Top 5 Ways To Meet Your Daily Goals

#NoDiscipline. Not when it comes to ignoring those cute little notifications I've set in my cell phone or my tablets. I hear the chimes, bells, and whistles and I'm like

Doesn't matter if they're in another room. Tried it. Didn't work. Those sounds trigger the powerful need to look. I tell myself I'll just check and not click. I end up an hour later scrolling, laughing, commenting, etc. Instead of writing my daily five pages on a new novel. I can justify anything in the moment. Then regret it later. Usually much later. So, here are my tips for meeting daily goals, no matter what they are:

1. Silence your devices. Don't simply put them on vibrate. That buzzing entices just as much as the cute chimes, not to mention that fave tune you downloaded to let you know your bestie is calling!

2. Write, or work, in a designated space that is a "No-go Zone", and let whoever you live with know not to mess with you when you're in the zone!

3. Designate a time to write (draw, complete your work-at-home tasks). Again, the SOs (Significant Others) should be on notice. This time is another "No-go Zone". 

4. For #s 2 & 3, make a specific list of the three (ore more) reasons they can enter your "No-go" Zone during your "Do Not Disturb" time. These should be the kind of things that warrant urgent 911 calls. If there is no need for an ambulance, the cops, or the fire dept., they shouldn't even think about interrupting.

5. Set a daily goal. Example - my minimum is to write 5 pages per day on my novel. If I write more, break out the bubbly! A writer pal I knew put a time limit on her writing. Didn't matter how few or how many pages she wrote, she stuck to that time.  Her minimum was thirty minutes (she had a high pressure day job). 

Finally, don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. A research study says it can take 66 to 254 days to establish a habit. Missing days doesn't seem to affect being able to successfully create the new behavior and make it stick. Just get back on the horse and ride. 

Oh, I do all this stuff, plus take weekends off. That way I have something to look forward to after being an adult all week.