Don't Break the Chain!

A personal 'productivity' tip sometimes referred to as 'Seinfeld's Chain' after Jerry Seinfeld, the US comedian is a useful reminder of the need to 'keep at it'.  The story is that, when he started writing, Seinfeld would mark each day he had spent his planned time actually writing by putting a big red cross through that day on a large wall calendar.  After a few days he would have a chain of crosses - and it required him to keep putting in the effort so as not to break the chain.  Even when he had 'better offers' or when he felt ill, the motivation to keep the chain going was very strong.

The same approach can be used for anything which requires regular effort and activity - exercise, program coding, learning to play a musical instrument, etc.  it is not one long practice session that makes improvement - it is regular, incremental performance gains resulting from regular action.

So, when you feel the need to make changes, think how you can structure the activity so that a small amount of effort is required each day - even if that is only scheduling some thinking time.  Too many owners of small businesses claim they are too busy to plan ahead. Now put in that effort TODAY - you have to START the chain by putting the first X on the calendar.

Repeat daily until you have a chain of at least 5 Xs.

Now look at your calendar.  1 working week - 5 thinking sessions.  If you don't break the chain, that will be 250 in the year  ... and a potential transformation of your thinking, and your business.