The most productive people still have to motivate themselves every day. They spend a lot of time working out what motivates them to keep going and that's how they achieve many of the amazing things they achieve. It's been that way for hundreds of years and will be that way for hundreds more. It's human nature.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race" -Calvin Coolidge

Persistence is linked to motivation. If you're persistent, you'll find ways to keep yourself motivated even if you're not completely enchanted by your current work. You'll push through and find ways to keep at it at least, that is, until it guides you to something you are enchanted by - at which point motivation will come more naturally.

My point? The same as Zig Ziglar's:

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." -Zig Ziglar

Here are some things I do that help keep me motivated, even when I'm bored with my work or feeling sickly and would much rather stay in bed.

Light Therapy
One of the more recent additions to my daily motivation routine is to use a tiny 11W energy saver light bulb as a desk lamp during the day. I also use it at night but using it during the day, I find, helps keep my spirits up and my brain awake. I discovered this little gem after reading "6 Surprisingly Effective Treatments for Depression." I wasn't depressed at the time but I was looking for some form of motivation and this did the trick. Total cost? Probably around R10 as I borrowed the desk lamp from my brother-in-law and just stuck in my own light bulb. What's important to note here is that the lamp is about half a meter away from me and to my side, not in front of or behind me. Having this light source in your peripheral vision is the key. Read that article or Google "light therapy" for more info.

Music
From heavy metal to Enya, I make sure I always have music playing while I work. If I don't, I get caught up in the feelings that what I'm doing is "too hard" or "too much" or "I don't like doing this" and so on. It can get so bad that I can get lost in thought for two hours or more, just thinking about how much I don't want to do this work. That doesn't help me get bills paid and it doesn't help me find an alternative work to do - it just keeps me paralysed, which is never good.

With some music going on, I tend to focus my emotions more on the music and less on what I'm doing. This helps me get through my work without attaching any unnecessary emotions to it. Most of us do work out of necessity, not passion, so if that's the case, I highly recommend some music to keep you going. Just be careful what you play. Sometimes Enya is great for coming up with ideas and calming down from a bad mood but sometimes you need some heavy metal to code at the speed of light. Figure out your own mojo and then adjust your listening habits accordingly.

A balanced diet, some exercise and sleep
You can try and avoid this one all you like but the truth is that a balanced diet, some exercise and enough sleep will keep you motivated, happy, energetic and sexy ;)

Food, I find, helps me stay positive but I have to be careful what I'm eating. When I stick with a balanced eating plan (note: I didn't say diet!), then I feel balanced, positive & energetic. If I eat junk food or skip my veggies, after a couple of meals I'm downright horrible to be around and my work suffers as well. This is what has worked for me lately:

Breakfast: Cooked oats plus a scoop of USN diet fuel.
A bit later: Meal replacement shake: 2 scoops of USN diet fuel + 300ml of water
Lunch: 2 chicken breasts or portions of fish, or chicken pieces, a cup of veggies or an apple and a small microwaved potato or half a cup of rice or half a cup of pasta. (Or similar)
A bit later: Another shake.
Supper: Similar to lunch.

I'm not saying you should do the same. Maybe you hate the idea of having a meal replacement shake - that's fine but find something that works for you and make sure it's balanced.

As for exercise - that's also a tricky one. Find something you'll enjoy doing. A daily walk around the block will do you more good than you think. Try A swim, a game of soccer, shooting hoops, martial arts or even de-weeding your garden. As long as you enjoy it enough to do it frequently, you'll find that your energy levels will rocket, you'll have great ideas during the exercise and you'll also find it easier to go to sleep at night and easier to wake up in the mornings. It's definitely worth it!

Try sleeping between 7-9 hours a day. Some people need a bit less while others need a bit more. You'll find that if you oversleep or undersleep by 2 hours or more, you'll be miserable the next day - so be careful of that. Even on weekends, I stick to about 8-9 hours of sleep.

