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For the first video I chose, I chose the video titled "How I take notes from books". This video goes over Thomas Frank's personal ways he takes notes when reading books, and he gave a few helpful tips in the process. He started off with four parts when taking notes in books, step one is read. He made a good point when talking about this step, he stated that if you can't comprehend the book, when you take notes they can turn out very flawed and be destructive later. His second step is to highlight. Highlighting in the book can help you because it marks the important part, so you can very easily find it later. His third step is to record, and when he talked about this he talked about a helpful website he uses which is Roam Research. I personally use Google Docs due to its easy accessibility, but he talked about how he uses what he highlighted to help influence what he writes down when recording. Lastly, he said he "synthesizes". When I first heard this, I was a little confused, but his tips for this were to connect what you just learned to what you already know. He said to "utilize it, wrangle with it... I write my own thoughts (to help understand the point better)"

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For this next video, I chose "The Best Way to Organize Your Computer Files". I felt like this could help connect and go along with my current theme of organization, and things that can really help you later. His first rule is rather self-explanatory, but he said "every file in your system should be within a folder that represents it". In my opinion, I feel like their isn't much of a reason to even use folders and what not if you aren't using it to help you stay fully organized. Another one of his rules was to keep make a structure so you can easily and quickly find that folder that you need. He stated that you should try and put folders into folders, and think of it as a tree type structure. You can start with broad file names like "School" and then inside of the "School" folder you can have a "Homework" folder, a "Projects" folder, and so on. Lastly, he says that his main point here is that "Your file system should be expandable, it should be flexible, it should maintain it's logic when it does expand"

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The Best Way to Organize Your Computer Files

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The final video I chose to stick with the current theme of organization and things that can really help you later is "How to Create a Morning Routine". He started out with a good point by saying that when your alarm wakes you up, don't click snooze "if you hit the snooze button in the morning then you are accepting the first thing you do that day is fail". He talked about how this is easy to say, but hard to put in practice. Next he talked about how you should start small and track your progress throughout. When you start small it helps you get into that routine, then you can start progressively making bigger steps, but not to big to ruin your already made progress (he also said that it can take around 66 days for a habit to form). Another point is that you should prove to yourself that it is possible, once you do it multiple times and start proving that you can do it, everything becomes a lot easier. To sum this all up, try and make strides, prove to yourself that you can create a morning routine, and stick to that routine until it becomes a part of your life.

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How to Create a Morning Routine (and Stick to It Long-Term)

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This article is from LifeHack.org and they give 11 practical ways to quit procrastinating. I chose this because this in my opinion, is very related to the theme of things that will help you later, and organization. Also, some of the steps relate to the videos I chose specifically, like "break your work into little steps".

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OK, I'm done with procrastinating. I'm done with the guilt, anxiety, stress-and, of course, the not getting stuff done.

I'm tired of answering "what'd you do today" with "nothing". Of course, it's a lie-I did do something, just not anything important - not anything that made me feel happier, more complete, or more relaxed.

What I did today was spend 8 hours kicking myself, putting myself down, and telling myself "I've really got to do. . .".

Why Procrastination Is Always Easy to Do Right Now

Psychologists tell me that the reason I procrastinate is because it feels so darn good. Can you believe that? All that guilt, stress, and bad self-image feel good?

It does though, doesn't it? Not the self-recriminations, but the excuse-making and the excuse-fulfilling.

Here's why:

1. When we procrastinate, we tend to do stuff that we know how to do-there's no risk. And avoiding risk feels good-our brain loves it when we don't do stuff that puts us out in the open, stuff that makes us vulnerable.

2. Most of the things we do while we procrastinate are fun, offering an immediate payoff-instead of the deferred payoff of the routine, boring, or lengthy projects we're putting off. A little thrill now makes us feel better than a bigger thrill at some point in the distant future.

3. Procrastination helps prevent success, and we fear success. Success at anything important means change, it means becoming someone different, it means growing as a person-and all that stuff is really, really hard. Futzing around, on the other hand, rarely accomplishes anything important, so I can stay comfortably me.

