Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Mother’s Day

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challenging tasks, drudgery, easy tasks, Excitement, momentum, Monday, motivation, New book, Stephen Guise

I hope all of my readers who are Mothers had a great Mother’s Day. We are pretty low-key here, but Mom got to do all she likes to do and my sister made dinner. It was a nice day.

So, here we are! It’s Monday. What do you have planned this week? Anything exciting? Anything you dread doing?

I’ve found during retirement that doing the exciting things first is a good way of building momentum. Then you can use that momentum to take on the more difficult tasks that you do not like to do, but must. Must tasks fall into employer, health, and other important categories. We don’t like doing them, but we must. Speaking of momentum, Stephen Guise just came out with a new book he wrote discussing momentum. I’ll be getting that and reading it. Here’s the link if any of you are interested: https://smile.amazon.com/Magic-Momentum-Winning-Streaks-Trajectory-ebook/dp/B09XL9VQ2C/ref=sr_1_8?crid=6HUYOXUBACEA&keywords=momentum&qid=1652071880&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sprefix=momentum%2Caps%2C931&sr=1-8

The book is $6 on Amazon for the e-book version and $15 if you still read paperbacks. There’s also an audible version for those of you who like to listen to books in your car or other device. I’m not an affiliate, but highly recommend any of Stephen’s work. It is terrific.

Well, folks, that’s it for today. I hope you all have a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Tools and Keeping it Simple

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Apps, KISS, Monday, motivation, Resistance, simplicity, Simplify, tasks, Techniques, Tools

Have you ever found yourself using an app or some other tool to add some efficiency to your day? What happens when you find out that the app or tool is much less efficient than you initially thought?

There are some great apps and tools out there to help us become more efficient at what we do. Calendars, to-do lists, time-tracking, you name it. But sometimes these apps cause more work for us. I used to use an app called Any.do. Initially, it was terrific. My tasks were laid out each day and I check them off as I go. Then, suddenly, the app stopped working with Chrome and I could only access my to-do list through my phone or iPad. You already know where this is going. I dropped the app.

Whenever a tool becomes more of a chore than the actual doing of a task, it’s time for that tool to be gone. Take some time to reevaluate the tools you use. Do you suffer from the same thing, but didn’t realize it? It’s easy to do.

Keeping things simple is another aspect of motivation. When things become too complex or difficult to deal with, we tend to shy away from the doing. We resist it. This resistance can cause us to procrastinate or avoid the task altogether. Whenever this occurs in my life, I simply look at what the task involves and begin picking it apart for smaller things to do. The key to tackling this resistance is simplification. Simply reduce the complexity and you’ll find like I have that the resistance dissipates.

Another way to simplify a task is to take some time to learn more. Each month I have a report I have to kick into my organization. This report is in an MS Excel format. I decided that I needed to relearn MS Excel so I could put together better charts, create a better presentation, and take less time putting these together. I simplified the task by learning the tool I was using. Yet another way to simplify what you are doing. Simple translates into less resistance.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a terrific Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – I Won’t Give Up

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Ben Lionel Scott, Get at it, Get to it, Monday, motivation, speech, Video, YouTube

I haven’t posted a motivational video in a while, and figured why not? I hope you enjoy this one. I like the short videos because most of us do not have the time to set and watch anything longer than that with our crazy schedules.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday –

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Energy, Interest, Meaning, Monday, motivation, Overwhelm, Simple, Simplify, time

There are so many ways and tools to plan and work your day. I’ve used Todo, Toodledo, and Todoist. After my Todo app began crashing (Google wouldn’t allow me to visit their web-version of the app, I decided to digress to Google Docs, Calendar, and Sheets. For me, this was a god send.

There’s also the To-do list itself or the daily recurring tasks that I always have, so I stay focused on what I want to accomplish each day. My big four are Reading, Writing, Learning, and Spirituality. One area I also consider important, but not as much any more is Socializing. I used to include this in my daily to-dos, but have lost interest in Facebook, and many of the social platforms. I still wish my friends happy birthday, enjoy looking at the pictures my friends post, and such, but I enjoy interacting with the community here much more.

