If you have the drive and discipline to launch your freelance business, you have the drive and discipline to improve your freelance business, but we all struggle to force ourselves to work on those improvements incrementally (or at least I do!). In this video I talk about three approaches you might try: the carrot, the stick or the temptation bundle. If you really want to geek out on temptation bundling, you can listen to this episode of Freakonomics Radio.
Video: using the carrot, the stick or the temptation bundle to reach your freelance goals
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Written by Corinne McKay
5 Responses to “Video: using the carrot, the stick or the temptation bundle to reach your freelance goals”
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Thanks Corinne for a great video! I just listened to a short podcast by Stever Robbins (“Get-it-Done Guy”) which offers a similar perspective on how to stay motivated: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/learning/use-the-right-approach-to-get-motivated
Thanks Nelia! Yes, totally: Tess Whitty’s interview with Stever was where we got the idea for the Do It Day: http://marketingtipsfortranslators.com/episode-035-work-less-interview-get-done-guy-stever-robbins/
Hello Corinne,
I like your videos, it’s great to see another one! For me, the carrot and the stick both work quite well. Especially withholding something until the task is done, or sometimes I even give myself points or a reward for having worked on the thing for a certain chunk of time.
What works well for me as well, is doing that thing that is getting away from me first thing in the morning. I get up early to work on translation and my business and in the early morning I say to myself “this is the first thing I am going to do tomorrow morning” and sometimes even end up sitting around for 5 minutes before doing it, but early morn, there’s just no other reason for having gotten up than to do that thing that so naggingly has been festering away.
I use the carrot trick just before lunch most days—the first time I feel ready to eat, I give myself 20 more minutes of work. Keep a short list somewhere of 2–5 minute tasks, then knock out 5 or 6 before you break. It feels great to get in one more burst of productivity. As they say in running, finish strong!
That’s a great trick Carolyn, thanks!! I totally agree about the quick tasks: I keep a list of those too, as an alternative to mindless web surfing when I need a mental break. And withholding lunch would do the trick 🙂