Cleaning out the engine sludge
November 16th, 2008
- Answer more questions in “yes” or “no”; less “maybe”.
- Stop unnecessarily explaining yourself.
- Get your inboxes down to zero (currently: 1497 in gmail; over 2500+ in hotmail).
- Unsubscribe to all e-newsletters and “junk” email lists.
- Clean your desk, throw away unnecessary papers.
- Return emails and calls within 24 hours.
- Put every last stray file in your computer away where it belongs.
- Get things done when the come to your attention; not “later”.
- Tidy often instead of deep cleaning infrequently. It’s less work for you.
- Stop making excuses. Be honest about being a lazy ass.
- Make your workspace look like a workspace, and not a victim of hurricane.
- GET TO SLEEP BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
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I’m a victim of all of those. I don’t know how I could stop being like that, but it’s always worth trying!
Reply: Sometimes its a matter of forcing it out of you; like for example, by sheer force of habit, I always want to explain myself… but if I consciously stop myself right before I start, it becomes easier and easier every single time. You can’t work on all of them at once though; that’s a surefire recipe for failure. Pick one and work on it for a week or so, and you’ll probably notice improvements.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pmThose, like us, who don’t follow the said tips probably don’t have OCD.
Still, it’d be awesome if busy people like us are in compliance with the list. Let us know how you are faring in about a week :-)
Reply: I will! Actually, I created this list about a month ago and never published it, so I’ve had a chance to work on a couple of them with great success actually. Some of them are in dire need of more commitment, though, which is why I published it. :) Nothing keeps you stuck to your words than an internet full of people aware of them!
November 17th, 2008 at 3:34 pmHolla to all of those!
Though, I’m good a the “tidy often” thing, but my room always tends to explode if I have a big homework assignment to do. The “Homework Hurricane”. So, uhm, holla to the 11th one too. :P
Reply: The Homework Hurricane… Hahaha, I like it!
November 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pmI definitely need to be doing most of those things, especially tidying all my files on the computer and not putting things off for later. I should also be getting to sleep before 11.
You always remind me to work on improving my habits :)
Reply: Aw, I’m glad! Best of luck. :)
November 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pmI know all the rules but I just can’t stick to it. I even have them stuck on my wall. The “Put every last stray file in your computer away where it belongs.” has been impossible for me, I just want to reformat my computer and leave everything behind.
Reply: I totally know what you mean; inevitably, when I run out of desktop space, I often end up creating a new folder and just shoving all my desktop junk in there to create the appearance of a clean desk. :P
November 17th, 2008 at 7:23 pm…I wish I could do every single one of these things consistently and constantly. I could try, but then fail very badly in the process - but I wish you the best of luck in all of this! Hopefully somebody can succeed where most others would fail ;)
Reply: Thanks! And you shouldn’t be hesitant to try to make changes; at the very least, you aim to do all and maybe do one fairly well and fail completely at the rest, but it’s still an improvement from where you started—so I encourage you to try at least! :)
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