A hack to get the tough things done.

Making things imminent. Make them opt-out instead of opt-in.

Once things are imminent they get done. But how do you make them imminent?

I’ll give the example of this particular post. I have been beating myself up for not being consistent with my posts. And everyday I will come up with motivation and energy that I will publish one today and inevitably I will not.

So, what did I do today to ensure that this post was written. Just a small hack. I created a blank post and put it on publish later at 7 PM today. Now, this becomes an opt-out instead of an opt-in.

How can you use it for other stuff? For working out? Let the task not be to work out. Let the task be to wear the workout clothes and play the workout music. And then let you not workout. Again make it an opt-out instead of an opt-in.

You can use this the other way round also. Don’t want to spend time on facebook or instagram. Delete the app and better, deactivate your account. Now it becomes an opt-in rather than an opt-out.

Want to quit smoking? Throw away all the cigarettes in your house. Delete the apps you use to order cigarettes. Create more levels and confusion between the urge of smoking a cigarette and actually smoking it.

I think this one change alone can start making a big difference to our day to day life. It is upto you to choose which things you want to start and which things you want to stop. All I am telling you is a way to do that.

Metadata:
Series: Daily Blog Posts