[Productivity tips from a freelance copywriter‘s blog]
Do any of these seem familiar?
Stacks of unopened letters on your desk, some dating back weeks (or even months)
A mess of emails that you dread responding to (and secretly hope will go away if you ignore them for just one more week…)
A “To Do” list with a truckload of simple-to-complete items that somehow, are still not done
Don’t worry, I’m not calling you out. Well, maybe I am. But you’re not alone – I’m also calling myself out.
Because that’s how my desk looks like too – a graveyard of unread letters. Heck, I’ve lived without a valid passport for most of 2016 because my letter from ICA (the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Singapore) has been sitting on my desk since the beginning of the year.
But why am I sharing this with you?
Because I’m excited to share an idea that I just heard about this morning, while listening to an audio recording on my way to the office. (i.e. Today it’s McDonald’s @ Scape.)
The “One touch rule”
While I usually don’t promote ideas that I haven’t already tried and successfully implemented into my own life yet, this one’s got me buzzing.
Suggested by productivity expert Ann Gomez (although I heard about it through author/speaker Hal Elrod’s coaching program), the “One touch rule” is pretty simple:
=> Once you touch something. Complete the task. <=
That’s it.
That means, don’t touch that letter or open that email until you’re willing to respond to it. Don’t accept an invitation unless you’re willing to at least schedule it into your calendar.
In our everyday lives, it’s really easy to push aside these “small inconveniences” to get “important” things done – like your work, kids, passions and hobbies.
It happens to me too.
As a professional freelance copywriter, I can complete an entire series of websites, brochures, blog articles and marketing projects… before I respond to that one letter asking me to renew my passport. (Which realistically, would’ve taken me minutes or at most, a few hours to do.)
So you can see how excited this “One touch rule” has got me. I’ll be starting this habit today, and seeing how it goes. This one could be life-changing.
If you’d like to join me, let me know your progress! We can be “One touch buddies”.
Ok that sounds weird. But you know what I mean.
[For more copywriting and productivity tips, bookmark my blog at www.kevinthecopywriter.com]