I used to go to bed at about 10PM each night but found that I would only wake up at around 8 or 9 so, instead of trying to wake up earlier (which is nearly impossible in winter), I started going to bed at midnight or 1AM. Now I feel much better.

The key to food, exercise and sleep (and everything else, really) is to find the balance that works for you. It's not likely to be the same for everyone but you can start with something that works for someone else and then tailor it to suit your own needs.

Look at the cash figures
For work-related motivation, I find that this one helps a lot. It might not help people in jobs but, for us self-employed folk, it's a very helpful motivator.

I look at both the figures going out and the figures coming in.

My income motivates me to work harder and faster so that I can get paid and spend that money on something fun.

The expenses motivate me to work "or else". If I know I have to pay my medical aid and I'm short some cash this month, a quick reminder of that fact will often help kick my butt into gear and get some work done.

If you're not keeping track of your income and expenses, start now. It will make a difference to your motivation levels AND to your eventual financial independence because you'll be able to see what you're overspending on, what to do more of to make more money and so on.

Know what you're going to do before you begin
Having a list of what needs to get done for the day helps you prevent distractions from getting in the way of the important stuff. I find that, on the days that I work from such a list, I get LOADS of work done while, on the days that I don't, I sit wondering where the day went to.

It's important to have a list that you made and don't let others influence that list. It's often easier said than done and you won't always get it right, especially not in the beginning, but you'll find that you achieve amazing things when you do.

Ignore email, Facebook, Skype, your cellphone, Google Talk and all the rest of them
It's fine to check these things once or twice a day but if you spend your whole day chatting and checking email and reading statuses, you'll never get anything done and you'll never improve your life. What I do is I only check on these after I've achieved something significant and, even then, only briefly. You need to be aware that these distractions will rob you of really important experiences and achievements if you allow them to.

By all means, socialise, have fun, chat to friends, share funny emails but don't let them rule your life. When it's time to work, work. Don't work and chat or work and check emails and... and... and... I'm sure you get my drift :)

Find ways to make your work go faster
This may sound simple but if you find real, predictable ways of making your work go faster, you'll get more done in less time and have more time left to yourself. Again, this is a bit trickier for people in jobs as working faster could mean just getting more work to do. It's different from company to company.

What works for me is to copy my work down to my local computer and work from there. I find that I code faster and, because of that, I actually enjoy my work instead of dreading it. It allows me to do my best and I believe it's human nature to want to do your best. So, take control over what you can to ensure you can do your best work as quickly and efficiently as you can.

Another way I make my work go faster is by swallowing my pride and NOT re-inventing the wheel. As a programmer, I'm often tempted to rewrite code in order to make it "better". The trouble with that is that I end up working slower and taking longer to solve a problem that's been solved before. And I don't get paid extra for that time, either. So I've stopped doing that. I now copy code I've got working elsewhere and I get on with solving problems instead of trying to make everything "perfect".

Of course, I'm still a programmer so, while I'm working, a throw in a dash of genius in now and then, for my own satisfaction and without allowing it to negatively affect my deadlines.

Brain Boosters
When you're really struggling to keep focused, you can use brain boosters. One brain booster I use is an MP3 I bought here that helps me focus creatively. I got a whole bunch of other boosters with the pack but the "creative focus" MP3 is the one I find myself coming back to time and again. It's just a 20-minute sound clip that you can listen to while you work. I play music at the same time and it still works incredibly well.

It works so well that I forgot what it feels like to hit a brain-block while coding. I'm serious! One day I forgot to put the booster on and I hit a brick wall and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't solve what should have been a simple problem. Then it dawned on me and I put on my brain booster track. 5 minutes later, I solved the problem and carried on working on other things. Magic!

