(2020-07-31) Stubblebine Replace Your Todo List With Interstitial Journaling To Increase Productivity

Tony Stubblebine: Replace Your To-Do List With Interstitial Journaling To Increase Productivity. What if you journaled for your five minute Pomodoro break?

The Interstitial Journaling tactic solves all of these normal problems. It kills procrastination, empties our brain of the last project, and then gives us space to formulate an optimal strategy for our next project.

Origin story: Pomodoro on steroids

What I wondered was: what if you tried to do something productive with those five minutes?

I happened to be doing a deep dive on morning journaling using Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages.

So, I put the two together. What if you journaled for your five minute Pomodoro break?

Every time you switch projects, open up your journal and enter the following three things:

• Note the time. Most people will find having these timestamps to be useful to look back on.
• Write a few sentences about what you just worked on. “What project did I just finish? Are there any parts of that project that I’m still thinking about?” Use complete sentences rather than one word answers. “Email. Yes.” is not a valid answer.
• Write a few sentences about what you’re about to work on. “What is the first action of the project I’m about to start? How should I approach getting the project done?”

When you empty your brain, you can then start the next project fully focused.

First action vs. next action

Part of your Interstitial Journal entry is to identify the Next Action of your project. The easier the action, the more likely you are to do it and the less likely you are to fall prey to procrastination

However, I’ve observed that many people who think they are writing a Next Action still manage to write actions that are too difficult to achieve. A poorly chosen Next Action will cause procrastination for the same reasons that a project-oriented to-do would.

The difference looks like trivial semantics, but the reason for this subtlety is that some people react differently to the words Next and First. Many people hear Next and think “Next Meaningful.” That’s what tricks them into writing down actions that are too hard to start or finish.

Many people hear First and think “First Literal.” So, the phrase First Action makes it easier to narrow in on a smaller action, like “Google Tire Store Phone Numbers” or even “Open Google.

But… not all people are the same. A different group of people rebelled against First Action because those tiny trivial actions looked boring. They needed an action that carried enough weight to feel like it was worth doing. Otherwise, they would procrastinate for fear of boredom.

Mindful strategizing: do less, do it smarter, delegate it

Most often, getting the project done is a matter of scope. If you only have an hour, then you have to use a strategy that fits within an hour.

Anyone who has ever done journaling in other contexts knows this — your journal is an opportunity for truth and honesty about yourself that you don’t normally have. I’m too ambitious about what I take on, while being cowardly about working hard. Putting those thoughts into a journal moves them from feelings that secretly rule my decisions to rational concepts that I can analyze and solve.

I think the right word for this experience is mindfulness. Journaling as you work produces mindfulness about your context, goals, mood, and skills. Honestly, many so-called knowledge workers are going through their day as mindlessly as possible. You’re really going to stand out with this tactic

Your journal is a habit for pivoting to new projects

Humans are famously slow project-switchers. Part of the problem is that it’s impossible to make a habit out of switching between projects because each project is unique. There’s nothing consistent to habitualize. But, Interstitial Journaling is something you can make a habit out of.

Upgrade option: journal everything

you end up with this massive document of how productive you were that day. (DailyReview)

Originally, I’d taken the task-journaling concept and put it into the to-do list metaphor. So, all I ever captured was a long list of next actions in list form. But, when I moved from a list to a journal, I realized that I could analyze myself as I tracked these tasks.

procrastination is often a short term mood repair initiated by your subconscious. The problem and the decision to solve it are both happening below the level of conscious thought. The solution is to find a way to identify and then solve that mood at a conscious level. Journaling is one way to do that.

Here is a concrete example

That’s a work project that took me 56 minutes and in which I got distracted three times. The journal ended up being my safety net.

So, yes, the emphasis and the name of this tactic is on the interstitial moments. But I believe strongly that you should actually journal your entire day.