Time Is a Great Motivator. Here’s How to Use It
2018 has been a great year so far. I have a lot going on, but like many, I feel like the year is slipping away from me. We’re already 1/4 through the year, and it feels like I’ve completely lost perspective on how I’m spending my days so quickly.
In an attempt to work on this, I’ve been re-discovering strategies I’ve tried over the years to maintain a helpful and motivating perspective on time. Here are the four that have worked best for me:
1. Count down to something meaningful
Counting down to an upcoming, meaningful experience can build excitement through anticipation. A good example of this can be found in a NYTimes article on the benefits of anticipating a vacation:
Wish you were on vacation right now? Don’t. Taking a vacation won’t necessarily make you happier. But anticipating it will.
I first explored this idea while reporting an article about happiness in 2010, the same year that a psychological study about the connection between anticipation and happiness was published online in a journal called Applied Research in Quality of Life. The authors of the study, researchers from the Netherlands, interviewed more than 1,500 people, including 974 vacationers, and found that the vacationers felt most happy before their trips.
One of my favorite ways of keeping this excitement high is by using a countdown app on my phone and Apple Watch. I’ve tried half a dozen apps, and Today is: D-Day Widget is my current favorite.
I use this app to count down to vacations, anniversaries, birthdays, and more. It’s all about maintaining awareness and engagement with a future event that you’re looking forward to.
I’ve noticed that tracking my important events improves my mood, especially during dull weeks, and also reminds me to better plan my vacations, which enhances the vacation itself.
2. Count down to an estimated end of life
Reminding yourself of your mortality is fairly popular right now. Some people love this idea, as it inspires them to make the most of the present moment. Other people find this idea stressful and counterproductive.
Lifehacker guru Tim Ferriss recommended a countdown-till-I-die watch called Tikker in a recent weekly email. He writes:
I was exposed to this watch by Chris Cole, an investor and principal at Artemis Capital Management. If you want a constant memento mori — a reminder of your mortality and encouragement to make each hour count — this might be for you.
I don’t recommend this watch due to its price, but the fact that it even exists indicates that people appreciate this concept.
Countdown watches aren’t the only way people keep track of their progress through life. Wait But Why author Tim Urban has written about counting down your life and even sells an accompanying Life Calendar to visualize your life in weeks on a poster.
I used to own this poster, but unfortunately there was no good place to put it in my current apartment, so I’ve adopted digital strategies for keeping track.
If you have an Apple Watch, you can achieve the same thing for free. On my Apple Watch, I have a countdown to the day I turn 90, which I call my “Enjoy Life” countdown, which utilizes the Today is: D-Day Widget app(discussed above).
There’s also this Apple Watch app project, which doesn’t seem live yet.
Regardless of which approach you take, maintaining awareness of your mortality can spur you to action and appreciate more about your present situation.
3. See how your year is progressing
Similar to maintaining awareness of your life count down, focusing on how the current year is elapsing can also offer benefits.
Here’s what I see everything morning when I open a new tab in my browser:
I do this through the Year Progress Chrome extension, which you can download here:
In the same way that a life countdown can spur you to action, see the % of the year completed can also spur you into working on those goals you set in January before it’s too late.
I find most “new tab” Chrome extensions to be annoying, but this is the first one that I’ve found to be perfectly minimal in its purpose. Seeing how far my year has elapsed is a nice motivator to keep making similar progress with my yearly goals.
4. Use small time blocks in your work day
The Pomodoro Technique is one of my favorite productivity hacks. It slices you day into small chunks of time that prevent me from burning out from sitting for too long without taking a break.
Instead of seeing my work time as 8 hours, I see it as X number of Pomodoros (usually increments of 25 minutes).
I find that when I use Pomodoros to manage my workday, I take more breaks, drink more water, and remember to eat when my body needs refueling.
By shifting my perspective on work to bursts within a unit of time (25 minutes) instead of a solid block of 8 hours, I’ve discovered a lifesaver for keeping my energy and focus high throughout the day.
I use Be Focused Pro for Mac and iOS for as my Pomodoro timer.
Whereas the other strategies help you maintain perspective on larger durations of time, this strategy helps you manage your responsibilities by dividing your day into smaller durations of time. I’d highly recommend it.