You see, the trouble is that we surround ourselves with so much stress and so many inputs from the world around us that we struggle, these days, to focus. So while you might feel that a "brain booster" sounds weird and unnatural, I think it's the most natural thing. If it wasn't for all the other noise in our lives, we'd be able to focus any time we wanted. That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;)

I also find that the relaxation and deep-relaxation MP3s, available in the same pack of boosters, help a lot. I doze off and wake up, 20 minutes later, ready to take on the world. I would suggest these to anyone - they really work.

Keep a list
I have a list of "Things that Work for Me". Yes, that's what it's called :)

All it is, is a list of basic ideas that help me work when I'm not really feeling up to it. I go over the list and put some of the suggestions into action and, eventually, I start working. Here's the exact list I use, every day:

- Sleep properly (8 hours, even if I go to bed late).
- Look at the cash figures - both due out and due in. They can be inspiring.
- Write down what needs to get done before switching PC on.
- Ignore email/facebook/skype/phone/gtalk.
- Copy site down to local PC. (Or a ZA host)
- MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC. Boring music is better than no music!
- Creative focus brain booster (better than constant concentration one)
- Copy code that's working elsewhere.

So that's it. Take what works for you, drop what doesn't and come up with your own list and you'll find that, even on the worst days, you'll be able to get something done and maintain momentum which, I believe, is incredibly important. A little bit done every day makes a big difference.

"Make measurable progress in reasonable time." -Jim Rohn

"Remember, a monthly income of R1000 from an automated knowledge product is akin to having R150K in the bank, earning interest for you. So, if you are earning about R7K a month from these sort of sales (through a variety of means, maybe), you are effectively an internet millionaire, receiving the interest on R1M in the bank, for which you do not have to work." - Frank Muller

If you do the math, keeping in mind that Capitec Bank offers savings accounts with a per annum interest rate of 8%, it works out. With that in mind, I've been an internet millionaire for a few months, then :)

Sure, I don't own the Viper RT/10, the huge flatscreen TV or any of those other things that I might normally associate with being a millionaire but I do have a lot of free time. I took yesterday off to spend with my wife to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. I generally only get in the office at 10am. I seldom spend more than 2-3 hours at a time in the office at a time because I take longish breaks for lunch, my USN shakes, and so on.

In fact, if it wasn't for my debt, I might actually stop working at the tender age of 27.

I recognise that I still have a ways to go but it feels good to know that, on some levels, I have arrived!

Having said all that good stuff, I also figured out today, thanks to my income spreadsheet, that I work too hard. This month, if I do nothing else at all, I will still earn over 50% of my required income via passive income source and yet, I have still booked up just under 100% of my time with "normal" work. It would appear that someone is having trouble letting go of the work-life! We won't mention any names but he looks, sounds and acts JUST like me. Silly rabbit.

I'm reading Richard Koch's "The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less". It's a book about how 80% of your successes / achievement / profit / etc comes from 20% of your input / effort / investment / etc.

The principle, then, is to focus on the 20% that gives us the 80% result rather than focus on the full 100%. The idea being that you can work less and achieve more when you apply this principle.

I've been applying this sort of thinking with my work with great results. This month, for example, I've doubled my income by refusing to do any new work and focusing on the 20% of work/clients that pay me the 80% of my income.

I'm less stressed, less overwhelmed and also, richer :)

Here's a cool tidbit of things to do to put the principle in practise. (From page 39 in the book)

- Celebrate exceptional productivity, rather than raise average efforts.

- Look for the short cut, rather than run the full course.

- Be selective, not exhaustive.

- Strive for excellence in few things, rather than good performance in many.

- Delegate or outsource as much as possible.

- Choose careers and employers with extra care and, if possible, employ others rather than be employed.

- Only do the thing we are best at doing and enjoy most.

- Work out where 20 percent of effort can lead to 80 percent of returns.

- Calm down, work less and target a limited number of very valuable goals where the 80/20 principle can work, rather than pursuing every available opportunity.

- Make the most of those few "lucky streaks" in life where our creativity peaks and the stars line up to guarantee success.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, over-worked and under-paid, read through this every day until you can find reasonable ways (or even drastic ways) to make these bits of advice work for you.

Buy it here:

Jim Rohn was an amazing mentor. I never met him but his MP3s did wonders for me. From helping me "Kick the Worry Habit" to "Setting and Achieving Goals" to "Attaining Financial Independence". The man was a legend. His message was balanced and direct. There was no fluff, no hype, just really really good advice based on his own life and experiences. Rest in Peace Jim, your messages will never be forgotten.

Resolve says, “I will.” The man says, “I will climb this mountain. They told me it is too high, too far, too steep, too rocky and too difficult. But it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You will soon see me waving from the top or dead on the side from trying.”

Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.

If you learn to set a good sail, the wind that blows will always take you to the dreams you want, the income you want, and the treasures of mind, purse, and soul you want.

I used to say, “Things cost too much.” Then my teacher straightened me out on that by saying, “The problem isn’t that things cost too much. The problem is that you can’t afford it.” That’s when I finally understood that the problem wasn’t “it” – the problem was “me.”

If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. You must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or begging in the fall. The soil says, “Don’t bring me your need, bring me your seed.”

Walk away from the 97% crowd. Don’t use their excuses. Take charge of your own life. You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.

Your paycheck is not your employer’s responsibility, it’s your responsibility. Your employer has no control over your value, but you do.

If you wish to find, you must search. Rarely does a good idea interrupt you.

I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change. If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.

I actually DO enjoy my work. I nearly fell off my chair when I realised this today. I've been bored and miserable most of this weekend (my wife is away on business) and then... I sat down to work!

Some good music (everything ranging from Jazz to Hard Rock and Metal), a good coding challenge and some hot beverage (coffee/tea) and I'm happy and feeling good again. Weird. I was convinced I didn't like this stuff :P

For maximum enjoyment, I should be working on one of my personal projects (of which there are many) or working with a nice-guy client who pays on time and doing something a little different to what I've done before.

Perhaps another contributor to enjoyment is the knowledge that there will be a reward for my efforts somewhere down the line. It's very depressing to work on a personal project that flops but clients pay, whether or not they make money. (I'd rather they make money but the point remains the same.)

There's a philosophical point to be made here and that is: As long as we're achieving something, depression and boredom have nothing to hold onto.

And another: Work with clients who value you enough to pay enough and to pay on time.

And yet another: Work on personal projects and businesses where you've DONE the market research and figured out what it will REALLY take to make a success of it.

And lastly: Have patience with your own projects. Nothing guarantees success like persistence.

Fear has robbed me of many achievements. I don't get started on things because they look boring or difficult to do. And I tend to blow things WAY out of proportion. And I know I'm not the only one - we all do it at some stage.

Sometimes when we're faced with something we don't feel like doing, we create excuses for ourselves that make the task seem impossible.

For example, I had 3 things to do for a client this afternoon. I was supposed to have done this last week already but I didn't feel like it and I made it seem like a huge task. After sitting down for 45 minutes, I've completed 2 out of the 3 tasks and it took WAY less time and energy than I'd imagined.

In fact, fixing the 1st problem automatically fixed the 2nd. The 3rd will probably take me another 15 mins so we're talking about ONE hour of work that I've put off for over a week.

It's always easier than it seems! But I get fooled every time. I end up having to kick myself in the nuts (not literally!) and remind myself that it's NEVER as hard as it looks. Then, eventually, I find the courage to give it a shot.

Once I manage that, I get a lot done and, miraculously, discover that it really was way easier than I thought ;) Go figure!

My new catch word is WORM. Write once, read many. You do the work once and earn from it multiple times.

Like writing an article, and then tweeting about it, and then Google picks it up and you start getting a steady stream of traffic to that article and you continuously earn money from the AdSense ads (or affiliate links) on that page - it's WORM.

I don't say passive income any more because it's not actually passive - you have to work at least once for it. But it can definitely be WORM. You do the work once and earn from it many times.

