You can get more out of Pinterest by finding great pinners and sharing their pins. If you’re completely new to Pinterest, check out this beginner’s guide. Then join us for a Pin Crazy time!
1. Pin the graphic above so more pinners will come to the party. (You can use the Pin It button by the graphic or the button at the bottom of this post.)
Don’t have a clue how to participate in a linky? Leave this tab open. In another tab, go to the page, board, or pin you want to share. Highlight the URL in the white box at the top of your screen. Right-click and choose copy. Click on this tab, go to the bottom of the post and click “Click here to enter.” Click in the URL box, right-click and choose paste. Give your URL a name. If the link is your personal board, write your name. After providing your name and email, you’ll be given an option to choose a photo. Choose “from the Web” and you should see the picture you want. Select it and crop it as desired. Choose “Click here to return to blog” to add another pin.
4.Go pin crazy by following pinners and pinning the great links you see below all week!
This week I tested Another Simple and Effective Method of Mark Forster’s. I kept a paper task list, crossed off a task all the way across the page, and then did a task from each of the newly created sections of the list and so on. Scroll to the end of last week’s post for details.
How Another Simple and Effective Method of Mark Forster’s Saved My Sanity This Week
Had me excited to get things done. I don’t test a method unless I really think there’s a potential for it increasing my productivity and this was no different. I began the week very motivated.
How Another Simple and Effective Method of Mark Forster’s Made Me Crazy This Week
Couldn’t find the tasks. I made a list of 90+ tasks. That probably isn’t the best approach to take with this method. I frequently had to do tasks regardless of where they were on the list because they became urgent. I couldn’t find them then and it made the system super confusing once I did.
Open task list. One of the things I’ve learned thus far is that I function better using a closed list (one in which no new tasks can be added). I found myself feeling very resistant to adding tasks to the end of the list. I wanted a list that kept shrinking. I disliked this aspect of the approach so much, that I quit using it halfway through the week.
Competing interests. I haven’t been feeling well this week. (I know I keep mentioning this without explaining. When I have an answer, I will be sharing on the blog. Until then, know that I’m pretty sure what the problem is and it’s treatable.) When I don’t feel well, I tend to do the must-do’s only and I don’t want to mess with an approach like this one. Finally, I’m finding that I’m extremely motivated by my summer project list. After the critical issues, I haven’t wanted to do much of anything else but my weekly project. I have been in single focus mode and I suspect that I function best this way most of the time.
Did Another Simple and Effective Method Help Me Get More Done?
No. The open nature of the list and my circumstances this week didn’t work for me. Your mileage may vary.
**UPDATE**
I not only don’t use this approach, but I have had no desire to use a mammoth list of tasks to get things done for a long time.
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 18
This week I’ll be testing Agota Bialobzeskyte’s Daily/Weekly/Monthly To-Do List. I’ll begin with a closed list of monthly tasks to accomplish. I’ll base my closed weekly list of tasks on it and my daily list of tasks from the weekly list.
The concept. Agota has a problem with infinite to-do lists just like I do. She bases her approach on Scott Young‘s (who doesn’t use a monthly list). By not being allowed to add more tasks to the lists when they’re complete, you get a real feeling of accomplishment. By looking ahead for a month, you’re including tasks other than what’s right in front of you–enabling you to work ahead. Doing so enables one to feel on top of things.
If you’d like to join me this week, here’s what you do. Read Agota’s guest post on Productive Superdad, taking note of the FAQs at the end. Choose a means of making your lists. I’ll be using paper for the monthly and weekly goals and will have digital daily lists that I will print out. Create your weekly list by drawing from your monthly list. Each day (either the night before or morning of), create your daily list based on your weekly list. Cross off tasks as you do them. Like the list above? It’s not perfectly suited for this, but you can download it here.
Click here to see how my week with a daily/weekly/monthly to-do list went.
Are you crazy about Pinterest like I am? You should be! There are sanity-saving ideas galore there. I’m going to assume you already have a Pinterest account. Here’s how to go pin crazy today!
1. Pin the graphic above so more pinners will come to the party. (You can use the Pin It button by the graphic or the button at the bottom of this post.)
Don’t have a clue how to participate in a linky? Leave this tab open. In another tab, go to the page, board, or pin you want to share. Highlight the URL in the white box at the top of your screen. Right-click and choose copy. Click on this tab, go to the bottom of the post and click “Click here to enter.” Click in the URL box, right-click and choose paste. Give your URL a name. If the link is your personal board, write your name. After providing your name and email, you’ll be given an option to choose a photo. Choose “from the Web” and you should see the picture you want. Select it and crop it as desired. Choose “Click here to return to blog” to add another pin.
4.Go pin crazy by following pinners and pinning the great links you see below!
This week I tested whether David Seah’s daily ritual could improve my productivity. While David met with a friend via chat at 7:15 every morning, I connected with a friend via email sometime during the day and committed to doing a task for 15 minutes. Like David, I then reported back when the work was done. We took Sundays off. Scroll down to the bottom of last week’s post for details.
How David’s 7:15AM Ritual Saved My Sanity This Week
Got me going on tasks I’ve been avoiding because of the social pressure. One of the rules my friend and I adopted was that we would only commit to tasks that we wouldn’t otherwise do. Thus, showering and eating lunch weren’t options. I did some work on a book project, but after that worked on my project for the week. Knowing that my friend would do her work made me feel compelled to do mine.
Gave me a structure for completing less urgent work. If I hadn’t been doing the ritual, I don’t think I would have done anything on the book project, because it isn’t pressing. I think this is a huge concern in productivity as most of us are perpetually putting out fires.
Helped me see someone else’s perspective. It was interesting for me to see someone else come up with tasks and report back on how it went. While I am working on my own productivity, I would like to be helpful to others, too. My friend said she liked the ritual, but she had some issues with it.
How David’s 7:15AM Ritual Made Me Crazy This Week
Difficult to choose tasks. My friend especially found it challenging at times to decide what to do. I also felt like if I actually wanted to do something that maybe I was cheating. I’m not sure that we were being faithful to David’s intent in this, however. He didn’t say you could only do work you were resisting.
15 Minute time limit is limiting. My friend found that she often wanted to stop after 15 minutes simply because she could. She felt this could be a real problem for work like writing that would only have you in the groove by this point. I only quit after 15 minutes once. I liked the time limit because I was tired this week and it got me off the couch. Once started, I felt I wanted to keep going.
Our timing didn’t match. My friend didn’t think this would work for her if she were working a regular job (she’s off now). We might have found it more beneficial if we had committed and worked at the same time, but as it was, it worked. There were times that I committed and didn’t work until much later, but still that commitment drove me to finish the work.
Did the 7:15AM Ritual Help Me Get More Done?
Yes. It really gave me a much-needed jumpstart on my summer projects and helped me work even when I didn’t feel like it. I don’t see continuing to do it day after day, but it’s an excellent way to get unstuck. Because my friend and I are starting Body for Life, we will be checking in regularly on that. Accountability works.
**UPDATE**
While I don’t use any of the specifics of this ritual, I do have a small group of bloggers I check in with every week. Even though not all the bloggers participate regularly, the ritual of posting my goals and writing how I did on them is enormously motivating for me. Accountability is super important for my productivity.
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 17
This week I’ll be testing Another Simple and Effective Method by Mark Forster. Yep, he’s been at it again and has created another list gamification method. The method involves creating a list of tasks of any size, choosing a task to do, doing it, and crossing it off with a line that extends across the paper. You next do a task from each section that’s been created and repeat. Tasks that are worked on and need to be continued are crossed off and added to the end of the list. Urgent tasks are just done regardless of the list.
The concept. The method seems to encourage working on tasks that would otherwise languish on the list and also divides the work into many small, more manageable lists.
If you’d like to join me this week, here’s what you do. Read Mark’s blog post on the method. Choose your means of making a list. Paper seems to make the most sense to me, so that’s my method. Make a list of tasks you’d like to complete. I may add some of my remaining backlog tasks, just to see how the method handles them. Choose a task to work on for as long as you like. Cross it off completely and re-enter if needed. Choose a task from the first section, work on it, and so on. I will use adhesive flags to help me remember where I left off. Dots and paperclips would also work.
To see how my week with Another Simple and Effective Method went, click here.
If you’ve tried David Seah’s 7:15AM ritual to increase your productivity, please vote in the poll below.
Here are the links to the productivity hacks I’ve tried so far:
I sometimes wonder if this picture is how my children will remember me: my back to them, staring at the computer screen, saying, “Just a minute” for the fifth time in a row.
If you can relate, I would love to have you read my post on 5 Minutes for Faith today and share your thoughts.
Summer is finally here, even though it hasn’t been really hot yet. But never fear! I have some really hot ideas for summer learning for you and the kids. Because it’s summer and this is the time I use to get a lot of big projects done, What’s Hot in Homeschooling will be taking a break.
However, I have a fun summer activity for you Pinterest lovers! Each Saturday beginning this week, I will host a Sanity Savers Pinterest Party here on the blog! You’ll find new friends to follow and great pins to pin. If you have no idea how to participate, don’t worry! I’ll share a step-by-step process so you don’t go nuts trying to figure it out. If you subscribe to Homeschool Only on the Psychowith6 newsletter, you’ll want to either change your subscription (see the preferences link at the bottom of your email) or put a reminder on your calendar to check the website on Saturdays so you don’t miss the fun.
Homeschoolers know how important reading is, but sometimes we get so busy with summer fun that reading time disappears. I think you’ll appreciate this article by Teach Mama, especially if you have reluctant readers. When you’ve finished the article, check out Free Summer Reading Programs and this Summer Reading Bingo Printable, too.
I have to thank my teen for this one. He is crazy about Duolingo and even has me using it. This online teaching program that gives awards for progress is supposed to be the equivalent of college coursework. What a great way to keep the language skills sharp in the summer and into the school year, too.
My oldest found this website, too. If you’re thinking about Wordly Wise or another vocabulary program, check out Vocabulary.com first. Your child can work on improving their vocabulary by grade level. Did I mention it’s free?
Speaking of free, The Chaos and the Clutter gives a review of free piano lessons for kids. There are 55 free video lessons with the option of purchasing printed materials. Summer is a perfect time to perfect the piano.
At the beginning of the summer, we feel like we have endless time. But all too soon, we can run out of ideas. Bow of Bronze offers up some reminders of inexpensive, but memorable things we can do with the kids.
One of the very important things I do in the summer is plan curriculum for next year. Avoid spending money needlessly with this fantastic list of free resources for teaching on FreeHomeschoolDeals.com.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
