{"id":276,"date":"2013-12-17T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/novicenolonger.com\/?p=276"},"modified":"2014-01-13T15:29:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T20:29:09","slug":"easy-changes-that-will-drastically-improve-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novicenolonger.com\/easy-changes-that-will-drastically-improve-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"5 easy changes that will drastically improve your life"},"content":{"rendered":"

When building new habits or learning new skills, it’s important to focus on the smallest changes that will result in the biggest results. This is known as the\u00a0Pareto principle<\/a>, or the 80-20 rule, which states that “for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes.”\u00a0This is an extremely powerful rule, because it means that you can have a huge impact on your life, or your work, by simply focusing on the\u00a0right<\/em> tasks.<\/p>\n

I’ve compiled a list of five easy changes that will have a huge impact on your quality of life. These aren’t huge systems nor will you have to change your entire life around. Rather, they’re small habits that will become second nature in a couple of weeks yet have long-lasting effects on your productivity and mental state.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Turn off email alerts<\/h2>\n

When I first decided to turn off push notifications for emails on my phone, my heart started beating a little faster. I was seriously getting nervous about disabling a tiny alert that was responsible for 90 percent of the distractions throughout my day. What if I missed an important email? What if I lost out on some opportunity?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been about a year since turning off push notifications on my phone and I\u2019m never going back. There has not been one single moment that I\u2019ve regretted my decision.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not telling you to check your email less. In fact, you\u2019re welcome to check your email compulsively. Pull to refresh that sucker every five minutes if you want \u2014 just as long as you disable push notifications. You\u2019ll find yourself feeling the urge to check less and less.<\/p>\n

The reason why turning off alerts is important is because that ding or buzz has turned us into Pavlov\u2019s dog. Have you ever noticed that overwhelming sense of restlessness when your phone alerts you to a new message and you can\u2019t check it immediately? Even if you know it\u2019s junk mail (or, if you\u2019re like me, you just emailed something to yourself and immediately forgot!) you\u2019ll get that instant urge to stop whatever you\u2019re doing and check the message.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to dull that response.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to start segmenting the amount of time you spend in your inbox, optimizing your workflow<\/a>, or only opening your inbox twice a day. Those types of systems can be helpful, but are completely separate from the bad habit associated with constant email alerts.<\/p>\n

Give it a try for a week. You can always enable it again if you miss the interruptions, but I highly doubt you\u2019ll go back.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Write down ideas immediately<\/h2>\n

\"Taking<\/p>\n

One of my least favorite feelings is when I know that there was something I wanted to do but I can\u2019t remember what it was. I\u2019ll be walking through the grocery store with three items in my hands but know that there were four things I had wanted to get. That feeling of frustration when you get home and remember toilet paper!<\/em> is the worst.<\/p>\n

How many times have you thought of a good idea only to forget it moments later? With your grocery trip, there\u2019s the cue to remind you that you\u2019re forgetting something, but how often do we forget that we forget good ideas?<\/p>\n

In The Non-Programmer\u2019s Guide to Getting an App in the App Store<\/a>, I talk about the importance of the Brain-Dump List, which is a method to get every idea about your app out of your head and onto a piece of paper. It doesn\u2019t matter if the idea is for version one or version 20 of your app, you need to write the idea down in a trusted collection system.<\/p>\n

The reason why this is important is deeper than you might think. It\u2019s not just about remembering all your ideas or even giving yourself a way to organize your thoughts \u2014 creating a thought-collection system is about freeing your brain to think of even more ideas.<\/p>\n

Our brain is only able to hold a limited number of thoughts at one time (Want to know just how limited it is? See if you can count the number of passes<\/a> in this video). Every time you think of a project you\u2019re working on or a list of things you need to do, your brain spends precious energy recalling everything you\u2019ve thought of previously. There\u2019s nothing left to come up with new ideas, and no way to hold onto everything.<\/p>\n

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a busy day, only to sit down and make a to-do list and realize it\u2019s not as busy as you thought? That\u2019s because your brain was struggling to hold onto everything, so it couldn\u2019t get a proper overview of everything all at once.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not enough to just make a to-do list. You need to create a trustworthy thought-collection system to really put your brain at ease and get long-term productivity gains. Your subconscious is smarter than you, and it knows if that list on the back of a napkin is destined to be lost, or if you won\u2019t look at that new note on your smartphone ever again. The brain will keep spending energy holding onto those thoughts, because it doesn\u2019t trust the system.<\/p>\n

The thought-collection system doesn\u2019t need to be complex. I\u2019m built my process around a simple to-do list application called Any.DO (iOS and Android). Whenever I think of anything, I add it as a new item on the list. Since my iPhone is always in my pocket, there\u2019s never a time when I won\u2019t be able to collect a thought.<\/p>\n

Next \u2014 and this is an extremely crucial step \u2014 I read the entire list on a weekly basis. Your thought-collection system is useless if your brain knows that you\u2019ll add something to the list and never see it again. Therefore, it\u2019s important to constantly review everything you\u2019ve added, archiving things you no longer need and adding more than come to mind.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve created a trustworthy thought-collection system, your creativity will increase exponentially. The brain will be free to come up with new ideas that have never occurred to you before, and you\u2019ll have a proper way to remember and act on these thoughts.<\/p>\n

Writing down your ideas immediately will have a noticeable impact on your life, whether you\u2019re building an app or website or just finding a good work\/life balance. It trains your brain not to be afraid of losing old thoughts, which allows you to be open to new ideas. If there\u2019s one new habit you pick up, I\u2019d recommend a solid thought-collection system.<\/p>\n

Perform short tasks immediately<\/h2>\n

Getting Things Done<\/em><\/a> by David Allen changed the way I think about productivity. His book outlines an intricate system for capturing ideas, determining action items, setting priorities, and doing work. While I my current productivity strategies doesn\u2019t mirror his methods entirely, there are some extremely valuable tactics that I\u2019ve lifted from his book that are now common practice in my life.<\/p>\n

One of smallest habits with the largest impact habit is Allen\u2019s \u201ctwo-minute rule.\u201d He states:<\/p>\n

If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This advice is part of a larger system, but the rule can make a huge impact all by itself. There are a few areas where you can immediately apply the “two-minute rule” with very little effort:<\/p>\n