Persistence Unlimited Personal Productivity Tips

How-to Set Up Productivity Triggers to Get More Done

Posted under Achieve-IT!, Productivity

One way to win the mental game of productivity is to set up triggers to support and motivate you to do work. What I am talking about is based on the Pavlov’s dog theory of ringing a bell for a particular response.

Similar to the familiar saying “put on your thinking cap”, a trigger can be a sound, visual sensation or particular item that puts you into your best state of mind for study, work or relaxation. You use the particular trigger when you want a desired result. Then remove the trigger when you are finished.

I’ll give you an example of a trigger that worked well for me. In college, at night I’d turn on the light over my desk, and turn out the rest of the lights in my dorm room. This darkened my room and shut out all other distractions. The results were an optimal study environment.

At first, the optimal environment worked only so-so. Yes, I had less distraction, but my mind wandered to things I might be missing such as a TV show, or party down the hall. By committing myself to the focused time on a regular basis, these worries went away.

More importantly, there was another benefit. I started to develop a good mental habit. My brain soon became conditioned to focus whenever all lights were out except my desk lamp. My memory seemed better and writing clearer.

Even now, when I have a difficult technical document to read, I’ll turn off all the lights in my office except for the one over my desk.

Another common trigger some people use is music or sound. For instance you might use a “sound machine” to trigger relaxation and sleep before bed. I have a friend who says he can’t sleep without the sound of a fan next to his bed. Thus proving the psychological power a trigger can have.

I have heard of students who have a “lucky” pen which they only use for study and test taking. When they aren’t studying, then the pen gets put away. While there are still others who will listen to heavy metal music to get geared up for a night on the town.

But what about work?

One of the examples often talked about is playing music only when working and turning it off when the work is done. I have used a similar method myself for years.

I think the optimal way to use this is to choose only a certain type of music to play while working. One that is lively and bordering on something you like - but wouldn’t choose to listen to normally.

My work music of choice is real old time Jazz - think Ella Fitzgerald. I have the “Real Jazz” station programmed into my XM radio for #9 preset. It is some lively, and motivating stuff, even though it’s not normally the type of music I enjoy listening to.

Since I don’t really love listening to it, it’s natural for me to turn it off when I am done working. I can see others using speed metal to accomplish the same thing.

Like Pavlov’s dogs, psychologically, simply turning on the Jazz makes me think about getting work done. And since I don’t want to ruin the trigger, I always start working.

I suppose if I couldn’t motivate myself to work, I’d immediately turn off the jazz to avoid creating a conflict with the trigger.

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Also See:

• How to Turn Your Ipod Into A Motivational Timer
• How Much Sleep is Enough Sleep?
• Succeeding in spite of the Devil
• Standing for higher productivity
• Create Your Own University on Wheels