Or maybe it should be WOEM - write once, earn many!

Or even DOEM - Do once, earn many. I'm DOEM'ed ;)

This post is in both "Self Development" and "Wealth Creation" and I'll tell you why. Checklists are one very powerful way to ensure you cut the crap and get on with the important stuff.

I've just created a checklist called "Site a Day". It's designed to guide me through the process of creating a very small, very effective, keyword-focused web site - every day. By reducing the steps involved to a simple 7-step checklist, I keep myself focused and the process of ticking each step off is a great motivator.

If you're a Michael Gerber fan, you will already have learned about checklists. You may even have a few checklists for important processes in your business, that you require your employees to tick off. Good on you!

If you're looking for a faster way to make printable checklists, then look no further than the awesomeness that is http://printablechecklist.org. It's intuitive, lightning-fast, doesn't require registration and, when you're done, you can just print to PDF. With your new PDF, you can print as many copies as you like as often as you like. More recent versions of Firefox support printing to PDF so this really couldn't be simpler! Enjoy :)

I've unsubscribed from just about every newsletter I received in the past 2 weeks. Even if I really LOVE a particular newsletter, I dropped it.

I also now close Skype and Google Talk during the day. And I keep Gmail closed more often than it's open.

All this LACK of reading has resulted in a far more productive Norio.

Yes, it's a Tim Ferriss idea. The guy reckons you should cut everything out (just about) and only pick something up to read when a) it's for pleasure and b) you're going to learn something quickly for the task at hand. If you can't use it immediately, leave it alone!

That's changed my daily process quite a bit. I simply get a lot more done and, every time something new lands on my desk/screen, I ask myself if I can use this RIGHT NOW. If not, I chuck it.

The nature of the internet is that ANY time I need something in the future, I can just Google it. So I'm wasting a lot less time reading stuff I "might need to know" sometime in the future and now I just get things done.

It takes me maybe 5 minutes to research something I need to know. I do that 5 minutes of researching/reading, and then get back to my life.

Reading is great. Don't stop. But do it wisely. Read what you need or read for pleasure. Don't fill ALL your time with reading or you'll get nothing else done.

I didn't think I'd agree with Ferriss on this one but I do - the increase in my productivity speaks for itself. And the increase in my cashflow (once I get paid for this work I'm doing) will also speak for itself. Give it a shot :)

There was a guy called C. Northcote Parkinson who said something very useful and profound. He said:

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Which means that a task you give yourself 1 hour to do will, by virtue of the time assigned to it, be simpler to do than the SAME task, if you give yourself 1 week to do it in.

As Tim Ferriss puts it in his book, The 4-Hour Work Week, you then have 6 days of turning a molehill into a mountain.

Ferriss also says that, to be more effective in your work, you should set out to do the same work in MUCH less time.

So I decided to test this theory out this weekend and here's what happened...

On Saturday, I spent 1 hour and 15 minutes finishing some work that I thought would take at least 2-3 hours. I simply set the tight deadline and then did the work. The shorter timeframe forced me to focus on the bare essentials and I got the work done!

I spent the rest of Saturday chilling and relaxing. (I had planned to work most of Saturday)

On Sunday, I spent 1 hour and 4 minutes finishing some work that I thought would take 2-4 hours. I spent the rest of the time with my family. (Yes, I had planned to work most of the day!) Are we seeing a pattern yet?

In short: I achieved in 2 hours and 19 minutes what I would normally dedicate 4-7 hours to do.

And, in short, I had a really great weekend.

The most important part of this all is that I normally procrastinate on any task that will take more than an hour to complete. Now I don't need to because the shorter timeframe forces me to simplify and focus which means that things get done and I don't procrastinate.

Next, I'm going to try this during the week. My goal is to achieve in 2-4 hours what I would normally spend the whole day doing. And then I'm going to play guitar, watch TV and spend time with my wife.

Yes, Parkinson's Law is my new best friend!