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Three Items Done -- How I did it!

Well this weekend I was quite productive. And I think that I should mention how I got through it -- perhaps these ideas will help you get through a tough day or week that you might be going through.

First thing, I got my taxes done. Getting those out of the way was not easy but I didn't do it all at once. If a project will take me more than 2 hours to do, I generally break it into 90 minute or less chunks. I find that I can accomplish the most in this period of time and then my mind starts to wonder. Consider doing some form of timeboxing if you find yourself distracted and feeling like you are 'missing out' on fun time for yourself.

I kept my eye on the prize. By getting through all of my tasks on Saturday, I knew that I would have Sunday for myself. So I did my onsite visit for a few hours, then I got home and did some programming that needed to be done and started wrapping up on my taxes. I knew throughout the whole process that I could get through it all because I knew that there was a day of rest for me on Sunday if I managed to get it all done.

After each major task, I gave myself a small reward. I played a game for an hour or read for a little while. Simple rewards can keep you energized to be productive on 'days off' to get things done. Whenever I am doing something like this, I like to remind myself why I am doing all of this extra work. So at the end of my productive day, I reviewed some of my financial info. Money and investing is the reason I work so hard to begin with, so this was a great way for me to feel good about spending all of this 'extra' time working.


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