Happy Saturday, friend!

We’re back again with another edition of Productivity + Habits + Fun

😃 Fun Fact of the Week

Walt Disney has won the most Academy Awards.

He’s won 26 Oscars and has been nominated 59 times!

🐦 Tweet of the Week

This post is absolutely worth your time to read, but to keep it brief -

Ali believes the biggest obstacle to action is fear.

I do agree with him, but here’s an alternate perspective:

Procrastination is a gap in urgency and importance.

When I was in school, I usually saved my papers until the day before.

They were certainly important, but they weren’t urgent until the timer was unavoidable.

On the other hand, something urgent but not important may be responding to an email that doesn’t directly involve you.

If we agree this is all true, then let’s combine these conditions so that you can stop procrastinating.

1. Make it urgent - give yourself a deadline.

2. Make it important - remind yourself why this matters.

I think urgency is easier to accomplish.

Here are some ways to keep yourself accountable with a deadline:

1. Promise yourself a reward for meeting the deadline. (Maybe a piece of candy?)

2. Make a deal with a friend - if you don’t follow through, you have to give them $20. (Sometimes a threat of loss is a great motivator.)

Here are some ways to find importance:

1. Briefly ask yourself “why?” up to 7 times. This will drill down to a root cause.

2. Ask yourself, “Who else will benefit from this when I finish?”

3. Ask yourself, “Who will suffer if I don’t complete this?”

Pair these up, and you’re off to a great foundation for getting great work done in a much better timeframe.

💪 Featured Productivity Tip

Parkinson's Law: Work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion.

Example: You need approximately 2 hours to finish a paper you’re working on. You give yourself a deadline for 2 weeks from now. Somehow, the task becomes more complex over the 2 weeks, you spend more than the original 2 hours needed to complete it, and you still do it at the last minute.

Solution: Time blocking and scheduling.

In the example above, the best course of action is to pull up your calendar and schedule the 2 hours you need to complete this paper.

To make it easier, give yourself a list to follow:

1. Complete last section

2. Read paper and make bullet points for the summary

3. Write the summary

4. Proofread

5. Submit

Bonus tip: If you’re really on top of your game…

You can do the writing and proofreading during that 2 week gap between the present and the deadline, but wait to submit it.

Halfway to the deadline, you can schedule another 30 minutes to proofread again with fresh eyes.

It could impact the quality of the paper more than you imagine.

And you’ll have shown yourself how responsible and disciplined you can be.

🌟 Some Inspiration

Theodore Roosevelt lived the “strenuous life,” and regardless of our political opinions, I think we can all take some inspiration from his full embrace of life and in taking on personal challenges.

☕️ Which Country Has The Most Starbucks Stores?

No surprise that the US has the most!

What’s your go-to order?

I like a cold brew with heavy cream and no ice.

🤔 Decision-making Idea

The Backfire Effect: Evidence which disproves a point can actually support the point you wish to disprove.

Example: I’m going to pick on the flat-earth theorists. Despite any and all evidence to the contrary, some people really believe that the Earth is a flat disk and not a round sphere. They want to hold this belief so firmly that any attempt to convince them otherwise only makes them dig in more.

By trying to show them another view, they only back away from it.

This applies to all kinds of political stances and topics that I won’t get into, but you can see that this is fairly pervasive.

If you see your case backfiring, make sure to reset the conversation calmly by finding things you do agree on as well as avoiding confrontational tones or language.

Be open to their views, but let the facts from credible sources be your North Star in the discussion.

🧠 Quote of the Week

Step by step and bit by bit, a little becomes a lot.

For me, this is a reminder to keep making steady progress, day by day.

If you need to make a change, do it smartly, and commit to it.

Each bit of effort will take us somewhere, we just need to be sure of where we’re going and to check on the progress as we go.

Special Message

Are we connected on LinkedIn?

If not, I’d love to see you over there. :)

Thank you so much for spending some of you precious time with me. 🙂

I’m always looking to improve, so hit “reply” and let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week.

Sincerely,

Steven Sanders

PS - I hope to see you on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn!