Reader Success Stories: Getting Productive, and a Clean Desk

Today we start a new series of Reader Success Stories on different habit and life changes. I’ve received emails from many people who’ve been inspired by Zen Habits, and have made many positive changes in their lives. Instead of only sharing my success stories, I thought it would be inspiring to see how others have changed their lives.

Today we hear from two people: someone who became more organized and productive, and another who cleared his desk. Others have started waking earlier, exercising, simplifying their lives. We’ll hear from them later (there’s no schedule as of right now). They all have great stories to share!

Thanks to all the readers who sent in their success stories.

Organized and Productive

Name: Blain Reinkensmeyer
Blog: Stock Trading To Go
More about Blain: 21, unmarried with no kids, lives in Michigan. Two recent accomplishments for me personally would be getting my blog mentioned by a writer over at TheStreet.com which is a larger financial news site, and getting a new blog design done. I am a blogger on financial education and the stock market, and part-time I run a ice hockey program for toddlers ages 3 - 6 that teaches them how to skate and play ice hockey.

I have been aching to share this as really your writings have helped to transform my daily life.

1. What has been your most successful habit change so far? What inspired it?

My most successful habit change so far has been with organization and productivity, going from a eight-hour work day to a four-hour workday where I accomplish twice as much and feel 10x better about myself.

I work out of my home when I am not in the ice arena, so for me it is very easy to get distracted by checking email, social networks like facebook, reading other blogs, etc. I used to wake up say at 10 AM, waste some time, then do some work, waste some more time, do some more work, and before you know it was 6:00 PM and I had not accomplished much beyond a post or two and talking to some friends online.

But now, I have a daily task list on a pad of paper, all of my goals short- and long-term written on a whiteboard, Google calender keeping track of all important dates and events, and a active mindset of “work now, play later”.

What inspired me initially was reading Zen Habits. I first came across the blog maybe two months ago and loved the simple lists compiled. I don’t recall the exact post but one got me thinking about my day and how I was really just wasting my time. Once I got started I was inspired by the simple realization that I could do this, that this was feasible.

2. Tell us about how you made it a successful habit change?

I first started by writing down my goals, what did I want to accomplish? For me my core focus was on organization and productivity, and my original list was such:

Create a daily task list of “must do” work and other errands or small tasks to accomplish later.
Get done with “must do” work FIRST, and get it done by 12:00 PM noon, monday - friday. Use Saturday and Sunday for relaxation.
Wake up earlier, 8:30 a.m. every day.
Write down all of my goals and habit changes with dates.
Be more grateful.

I set some of my goals beyond what my mind thought was attainable because I was trying to manifest what I wanted my day to be, not what I thought was possible in my mind. After writing down my goals I started at it that day getting a pad of paper to write tasks, setting my next day alarm for 8:30 a.m., dating my original goal list, etc. From there it became trial and error.

I quickly found out that going to bed at 3 a.m. and waking up at 8:30 was tough, and over time I’ve fallen into a habit of going to bed at say 1 a.m. and waking up at 9 a.m. Alongside this, the daily task list was a success right from day one, and now I just get up, turn on my computer, and go at it until my core tasks are accomplished.

Just that mindset alone removed three hours off my day at least, for a while I was getting done at 12:30 almost every day. To cut this down further I wrote down (so I would commit) alterations such as, “no email or web surfing until noon monday - friday,” and “no checking traffic stats until bedtime”. It is amazing how well writing everything down works versus just “saying it to yourself”, and there have been a handful of days now that I have gotten everything done by noon and start laughing at myself because I think, “what do I do now?” Needless to say it is a great feeling!

The last piece for me was gratitude which is more a mental side goal for me, and when i wake up, go to bed, eat a nice meal, see a good friend, etc. I always try to take a moment to say thank you to the world / universe / God. It keeps my mind strong and in the right place, and I found that the more I am thankful the more I receive each day.

