form a “chain” of crossed out days on this calendar and the impetus to not break this chain is what keeps you going.

And I have to say, it’s working wonderfully here, because this is the sort of thing that fits into how I operate. I pretty much have an OCD about these things, to making sure I can tick off another day is just as much part of the fun – nay, sometimes even more rewarding than doing some writing.

My “goal” per day is simple – to redraft 3 pages of Colonisation a day. It’s sometimes better to have a set goal like this as opposed to one solely centred around spending “time” on something, as this way I make sure I actually make some headway with the work I need to do, and don’t just fiddle with two paragraphs for twenty minutes. This goal urges me to go forward and make progress. And I have to say it’s working, along with my deadline counter on my Windows desktop, to both prod me to get on with it and reassure me that, with these bite sized chunks of activity that I can totally manage, this project is going to be fine in terms of time and that I won’t find myself in Punishment Central.

Even better, you can get a calendar app for the iPhone that is specifically designed to be “cross-off”-able and tracks your current chain – link at the end!

And I can see great prospects for this going forward as a technique, as even when not working on an active “project” like Colonisation or something, I’ll use it to make sure I write at least something every day, whether that’s a short story, blog post, email or, heck, even free writing. This is better than mentally pledging to do so, as you’ll have tangible proof of the days you failed on and there’ll be no wiggle room to “start it on Monday… no, Tuesday…”

So if you have something you really want to make sure you do every day – be it exercise, writing or any other project work you want to do regular work toward, give this technique a try. Below I’ve put some interesting links to find out more about not breaking the chain…

Detailed Don’t Break The Chain info at TheWritersStore: link

Printable calendar: link

iOS App: link

(Image courtesy of The Writers Store)