Micro Missions

I used to be terrible at effective “shallow working”

Deep Work? Flow State?

No problem, I love that stuff.

And I’m fairly good at it I think.

But shallow work is a different topic entirely.

Too much fluff, a lot of distraction opportunities, more thoughts crossing your mind than jaywalkers crossing the streets of New York

It’s annoying, and in the end you don’t get that many productive things done.

I’ve had my fair few tries at making shallow work (= social media management, checking messages & emails, low ROI activities) more effective.

And I’ve recently come across a new method.

It’s not a new method, it is more of a mental reframe you can use.

One of Ali Abdaals core ideas behind productivity is making work more fun.

One way I found to do that?

Play a mental game.

Every little work task I have to do is a “micro mission”

And every micro mission has to be executed flawlessly in order for it to eventually equal a total & complete piece of work or task.

My idea is simple:

• work on one micro mission at a time

• plan out the task briefly in my mind or on paper (very short)

• then simply execute with full focus, powered by the idea of being at gunpoint if I don’t complete the mission in the time I set my alarm to fill it

Doesn’t matter if it takes 5 minutes or 25.

Just push through the mission you set yourself.

Once you’re done?

Take a short breather.

And keep an eye out for the next mission.

Determine your target.

Make it clear to yourself there’s literally nothing more important right now than smashing it.

And then go.

Sounds absolutely silly reading this back

But I’d argue you give it a shot first.

Thank you for reading.

See you soon,

Henri