This simple exercise primes me for the day. It sets the right tone so that I engage life fully; I am productive, but I am enjoying myself.

I don't like to be idle. I love the feeling of producing, learning, and stretching myself just a little bit further. Even with that intrinsic motivation I often need to prime my brain to move forward, to warm it up. Once I begin thinking in these terms of must, should, and want I can stay focused. Without this focus, it is disturbing how quickly I fall into a lethargic, apathetic state.

The other risk I face is becoming hyperfocused. Productivity is all that matters and I neglect other parts of life. Without enjoying myself, all the productivity in the world has no value. This is the purpose of the "I want…" item. It specifically ensures I am reminded of what I enjoy. Recognizing this human need allows a signal to be heard: I'm not an automaton! Sometimes I need to schedule a break or recognize that the day will not be that productive. Last Sunday I eagerly spent 4 hours preparing a dinner and dessert for some friends. That morning I wrote, "I want to pull off an amazing dinner". My other items were much easier so I could accommodate this goal, and dinner was great.

While I enjoy being productive, I more so enjoy being human. I want to enhance that experience as much as possible. My goals and ambitions in life support this but I must always be reminded and engaged with the reason I work towards a better self. This work directly impacts, and increases, the depth and quality of the relationships I have with others. Planning alone is not adequate to be a productive human enjoying life.

Reviewing is more important than planning.

Before I plan any new items for the day I first review the plans from the day before. I wait until the next day so that I can get some distance, and sleep is the best method. It cools down judgements and allows more rational evaluation. Reviewing only takes a few moments. I tick off the boxes and have a few symbols to rate the quality of the outcome. If it exceeded my expectations, it gets two plus signs. Double minuses expresses "Wow, that was a total let down!", which I affectionately refer to as doubleplusungood.

When I don't complete something, I still evaluate it. Except now it's based on the reason for not completing it. Did I run out of time or did I not make time? Usually it's the latter. If I failed to make time for something worth writing down there better be a good reason. Plus signs represent good decisions, minus is a bad decision. It's acceptable to miss items, as long as they are skipped because of well-intentioned, deliberate choices.

Not everything is good or bad.

Sometimes in my review I realize that it wasn't bad, but it didn't have the positive effect that I expected. It certainly wasn't negative and sometimes didn't seem to have any effect. For this I simply put a tilde (~), meaning that it was fuzzy. I pay close attention to these items because I am convinced that it only means I didn't do something quite right. If the execution was not good enough, the change I wanted to see cannot be created.

What has changed over 2 weeks?

I got myself out of a deep cycle of lethargy. I started to tackle new projects with more enthusiasm and zeal, staying focused and reminding myself what was most important to me. I have been more mindful of the time I spend with my family.