Recurring tasks and checklists are awesome. I use these all the time. The problem: I tend to keep adding things until my schedule is an absolute mess. So, today’s article is about simplifying.

If you open your calendar up and it is literally filled with things to do, appointments, and tasks, it can be quite overwhelming. The key to motivation is setting up your day so you can actually get something done and not be immediately overwhelmed by the very tools you chose to improve your productivity. Have you ever seen a colleague spend hours planning their next day to only not do anything on their list? Much of this has to do with what I’m talking about. In my opinion, it is much better to get a few things completed than a bunch of stuff not completed. So stick to simple. Don’t put more on your plate than you can handle. This is particularly important for those of you who still work. One of the biggest considerations all of us have to make is not just the time we have, but the energy we have. If you have a laundry list of stuff to do on your personal calendar after you’ve been working all day, it is highly likely you will blow most of it off. You just won’t have the energy to accomplish all of it.

I enjoy doing little things each day that build toward my goals. Reading is one of the things I enjoy doing each day. I only have to read one chapter to check it off of my list. Do I tend to read more than that? You bet, but I only have to read one chapter. All of my tasks are set up like this. There’s a minimal threshold I have to achieve each day to check items off of my list. Writing involves writing to my wife daily, blogging, working on my book, and my journaling (dreams, gratitude, and another section I started this year, where I record my spiritual experiences and other ah-ha moments). All of this writing typically takes about an hour. Sometimes more, but typically one hour or so. When I’m motivated, I’ll write longer.

I do this with every task I have. If I open my calendar up and feel overwhelm immediately, I know it’s time to simplify it again. Pay attention how you react to your calendar and your daily tasks. If you feel overwhelm or resistance to doing anything on the list, get it off. There’s no sense in having a task on your list that you either blow off or continue to avoid. Get it off the list.

Well, that’s all I have for today. Remember that motivation depends on meaning, interest, time, and energy. A task has to mean something to you for you to want to do it. You have to have interest in it. You have to have time to do it. And you have to have the energy reserves available to accomplish it.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Monday Motivation – Learning New Skills

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Books, Do it yourself videos, how-to manuals, Learning, manuals, Monday, motivation, Tools, Udemy, YouTube

One of the biggest pitfalls to gain motivation is an inability to do something, particularly when we don’t know how to do what we are tasked to do by someone else or decide to do something. What do we do?

One of the steps we may need to take is to actually get out there and learn something about what we are tackling by learning from someone else who has already done it. Makes sense right? Why reinvent the wheel, when someone has already done it?

Some of the things I have had to learn are Microsoft Office. I needed to learn how Word works so I could write all the papers I had to write in school, and now as part of my official duties for the missionary role I hold for the Michigan Satsang Society. I also needed to learn Excel so I could complete the necessary monthly and semi-annual reports that are due to my boss. Besides these things I’ve had take course on graphic design, digital marketing, and statistics. I haven’t finished all of these courses, but these are the ones I’ve purchased. I’m going through an Excel course now.

What is holding you back? Is it typing? Is it reading more quickly? Or is it something that requires you to do some research and learning before you tackle that new thing you are about to work on. When you have the skills to do something, it is much more easy to be motivated to get that thing done. When you are struggling or resisting something, it is likely there is a little fear involved. I don’t know how to start. I don’t know how to do x, y, or z. Make it easy on yourself and get out there and learn what you need to know before you kick off that project. You’ll pick up a new skill(s) and it’ll be much easier to tackle that project when you have all the tools you need.

Well, folks, I hope all of you are having a great week so far. We got snow over the weekend, but today its in the high 40s and most of the snow we got is all melted away. This is common this type of year. There are probably a few more snow storms coming, but they tend to melt away very quickly.

Happy Monday, all!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Gamifying

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Games, Gamify, Monday, motivation, tasks, To-do

Have you ever heard the term gamify? It’s turning something into a game. As you know, I love games, particularly video games. One of the things that keeps me going back to many of the games I enjoy, are the challenges. Gamifying something involves turning real-world tasks into games.