I can't tell you how much I hate knowing all that about myself! I bet you're not all that thrilled about it yourself.

And I didn't even mention the part about how we hate our parents and would hate even more for them to see us succeed since that would validate their years of torturing us into passable adults.

So What's a Poor, Lazy Sod to Do?

I can't tell you how to deal with your obvious childhood resentments, but maybe there is a way to get around procrastination without expensive and time-consuming therapy? Therapy that you'll probably just use as another excuse not to do whatever it is you're procrastinating in the first place? ("I can't write my novel until my analyst says I'm ready.")

Sure there is. When it comes down to it, all we have to do is a) minimize the rewards of procrastination, and b) maximize the rewards of non-procrastination. How hard could that be?

OK, maybe a little bit hard. So how do we do it? What's the program if you can't stop procrastinating? Let's see if we can figure this out.

1. Make Lists

You knew I was going to say that, didn't you? You know I love the lists. Lists are good-they're fun to make, and even more fun to throw out when you're done.

Lists are very useful if you can't stop procrastinating because they help us deal with at least two of the three factors that cause procrastination risk-aversion and rewards.

Here's how:

1. Making a list feels like you're doing something. Bing! You've got your reward.

2. Crossing something done off your list feels good. Bing! Another reward.

3. Making a list reduces the risk that you'll forget to do something-and therefore that you'll screw up and fail. Bing! Your brain likes that, a lot.

You can't make just any list, though. As I never tire of saying, lists should be concrete, granular, doable- the first item on your list should be something you can glance at and immediately do.

Don't know how? Then it shouldn't be the first thing on your list; figuring out how to do it should be the first thing on your list. Or, rather, "Use Google to find out how to do x", or "Go to the library to get books on x", or "Take a class on x" should be first on your list.

Then, the next thing on your list should be something you can glance at and immediately do; and the third thing, and the fourth.

If you can't start doing something within two minutes of reading it on your list, it's not concrete enough. Call it "The Other Two Minutes Rule".

2. Get Motivated

There's lots of advice on how to get motivated; whatever it takes you to be motivated, do that thing.

Here's one idea: play the best-case/worst-case game.

What's the best possible outcome of whatever it is you're (not) working on?

Visualize it. Daydream about it. Ok, put that aside for a minute.

Now, what's the worst possible outcome? Don't be afraid-spill it. You finish your project and now what? Now ask yourself-how likely is that? Really? Be honest here-chances are you haven't undertaken something that you're wholly unsuited for. OK, that's better.

Now, ask yourself if the best-case scenario makes the worst-case worth the risk? I'll bet it does (note: if there' a chance that successfully completing your project might well kill you, please, try un-motivating yourself. I kind of like having you around!).

Another way of getting motivated is to relive past successes.

How did you feel the last time you finished a project? What did you have to do to get that one done? How closely did the outcome match your fears? Yeah, not too closely, right?

Moving on.

3. Reward Yourself

Some people say that rewards aren't good motivation. Don't believe them. Those people are probably criminals.

OK, maybe not-but they're only right about external rewards, a.k.a. "bribes". As it happens, offering rewards to employees often doesn't increase motivation.

But offering rewards to yourself-well, that's just good common sense. You need that Bing! moment-you are, after all, simply a giant hairless ape with a yen for gourmet coffee and a laptop. This is a good hack if you just can't stop procrastinating.

Researchers placed monkeys in a cage, with a button that, when pressed, dispensed a piece of food. "Yum!" said the monkey when he pushed the button. So he pushed it again. And again. Monkeys are, of course, just small hairy people without coffee or laptops, so they learn pretty fast.

Then the researchers added a twist: every third time the monkey pushed the button, he'd get an electric shock! "Ouch!" said the monkey-then he ate his treat. "Ouch ouch!" he said, the next time-then he ate his treat.

The moral of this story is that we'll put up with quite a bit of crap, as long as we get our treat. Your challenge, then, is to find a treat good enough to hit the button for, even though you know it's going to hurt like heck.

4. Be Accountable

Shame, guilt, humiliation-they can be effective motivational tools. The problem is, when they're directed at ourselves, they're corrosive, undoing motivation as fast as they create it.

It's hard to convince yourself you're not going to fail when you've also convinced yourself you're a no-good lazy stupid son-of-a-...badger.

My advice: outsource your guilt and humiliation to someone you love and respect. The world is flat, after all. It's what Tim Ferriss would do.

What do I mean, exactly?

Simple: tell someone-tell lots of people-what you're doing, when you're going to be done, how excited you are about it, how important it is to you, and so on.

Now you've got risk. You fail, and everyone is going to know. Put that fear of failure to good use! Now, what's going to prevent the negative payoff of everyone knowing what you want to get done?

5. Do It for Three Minutes

Aside from, say, breathing poison gas or watching reality television, you can do anything for just three minutes, right?

Get a kitchen timer (I don't actually advocate stealing from your grandmother, but you do what it takes), set it for three minutes, and work. Since you aren't likely to be procrastinating something you could do in less than three minutes, you have no reason to fear the successful completion of your project.

And you can promise yourself whatever you want when the timer goes off-a cup of coffee, a game of Minesweeper, a half-hour of porn surfing, whatever. Bing! You get your reward-and guess what? Having gotten three minutes of work done will feel pretty good, too. Bing bing!

Next time, shoot for five. Then ten. Eventually, dare I say it, you might be able to put in as much as 25 minutes of solid work without dying-all in a row!

There's something else, though. Sometimes, once we start working, it feels so good to be working towards our goal, we don't stop when the timer goes off. We start making excuses-"just one more sentence, I promise, then I'll play Minesweeper"-in effect, procrastinating our procrastination. Bing bing bing bing bing!

6. Learn to Embrace Change

Last but not least, you need to get past the whole fear of success thing.

Jonathan Fields, a guest contributor here at Lifehack, offers some tips in his article How to Sell Yourself on Lifestyle Change, and he should know-he's had quite a few successes in his life, and all of them have drastically changed his life for the better.

It can be hard to imagine coming to terms with what success will mean for you, but here's my promise: you'll know how to deal with success when you get there, even if you can't imagine it now.

Final Words

It is traditional, of course, to end a post on procrastination with a sly joke about how you should start putting these tips into action, first thing tomorrow.

But you know what? Procrastination can be serious stuff and many people just can't stop procrastinating, so I'm not going to do that.

Instead, I'm going to tell you to turn off your monitor for a minute, get out a piece of paper, and write a list of what you should be working on next. And then start doing it.

Because, believe me, you'll be a better person afterwards. And that'll feel great.

More Tips If You Can't Stop Procrastinating

Featured photo credit: Dai KE via unsplash.com

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How to Stop Procrastinating: 11 Practical Ways for Procrastinators

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OK, I'm done with procrastinating. I'm done with the guilt, anxiety, stress-and, of course, the not getting stuff done. I'm tired of answering "what'd you do today" with "nothing". Of course, it's a lie-I did do something, just not anything important - not anything that made me feel happier, more complete, or more relaxed.

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This article is from LifeHack as well, and goes right along with the theme. This really can connect to the video "How to Create a Morning Routine", because it also shows how you can keep track of your goals and activities throughout your day.

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CM Smith
A technologist and writer who shares advice on personal productivity, creativity and how to use technology to get things done. Read full profile

Now that 2011 is well underway and most people have fallen off the bandwagon when it comes to their New Year's resolutions (myself included), it's a good time to step back and take an honest look at our habits and the goals that we want to achieve.

Something that I have learned over the past few years is that if you track something, be it your eating habits, exercise, writing time, work time, etc. you become aware of the reality of the situation. This is why most diet gurus tell you to track what you eat for a week so you have an awareness of the of how you really eat before you start your diet and exercise regimen.

Tracking daily habits and progress towards goals is another way to see reality and create a way for you clearly review what you have accomplished over a set period of time. Tracking helps motivate you too; if I can make a change in my life and do it once a day for a period of time it makes me more apt to keep doing it.

So, if you have some goals and habits in mind that need tracked, all you need is a tracking tool. Today we'll look at 7 different tools to help you keep track of your habits and goals.

Joe's Goals

Joe's Goals is a web-based tool that allows users to track their habits and goals in an easy to use interface. Users can add as many goals/habits as they want and also check multiple times per day for those "extra productive days". Something that is unique about Joe's Goals is the way that you can keep track of negative habits such as eating out, smoking, etc. This can help you visualize the good things that you are doing as well as the negative things that you are doing in your life.

Joe's Goals is free with a subscription version giving you no ads and the "latest version" for $12 a year.

Daytum

is an in depth way of counting things that you do during the day and then presenting them to you in many different reports and groups. With Daytum you can add several different items to different custom categories such as work, school, home, etc. to keep track of your habits in each focus area of your life.

Daytum is extremely in depth and there are a ton of settings for users to tweak. There is a free version that is pretty standard, but if you want more features and unlimited items and categories you'll need Daytum Plus which is $4 a month.

Excel or Numbers

If you are the spreadsheet number cruncher type and the thought of using someone else's idea of how you should track your habits turns you off, then creating your own Excel/ Numbers/ Google spreadsheet is the way to go. Not only do you have pretty much limitless ways to view, enter, and manipulate your goal and habit data, but you have complete control over your stuff and can make it private.

What's nice about spreadsheets is you can create reports and can customize your views in any way you see fit. Also, by using Dropbox, you can keep your tracker sheets anywhere you have a connection.

Evernote

I must admit, I am an Evernote junky, mostly because this tool is so ubiquitous. There are several ways you can implement habit/goal tracking with Evernote. You won't be able to get nifty reports and graphs and such, but you will be able to access your goal tracking anywhere your are, be it iPhone, Android, Mac, PC, or web. With Evernote you pretty much have no excuse for not entering your daily habit and goal information as it is available anywhere.

Evernote is free with a premium version available.

Access or Bento

If you like the idea of creating your own tracker via Excel or Numbers, you may be compelled to get even more creative with database tools like Access for Windows or Bento for Mac. These tools allow you to set up relational databases and even give you the option of setting up custom interfaces to interact with your data. Access is pretty powerful for personal database applications, and using it with other MS products, you can come up with some pretty awesome, in depth analysis and tracking of your habits and goals.

Bento is extremely powerful and user friendly. Also with Bento you can get the iPhone and iPad app to keep your data anywhere you go.

You can check out Access and the Office Suite here and Bento here.

Analog Bonus: Pen and Paper

All these digital tools are pretty nifty and have all sorts of bells and whistles, but there are some people out there that still swear by a notebook and pen. Just like using spreadsheets or personal databases, pen and paper gives you ultimate freedom and control when it comes to your set up. It also doesn't lock you into anyone else's idea of just how you should track your habits.

Conclusion

I can't necessarily recommend which tool is the best for tracking your personal habits and goals, as all of them have their quirks. What I can do however (yes, it's a bit of a cop-out) is tell you that the tool to use is whatever works best for you. I personally keep track of my daily habits and personal goals with a combo Evernote for input and then a Google spreadsheet for long-term tracking.

What this all comes down to is not how or what tool you use, but finding what you are comfortable with and then getting busy with creating lasting habits and accomplishing short- and long-term goals.

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7 Tools to Help Keep Track of Goals and Habits Effectively

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CM Smith A technologist and writer who shares advice on personal productivity, creativity and how to use technology to get things done. Read full profile Now that 2011 is well underway and most people have fallen off the bandwagon when it comes to their New Year's resolutions (myself included), it's a good time to step back and take an honest look at our habits and the goals that we want to achieve.