Designing a Usable Work Day

I’ve long been an advocate that the principles of good usability design apply not only to products, but to processes and techniques that can be learned and applied in life. (See closet tricks one and two for some examples.) Here’s something in that vein that may help anyone who has a tough time starting work – whether that work is your job, a project, a paper, whatever. Matthew Moore, on his own blog, suggests leaving something simple, easy, or even enjoyable undone at the end of every work session, so that you can start with that thing the next time you begin working. Easing yourself into a working groove is much better than tackling a daunting challenge right from the start – and if you don’t leave something easy undone, you’re likely to do those easy things and leave the big scary stuff for “next time!” If you’re the kind of person who procrastinates in order to even begin working (for me, the sign was always that I’d clean my room instead of starting a paper) this could be just the thing to get you jump-started and, eventually, on to the big stuff.
[via LifeHacker]