When I find myself losing motivation for something, I question it. Am I done with this particular thing for now, or do I need change how I approach it? Gamifying something adds a fresh take on whatever I am doing. Here’s how I do it.

We play games because they’re fun, they are challenging, and they result in a reward if we win. So, you take a task and you do the same thing with it. Let’s say I want to write so many chapters this week. Well, each chapter is an achievement that I can award myself for completing. If I want to write 5 chapters this week, I’ll get an individual reward for each chapter and a bigger individual reward for completing the weekly task. I like to eat, so my rewards are typically food, like a cookie, piece of candy, or a cup of coffee from one of our terrific coffee houses.

You can do this with everything, and your reward doesn’t have to be related to food. It could be a reward of reading something in your favorite book, watching an episode of one of your shows on Netflix, or even taking some time to listen to a great song on a streaming music service. The key to this is that the challenge must relate to something you have to do anyway. The rewards you give yourself depend on what you like.

So, here is yet another technique you can use to get what you need to get done, and have fun while you’re doing it. Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Consistency

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Consistency, Exercise, Goals, Goodreads, Monday, motivation, Reading, Routine

Good morning! Happy President’s Day!

How do you stay motivated for your daily tasks and goals when it’s a holiday? I follow a pretty rigid schedule of Monday – Friday, even while retired. There are certain things I do everyday, regardless of what holiday falls on Monday. The caveat to that is during the month of December, I pretty much take the whole month off.

I find consistency is the key to getting anything done that requires more than a day’s work. Take reading, for example. I use Goodreads to track all of my reading. I set a goal of roughly 60 books a year. If I read 5 books simultaneously each month (5 chapters a day), I will typically meet or exceed the 60 book goal I set. A lot of that depends on how big the books are. During those years I am reading a lot of history or non-fiction books, the number I hit tends to be lower. Most of these books (at least the ones I am interested in) tend to be quite long (400 or more pages). Subsequently, it’s harder to knock those ones down compared to a 200-250 page novel, which tends to move along more quickly. Anyway, for me it is better to do the same things each day on a schedule than just wing it. By doing a little each day, you can achieve quite a lot by year’s end.

For exercise this week, I’ll be doing some home workouts. I’m not a huge fan of driving in the snow or in inclimate weather. Here’s my workout:

Monday (Quads and Calves)

Tuesday (Hams and Abs)

Wednesday (Back and Biceps)

Thursday (Chest and Triceps)

Friday (Shoulders)

Each day I’ll do 50 reps for each body part.

I hope each of you has a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – That Favorite Thing

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Early win, Eat that Frog, Favorite thing, Life Hacks, Monday, motivation, Winning

Have you ever heard the statement, “Eat that Frog”. It means that we should tackle the distasteful stuff first thing when our energy is highest. I recommend the opposite. I say to start your day with something you enjoy. For me it is journaling. For you, it may be listening to music while you straighten up the house, commute into work, or get yourself settled in your home office. Others may like to get up and exercise or meditate. Regardless of what you do, the favorite thing to me is motivating. You can do this when you are still groggy and the coffee begins to kick in.

When you do that favorite thing, you get a quick win for the day. This can set up other wins, throughout the day. If you’re of the “Eat that Frog” ilk, so be it. If you’re tired of that, give this a whirl. It works for me, and sets up my whole day starting with a win.

Have a great Monday, folks. For those of you in the Midwest with me, brace yourselves for the winter storm that is headed our way. We are hunkered down, supplied, and ready to watch the show.H

Have a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Snow, Snow, and more Snow!

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Attitude, extrinsic, Hobbies, intrinsic, Monday, motivation, Play time, Point of View, Snow, weather

We got snow and it is still coming. What a wonderful time of year. For those of you who have to drive in this, you have my pity. From my standpoint, knowing I do not have to go anywhere, it is a treat to look at the snow from the comfort of my easy chair, laptop up, and a cup of coffee next to me.

There was a posting from one of my friends that talked about God. It mentioned that some believe and some do not believe. That sentiment can be used for anything, based on an individual’s point of view. For me, the snow is terrific. For others, it not be so great, since they have to be in it. One person comes to mind–the local postman. He has to drive through this from mailbox to mailbox. It also raised another person, who may have lost power. So as with our individual beliefs about God, our beliefs about the snow or other happenings will depend on the individual.

