"Don't Break the Chain"

9 January 2008

As part of my new emphasis on time management this year, I started off the new year by checking out some productivity blogs. I came across this great post on the wonderful blog Lifehacker that introduced to me a concept that in just a few short days has really had an impact on me.

That post credits Jerry Seinfeld with explaining the concept of accomplishing things on a daily basis. He recommended to the writer that if you have something you’d like to create a habit of doing every day (in Seinfeld’s case, write; in my case end the day with a clear desk) mark an X on a calendar each day you do it. After you’ve accumulated a few X’s, you won’t want to break the visual chain you’ve created.

Sounded like a good idea to me. I downloaded (also from Lifehacker) a year-long compact calendar and as soon as I got my desk all cleared off (a couple of days later), I started making my X’s on the calendar, which I put on a bulletin board.

But then Lifehacker turned me on to something even better. Inspired by the Seinfeld blog post, someone (I’m afraid I don’t know who) created this website, Don’t Break the Chain. It allows you to create your chain and mark each day on the calendar when you’ve accomplished your task. Here’s a screenshot:

Screen shot of the goal tracker, Don't Break the Chain.com

I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to make that X. It really does motivate me to clean off my desk. It’s interesting because I know from experience how powerful it is to have a clean desk every morning. I just haven’t been able to keep it up. Now it’s only been a few days, but I’m feeling very jazzed up by this.

Thank you, Lifehacker! And thank you, Jerry Seinfeld.

Tagged with: clean desk, don't break the chain, goals, habits, motivation, time management