Milestones and Deadlines for Self-Motivation and Greater Productivity
How do you motivate yourself to be productive and get things done? Milestones and deadlines are great motivators. And they work in slightly different ways.
So, to understand self-motivation with milestones and deadlines, take a look at this video, to learn how they can each boost your personal productivity.
Watching this video is worth 1 Management Courses CPD Point*
(See below for more details)
This video is part of course module number 1.6.1
Program 1: Managing Yourself
Course 6: Personal Productivity
Section 1: Effective Working
Relevant videos in the same section as this video include:
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– The Power of Habits: Productivity through Effective Working
… https://youtu.be/kXmz_E8yUGw
– Organization: How to Enhance Your Productivity by Being Organized
… https://youtu.be/2eUYH0z2yiQ
– Planning, Preparation, and Follow-up: Effective Working for Better Productivity
… https://youtu.be/XZUCfd9xov0
– Use your Energy Cycles for More Effective Working and Greater Productivity
… https://youtu.be/q_s0FkWISLo
– Failure of Multitasking: The Multitasking Myth
… https://youtu.be/IEN_hP9dtIM
– Overcome Overwhelm: Dealing with the Feeling of Being Overwhelmed
… https://youtu.be/Gp21qbsesbc
– The Flow State… and How Flow Can Help You Work Effectively
… https://youtu.be/8uBamPRhc4E
LESSON NOTES
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Deadlines
As a deadline looms, urgency kicks in and productivity takes off.
Deadlines are a great motivator. But they motivate by fear.
For some people, deadlines create high levels of stress. And too much stress harms productivity. Or, equally likely, you trade productivity for quality.
Deadlines are a great way to deal with procrastination.
If you find yourself putting things off, try setting a deadline. Deadlines imply consequences, so you need to attach a consequence. An easy consequence is embarrassment: losing face. Tell people when you’ll finish your task so they can hold you to account.
Milestones
Milestones are like deadlines, but different. Milestones are positive. When we reach them, we’ve achieved something worthwhile.
Milestones make your progress – and your productivity – visible. This creates a sense of achievement and a reason to celebrate.
When you celebrate your successes, you notice them. You become more confident. This can lead to more enthusiasm and better performance. In turn, these create more success and the achievement of more milestones. If you celebrate those successes too, you complete the loop. It’s a positive cycle that can bootstrap your productivity onwards and upwards.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
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1. As a professional, are you setting yourself plenty of milestones? If not, go over your plans and add more milestones, to mark your successes. (2 MC CPD Points)
2. As a manager, are you setting your team and team members plenty of milestones? If not, go over your plans and add more milestones, to mark their successes. (2 MC CPD Points)
3. As a manager, are you imposing too many deadlines? These can be harmful to your team, so recast them as milestones. (2 MC CPD Points)
DOWNLOADS
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Free Resources
– CPD Tools https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Paid resources
– Management Courses Onboarding Kit https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)
RECOMMENDED READING
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For this module, read ‘The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work’ by Teresa Amabile & Steven Kramer https://geni.us/tiEkeH
I’ll be as modest as I can. I’m something of an expert on effective working, personal productivity, & time management, with 4 best-selling books by 3 international publishers:
– The Time Management Pocketbook
… https://geni.us/gHa4
– How to Manage Your Time
… https://geni.us/Cpvp
– Powerhouse: Turbo Boost Your Effectiveness and Start Making a Serious Impact
… https://geni.us/H7GDizc
– The Yes/No Book: How to do less… and achieve more
… https://geni.us/yhF90n
Here are my picks from thousands of other books on personal productivity, effective working, & time management:
– The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
… https://geni.us/Zulp
– The Power of Habit: Why we Do what we Do, and How to Change
… https://geni.us/vNtXd4
– Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
… https://geni.us/JxTY
– Eat that Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating
… https://geni.us/48Y1LlC
Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
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Record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
Download it at: https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
– If you simply watched the video, record 1 MC CPD point
– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 7 MC CPD points
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Note:
Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
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