My Tips For Success:

Write everything down on paper, and don’t forget to date it.
Don’t procrastinate, start NOW and not later.
Don’t get upset when something goes wrong, learn from your mistakes.
Reward yourself when you do something right.
Push the mind’s limits, don’t cut yourself short on goals.
Keep motivated with anything that reminds you of your goals: pictures, letters, quotes, etc. all work great.

3. Have you used the success from one habit change to be successful with another?Yes, the discipline habit has probably lead to the most positive changes. I used to have a habit for example to drink a can of pop almost every day, and for over a month now I haven’t had a drop of it as I stopped drinking it all together :).

4. How does it feel to be successful with these changes? What changes have you noticed in your life?

The biggest change has been in my mind and body. I start my day being grateful, positive, and motivated, and I end it feeling grateful, positive, and accomplished. I noticed I am a lot more organized how I go about even the simpler tasks of my day, and overall I feel great all the time. I actually have so much extra time now on my hands that I’ve started to read books and take walks. This has lead to new goals that before would not even be possible such as read a book a week, and take a walk every day. When I look at myself even three months ago I can’t believe how much has changed … I feel like a brand new person.

5. Where do you go from here and what have you learned from all this? Any words for our readers?

Dream big, you CAN do it! What it comes down to from my experience is simply, “How bad do you want it?” I truly believe now that the world is limitless and you can accomplish anything if you set your mind to it. Remember to start NOW, not later. Procrastination is a killer, and saying to yourself, “I will do this tomorrow” is about as good as not doing it at all. Imagine where you want to be, write it down and date it, and go at it.

Looking ahead now my the big goal plastered all of my room is to become a full time blogger by my 22nd birthday (next May). I absolutely love sleeping in when I can, getting my work done in my comfortable clothes, and having the freedom to do whatever I want, when I want. I found my passion in promoting financial education and independence, and to be able to full time blog to help thousands of people achieve their financial goals through investing is my dream job.

That’s about it from me! Thanks so much for inspiring me to change.

Permanently Clear Desk

Name: Joel
From: Texas
Blog: So You Want To Teach?
Occupation: middle school band director

1. What has been your most successful habit change so far? What inspired it?

The most notable habit change I have made has been keeping a permanently clear desk. I began reading your blog in the spring and the clean desk thing struck me instantly as something I needed to get under control. I tried it some during the last school year and it helped a lot. When I moved to a different campus this year, I decided to make that a priority.

2. Tell us about how you made it a successful habit change … what did you do, what worked, what didn’t?

The key was spending some time up front clearing out all of the junk from the drawers that were left there by its previous occupant. I spent about 3 hours one day before the school year began and made that a huge priority. Throwing things away and finding new homes for them. Some of them went into stack of things to be done at a later time (some have since been handled and others are pending). The goal was to get the desk CLEAN. I also threw away extra pens that I don’t need. I try to maintain one or two pens and one or two pencils in the desk drawer. It makes things much much simpler.

3. Have you used the success from one habit change to be successful with another? How?

The clean desk inspires me tremendously. When I come in each morning, I can just relax. When I sit down during my conference period, I can relax for a little bit, look at my computer’s desktop, and relax. I also have used the free time to clean up and organize the instrument storage rooms, keep the band blog updated, and very quickly process emails. I only carry my car alarm thing, house key, and as few school keys as I need with me. The rest of the school keys stay in my desk, and the rest of my personal keys stay in my car. I delete emails much more readily now. I drink virtually nothing but water. I have eliminated junk food from my diet almost entirely. Additionally, I am spending the next 25 weekdays writing stress reduction tips on my blog. I find that many many teachers are undergoing major stress. I am so not this year. The end result is that my students are much better behaved and end up getting a better education.

4. How does it feel to be successful with these changes? What changes have you noticed in your life?

It is amazing to see these changes. When I go into my office, it is refreshing! When parents or other teachers come in, they are impressed. I share an office with the other band director. One of the art teachers came in and made the comment, “Well, we know who gets work done around here,” implying that since my desk was clear, I didn’t do anything. I just laughed. Since I stopped eating junk food on when school started on August 27th, I have lost nearly 10 pounds. I have another 45 that I want to lose, but it’s inspiring to realize I have lost more than 8 pounds in a month, simply by being much more aware of what I put in my body.

5. Where do you go from here and what have you learned from all this? Any other words for our readers?

My next challenge is to finally get up the energy and strength to throw away a lot of the junk I have been hoarding in my house. Old cables and wires that go to televisions or computers or whatever. I don’t watch television, and I have two just taking up space in my living room. I also have clothes that are too large for me now. But do I throw them away, sell them, or give them away?

Reader Success Stories: Getting Productive, and a Clean Desk

Thanks to all the readers who sent in their success stories.

Organized and Productive

I have been aching to share this as really your writings have helped to transform my daily life.

1. What has been your most successful habit change so far? What inspired it?

2. Tell us about how you made it a successful habit change?

I first started by writing down my goals, what did I want to accomplish? For me my core focus was on organization and productivity, and my original list was such:

Create a daily task list of “must do” work and other errands or small tasks to accomplish later.
Get done with “must do” work FIRST, and get it done by 12:00 PM noon, monday - friday. Use Saturday and Sunday for relaxation.
Wake up earlier, 8:30 a.m. every day.
Write down all of my goals and habit changes with dates.
Be more grateful.

My Tips For Success:

Write everything down on paper, and don’t forget to date it.
Don’t procrastinate, start NOW and not later.
Don’t get upset when something goes wrong, learn from your mistakes.
Reward yourself when you do something right.
Push the mind’s limits, don’t cut yourself short on goals.
Keep motivated with anything that reminds you of your goals: pictures, letters, quotes, etc. all work great.

4. How does it feel to be successful with these changes? What changes have you noticed in your life?

5. Where do you go from here and what have you learned from all this? Any words for our readers?

That’s about it from me! Thanks so much for inspiring me to change.

Permanently Clear Desk

Name: Joel
From: Texas
Blog: So You Want To Teach?
Occupation: middle school band director

1. What has been your most successful habit change so far? What inspired it?

2. Tell us about how you made it a successful habit change … what did you do, what worked, what didn’t?

3. Have you used the success from one habit change to be successful with another? How?

4. How does it feel to be successful with these changes? What changes have you noticed in your life?

5. Where do you go from here and what have you learned from all this? Any other words for our readers?

Posted on 8 October 2007 in Success Stories |
Digg |
Del.icio.us |
Stumble |
Print

Comments (18)

Meredith Says:

October 8th, 2007, 1:16 am

Joel, definitely don’t throw them away! That creates unnecessary waste. If you can conceivably sell them without too much energy, then do so. You could also try listing them on Craigslist or Freecycle. Otherwise, take them to your local Goodwill/Salvation Army/etc. I’m sure someone else can get use out of your things, provided they aren’t damaged beyond repair, in which case throwing them out might be an option. (I don’t think you can just throw away TVs though because they have hazardous components that could potentially cause soil problems? Not sure.)

Congratulations to both of you on your accomplishments!

Tom Says:

October 8th, 2007, 2:05 am

Great to here you guys are making huge progress. Zen Habits has been helping with my organization and productivity, as well. Although I still lapse pretty often! If anything, posts here have furthered my ability to just THINK about daily life and tasks which gives more time to address things that really matter in my life. Writing everything is key - as Blain states. I can tell my good/bad weeks by just taking a look at my planner. More stuff written directly leads to a better week in my body and mind.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Goska Says:

October 8th, 2007, 7:46 am

Blain,
thanks for sharing your succes story, it had a great inpact on me , very inspiring. Wonderful to read about your motivation and accomplishment. Since some weeks i am also a reader of Zen habits and starting to introduce some small changes into my routines. the big step still has to be done, all the best 1

Anita Says:

October 8th, 2007, 7:57 am

Blain and Joel, thanks for taking the time to submit these stories. Isn’t it something the way you start out to make one change and it really helps, and to top it off, you find other great changes happening!

Leo, this was a brilliant idea! I love it. I submitted a story to digg and the closest category I could find was “health” I hope it was ok. That was my first digg try; so I’m not sure if I did the right thing. I was just so excited about this new material that I joined both digg and delicious so that I could shout about it! :-)

Blain Reinkensmeyer Says:

October 8th, 2007, 10:31 am

Leo, thanks for posting this up. I had a great time answering your questions and I hope it can help get others motivated :) :)

Appreciate all the positive feedback so far, awesome awesome! Now to get to back to my “must-do” list today… :P

Balfour Says:

October 8th, 2007, 11:06 am

Great posts. I want to be Blain or Joel when I grow up!

Leo–thanks for this new feature - love, love it.

Jennifer Lee Says:

October 8th, 2007, 13:50 pm

These stories are pretty inspiring! Thank you for sharing Blain and Joel! *power up* Now I go and work at getting more things done!! :D

Leo Says:

October 8th, 2007, 14:35 pm

Glad you guys enjoyed this new feature! Blain and Joel really have done a great job, and it was inspiring to me too! :)

I have at least a dozen other success stories lined up … I haven’t decided yet how frequently to feature them, and they’re about all different topics. I’m thinking once a week is a good rate.

Anyway, thanks to Blain and Joel for sharing their stories, and thanks to everyone else who sent them in. Very inspiring!

Alex Ion Says:

October 8th, 2007, 16:47 pm

Hi Leo,

I guess you can do it on weekends (1 one Sat and 1 on Sun, both with two examples if you have that many waiting you can do 2 x 2). That way you don’t break your 5 big topics during the week day and you give people something to chew on, over the weekend.

I wrote an article about 25 things someone could do over the weekend, guess I need to add the bonus. #26 Read successful stories on ZenHabits :)

Nice one.

Perfect Life Project Says:

October 8th, 2007, 19:24 pm

I really enjoyed Blain’s story. It is an exellent example of what an organised and focussed approach can achieve….almost anything. I have no doubt that if Blain maintains this he will achieve his goals.

Only yesterday I wrote a post about increasing productivity, and my tips were very similar to Blain’s. Obviously works.

Leo Says:

October 8th, 2007, 19:43 pm

@Alex Ion: I’ve thought about posting the success stories on weekends … it’s something I’ll consider. Otherwise, I might just post them on the “theme day” of the week that they fit into. :)

Thanks for the suggestion!

Balfour Says:

October 8th, 2007, 19:45 pm

Leo, I would suggest posting only one story at a time. My 2cents.

Joel Says:

October 8th, 2007, 19:54 pm

Wow, thank you so much for featuring me. Now I feel the pressure as I am sitting my my room at home and looking at a couple of piles of laundry, a stack of bills and other mail to be done, and some dishes left to be done. My work world is getting under control, but the personal world lags behind a bit. But one thing at a time, I suppose.

Thanks again for featuring me!

Ash Says:

October 11th, 2007, 22:17 pm

Leo user stories are great. As you mentioned, please do make them a weekly feature. More photos and details in the user story will be great! :-)

quench Says:

October 21st, 2007, 19:16 pm

Leo,

This is a really great feature!! My only suggestion would be to have just ONE reader’s story per post. Two is too much, and doesn’t seem to give the proper sort of honoring of each story.
These two here were so great!!

Andrzej Filipowicz Says:

November 8th, 2007, 11:14 am

Dense breakfast since morning - business certainly good. Only, having risen from a bed, usually to a refrigerator at all does not pull. By personal experience I can advise 1 to rise before that the organism has woken up and has prepared for food intake, 2 (and the most difficult ) not to eat for the night.

painting by Andrzej Filipowicz
http://www.andrzejfilipowicz.com

hoeles Says:

May 4th, 2008, 13:06 pm

Great story

Matt Says:

June 4th, 2008, 15:10 pm

Hello!

I am contacting you because I am working with the authors of a book about blogs, and I’d like to request permission to use the photograph you have posted in this book. Please contact me at matt@wefeelfine.org, and I’d be happy to give you more information about the project. Please paste a link to your blog in the subject field. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Matt