Motivation is another hot topic when it comes to individuality. Some people are naturally motivated because it is a core part of their personality. Others need external sources for their motivation. One is internal; one is external. The internal motivation is called intrinsic, while the external one is extrinsic. Which is better? I think we need a combination of both, depending on the task.

One of the things I have discovered is that intrinsic motivation is like a muscle. You have to exercise it for it to become stronger. How do we build it? By doing something each day we love to do. Call it a hobby if you will. A hobby is something we look forward to. So, intrinsic motivation to do these things is easy. The pleasure principle comes to mind.

What about the things that are hard? Well, this is when extrinsic motivation comes in. We pay our taxes because the IRS is the extrinsic force. We pay our bills because the various companies and services we enjoy require we pay for them. These too are extrinsic forces. Another extrinsic force is our own bodies. When we get sick or have a toothache, the body lets us know and we are motivated by that pain to do something about it.

So use these types of motivation to get things done. I believe a hobby or favorite thing to do is important because it gives us a reason to get all the things done we may not like to do, but have to do. Then we can get in some “play” time. Use the play time you have scheduled each day to drive those tasks you do not want to do. It is so much more rewarding to do the things we love when all of our “must do” tasks are completed.

Now, if you are lucky enough to have a job that you consider enjoyable–bravo. You look forward to each day of work, like I do my video games after things are completed for the day.

You may want to do a personal assessment. List out all the things you do each day and determine what type of motivation you use to get that done. Is it intrinsic or extrinsic?

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Reframing

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Exercise, Monday, motivation, Read, Reframe, Simplify, Socialize, Spiritualize, Stick to basics, To-do Lists, Write

One of the benefits of retirement is I have a lot of freedom to choose what to do today or tomorrow or throughout the week. One of the detriments of retirement is I have a lot of freedom to choose what to do today or tomorrow or throughout the week.

When my daily to-do list gets out of hand, I return to the basics. I reframe what I need to do each day. It simplifies things, makes it easy to get done my most important tasks, and reignites my motivation to get things done, because I have “less” to do.

My key things are: physical (exercise, eat right, sleep, water), mental (read, write, learn), social (stay in contact with friends, colleagues via phone or social media), and spiritual (journaling, reading, spiritual exercises).

Obviously, things will come up, but my daily to-dos focus on doing something in each of these areas consistently every day. Over time one can get a lot done!

If you have found your motivation waning, it may have to do with stacking your plate too high with too many things. Or it may involve trying to do too much. For those that still work, this is a recipe for disaster. Keep it simple. If you want to read, read a chapter or a few pages, whatever time permits. If you want to write, start a simple journal like a diary, dream journal or gratitude journal, or for those of us here, write something in your blog. I try to keep my blog entries to within a 200-300 word chunk if possible. I also try to keep the volume of my writing in my journal to this amount as well. If you want to exercise, do something simple like walking up and down stairs, some pushups, situps, air squats, or inclined pushups on the stairs. Spiritual things like prayer, meditation, and the like are up to you. Read a spiritual book, meditate, pray at some point in the day. I find this to be most important to schedule. Then I know I’ll get it done and not miss a day of this important aspect of my life. Socially, I stick to family. After retirement and moving back to Michigan, many of my daily contacts have reduced to a facebook posting or quick response here and there. I focus on family first, then others if time allows.

Reframing your to-do list is a simple practice of reducing things down to the basics. Read, write, socialize, and spiritualize. If you can reduce your daily to-dos (habits) down to their core, you’ll find it much easier to tackle the list and get things done.

My exercise this week, will be another change of pace. I’m sticking to home this week, because the weather has turned absolutely brutal (it’s in the single digits outside) and I enjoy staying indoors. So this week, it’ll be a focus on upper body, lower body, and cardio (each of these twice a week). Here is what it looks like:

Lower body (Monday and Thursday)

Upper body (Tuesday and Friday)

Cardio (Wednesday and Saturday)

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave