Sometimes what to do with your time is obvious. For example, in cases of emergency, our course of action becomes crystal-clear. And whenever we are already in a groove with some activity, continuing along that course can be a no-brainer.
But as soon as we complete that course, we are faced with the less-clear choice of which course of action to undertake next. Every finish line is a crossroads.
How we typically make that post-completion pivot, as I discussed in an earlier post, is important. If we pivot compulsively, we become slaves to our fleeting whims and anxieties. But if we pivot deliberately, we become masters of our selves.
One way to act more deliberately is by deliberating: pausing to consider your action options. For this it helps to consult a pre-compiled menu of some of those options. As I discussed in the above mentioned post, I’ve been trying to form the habit of consulting my “next actions list” whenever I’m in between activities to inform my choice of what to do next.
More recently, I have also been trying to form the habit of registering my action choice once I’ve made it.
Every morning, I use my Notion app to create a new digital page for that day in what I call my “Deeds Diary.” The page template has a button that creates a timestamp above itself whenever I click it. When I decide on an action for my next block of time, I click the button and add the chosen action next to the timestamp: either by writing it out (if it’s something I’m coming up with on the spot) or by copying and pasting it from my next actions list. Notion is a cloud-synced app, so I can do this both on my computer and on my phone.
This practice aids intentionality in multiple ways. The act of articulating my action choice clarifies in my mind exactly what I’m about to do. It also firms up my resolve to actually do it, because declaring it in writing is like signing a tiny contract with myself that I don’t want to break.
So far, the practice is proving very powerful psychologically. For example, at first I undertook this writing session without logging it with a timestamped entry in my Deeds Diary. But, I struggled to buckle down, focus, and get into a writing flow. I’d come upon some irksome difficulty in the writing process and then relieve my mental discomfort by distracting myself with social media.
But then I logged the action resolution. Immediately I felt more tethered to the task. Every time I felt the urge to distract myself I was able to resist the temptation. Knowing I had a timestamped record of my resolution kept me anchored to my action choice. Soon enough I stopped having the urges to procrastinate altogether and got into a writing groove. I have been able to write without interruption from the moment I logged my action resolution until the moment I’m writing this now.
My aim is to develop a steady three-step rhythm to my workflow:
Consult my next actions list
Declare my next action resolution
Perform that action
Repeat
I’m reminding myself to maintain this rhythm with the mnemonic mantra: “consult, declare, perform.”
Recording what one does and thinks each day is more of a discipline than one would at first suspect. Not that it isn’t possible to do or think what one does not record. But there is a forceful tendency to act only in ways that are recordable.
— Leonard E. Read
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
— Benjamin Franklin