Lifehacking: Achieve Your Goals Now With PowerLists™, Habit Ignition, You've Got (Too Much) Mail! (Email, Habits, Goals, Life hacking)

By Chris A Baird

Do your habits have a tight grip on you... or are you failing to achieve your goals from success or an overflowing inbox? Do you feel stagnant, stuck in a rut, and ready for a change? 

Are you terrified of suddenly ending up old with too many regrets and too little fulfillment? If you keep doing what you've always done, yo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Urgesta AS
• Release date: Jan 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889130086

Book preview

Table of Contents

Book 1: Achieve Your Goals Now With PowerLists™

1 - Introduction

Why This Book?

How To Use This Book

Which Goals Are in Focus?

2 - Getting Started

No Quick Fix

Changes Worth Making

3 - Do We Really Need Goals?

What’s So Special About Lists?

Do I Need a Computer for the PowerLists™?

4 - PowerList™ #1: Self-Assessment List

Where Are You?

Areas to Examine

How Are You Doing?

The Influence of Other People, Part 1

Step Outside of Yourself

Creating/Using PowerList™ #1: Self-Assessment List

Example

5 - PowerList™ #2: Goals List

From Assessment to Goals

The Influence of Other People, Part 2

Poor Goals

Creating/Using PowerList™ #2: Goals List

SMART

Visualize Success

Example

6 - PowerList™ #3: Goal Road Map

Where Do We Start?

Break It Down!

Make Sure the Steps Aren’t Fads

Steal From Other People

Habits

One-Time Tasks

Creating/Using PowerList™ #3: Goal Road Map

Action Alone Doesn’t Count for Much If It Isn’t Moving Toward a Goal

Example

7 - PowerList™ #4 Daily Checklist

The Most Important Brick

This Is Your Time Budget

Creating/Using PowerList™ #4: Daily Checklist

How to Use Your List

Fix Your List Continually

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Example

8 - PowerList™ #5: Task Management List

What Is It?

You Already Have This

Bills in the Drawer

E-Mail

Phone Calls, Conversations and Ideas

What’s Wrong with Using Your Head?

What Should the PowerList™ #5 include?

Impact of a Task Management List

Stress Reduction

Perfect for Planning

History of Accomplishments

Creating/Using PowerList™ #5: Task Management System

Example

9 - The Calendar

What the Calendar Is Not

Correct Use of the Calendar

Reminders and Keeping It All Together

10 - PowerList™ #6: Motivations List

Tricks for Keeping It Going

Pomodoros

Accountability

Consequences Are Your Friends

Others on the Same Path

Don’t Break the Chain

Creating/Using PowerList™ #6: Motivations Lists

Example

11 - PowerList™ #7: Barriers List

Road Blocks to Watch Out for

Sabotage from Within

Sabotage from Without

Burnout

Urgent Versus Important

Work Bank?

Myths

Procrastination

Mount Everest

True Versus False Barriers

Creating/Using PowerList™ #7: Barriers List

Example

12 - PowerList™ #8: Evaluation List

Did We Achieve Our Goals?

If Not, What Did We Learn?

What Can We Change for the Next Round?

Creating/Using PowerList™ #8: Evaluation List

Patterns Are Clues

Example

13 - Ready for Your Next Goal?

Is It Time for a New Goal?

Quick Review

Closing Thoughts

Book 2: Habit Ignition: 41 Steps to Unlocking the Secret Power of Habits and Rituals for Life Book

1 - Introduction

Why Did I Write This book?

How To Use This Book

Habit Ignition Cheat Sheet

What Are Habits?

Rituals or Habits?

Do They Have a Purpose?

The Downside

The Good, the Bad and the Neutral?

Invisible Habits

Habit Blindness

The Path of Progress

(1) Use SOARR Method Model (Stop, Observe, Ask, Reframe, Respond)

2 - Habit Mapping

Habits of Thought

Habits of Speech

Habits of Action

(2) Keep a Journal to Learn Your Daily Habits

Is Your List Complete?

3 - Choose the Habit You Wish to Change or Add

(3) Create one habit at a time

Bad Habits and Addictions

(4) Do It Now

4 - The Anatomy of a Habit

Trigger

Routine or Ritual

Reward

(5) Focus on Craving Creation

(6) Start with Keystone Habits

(7) Drop Toxic Habits First

Habits Make Life Fly by

The Catch 22 of Habits

(8) Never Underestimate The Challenge

(9) Willpower Is Not the Key

(10) Change Your Lifestyle

Doomed By the Path of Least Resistance

(11) Reframe the Problem

(12) Flock to Birds of a Different Feather

5 - Breaking Habits

Habits versus Intentions

(13) Keep in Mind What You Have In Common with Dogs

(14) Respond Differently To the Trigger

(15) Replace One Habit with Another

(16) Replace Negative Thoughts with But

(17) Remove the Ability to Do the Habit Ritual Itself

(18) Set up Negative Consequences for Giving In

(19) Don’t Take a Break

(20) Don’t Go It Alone

6 - Forming Habits

Myth of 21 Days for Habit Creation

(21) Use Mind Maps

(22) Aim Low

(23) Set Intrinsic Rewards

(24) Use the If-Then Method

(25) Focus on the Environment

(26) Build Your Habit Parallel with another Activity

(27) Remove Unnecessary Decisions

(28) Embrace Honest Positive Thinking

(29) Visualize Process Not Goal Achievement

(30) Set Daily Quotas

(31) Remind Yourself

(32) Keep It Simple

(33) Use Rewards

(34) Surround Yourself With Others Who Have The Habit You want

(35) Withhold Rewards

(36) Link Habits to Your Daily Routine, Not Time Of The Day

(37) Reinforce Habits

(38) Watch Out For the What-The-Hell Effect

(39) Use Technology Building Habits

(40) Don’t Give Up

7 - (41) WOOP Exercise

(W) Wish

(O) Outcome

(O) Obstacles/Barriers to Habit Change

(P) Plan

Example

8 - Evaluation Time

Is It Gone Now?

Failure?

Congratulations! You Have a New Habit

9 - Final Thoughts

Book 3: You’ve Got (Too Much) Mail! 38 Do’s and Don’ts to Tame Your Inbox

1 - Introduction

Why Did I Write This Book?

How To Use This Book

You’ve Got (Too Much) Mail! Cheat Sheet

2 - Getting Started

What Is E-mail?

What Is the Problem

Are We Ready to Change?

3 - Who’s the Boss?

What E-mail Should Be

What E-mail Isn’t

4 - Let’s Tame the Beast!

(1) Do Unsubscribe to Excessive Newsletter Subscriptions

(2) Do Respond to E-mails You Received Yesterday

(3) Do Turn off E-mail Notifications

(4) Do Respond to People

(5) Do Unsubscribe to Social Media Notifications

(6) Do Keep Your E-mails Short

(7) Do Use Only One Topic per E-mail

(8) Do Use Bullet Points

(9) Do Maintain E-mail Etiquette

(10) Do Avoid Using Negative Emotion in Your E-mail

(11) Do Classify Incoming E-mails Into Types

(12) Do Use the Search Function to Find Old E-mails

(13) Do Send E-mails Early or Late in the Day

(14) Do Use Your Subject Fields for Content Summary or a Question

(15) Do Use E-mail to Remember New Tasks

(16) Do Use a Spam Filter

(17) Do Give Paragraphs Breathing Room

(18) Do Use the Out-of-office Response Tool

(19) Do Use Shortcuts for Common Phrases

(20) Do Use a Signature Block

(21) Do Change Your Subject Line as the Subject Changes

(22) Do Follow up on Sent E-mails

(23) Do Fill Out the To: Field Last

(24) Do Aim for Inbox O

(25) Don’t Use Folders and Subfolders for Organization

(26) Don’t Use E-mail as a Task Management System

(27) Don’t Double-handle Your E-mail

(28) Don’t Respond to E-mails on Your Mobile Devices

(29) Don’t Constantly Check Your E-mail

(30) Don’t Use Poor E-mail Systems

(31) Don’t Reply to E-mail When Courtesy Copied (CC)

(32) Don’t Use In-line Answers to E-mails

(33) Don’t Use E-mail as a Replacement for Meetings

(34) Don’t Use ALL CAPS AND BOLD!

(35) Don’t Use Reply All

(36) Don’t Send E-mail if You Don’t Have to

(37) Don’t Click E-mail Links Even When You Know the Sender

(38) Don’t Use E-mail Reset Unless It Is the Last Resort

5 - Bonus Tips

(Bonus 1) Mark Spam as Spam in Your Inbox

6 - Conclusion

Thank You

Disclaimer

Book 1: Achieve Your Goals Now With PowerLists™

1 - Introduction

This book is the first book in the bestselling PowerLists™ book series. Each PowerList™ book is designed to help you get more out of life.

Why This Book?

I wrote this book in order to help you better structure your life so that you can achieve your short- and long-term goals. Each topic could be written as a separate book. However, my goal is to provide enough information to get you up and running on the road to reaching your goals.

I am excited about helping you make your goals a reality. I’ve seen far too many people over the years frittering away their time and money because their goals were unclear. Each year they seemed no closer to achieving what they were capable of accomplishing.

How To Use This Book

It is impossible for anyone to implement all of the suggestions I have in this book. However, if my tips help you get any aspect of your goal evaluation, setting, and achievement in place, I will have succeeded in the purpose of this book. Try out the different tips and see what works and what doesn’t for you. Making any progress towards our goals can be the catalyst to bigger and better changes in your life.

Which Goals Are in Focus?

The scope of this book will work for any goal. This is the beauty of the tools I am going to share with you. It doesn’t matter what type of goal you wish to achieve. By applying these simple steps, you will come to believe you already possess everything you need. The only thing lacking is a method or system to get yourself moving. That is what I am here for. I hope you will find this book useful.

The book will explain the steps necessary to build your own PowerLists™. Typical examples of PowerLists™ are presented at the end of relevant chapters. You can also use the Excel list templates¹. I start each chapter with a struggle I experienced in that key area and the questions I needed to answer to achieve my goals.

At a deep level, we really aren’t different. We all experience struggles and must figure out what we are going to do about them, if anything. I hope this book will give you the best of what I have learned and am still learning regarding setting and reaching goals.

---

¹ http://www.powerlists.org/B01L02

2 - Getting Started

After having twice switched majors in college, I had no vision for where I was headed. I had worked hard in high school to get into the Air Force Academy. Now that I was there, I didn’t have a game plan for what should come next.

I suppose the idea was to graduate and then figure something out. However, there was something lacking: a clear goal, something which I was working toward. Up to this point I had made all my decisions based on what I thought would be useful later on, but I had no vision or direction. Where was I heading? What did I want to achieve?

No Quick Fix

You are probably reading this book because you want to get control of your life. Well, the first thing I want to get out of the way right up front is that this isn’t going to be easy.

There is no button you can press to watch your life get itself in order. Rather, the methods I will discuss must be practiced and fine-tuned to help you succeed. In addition, everyone is different and who you are as a person will impact what methods work best for you. As you change and develop, you will need to refine these methods.

You need to think of this as a process and you are just starting out. So don’t be too hard on yourself if you find it difficult at first.

Changes Worth Making

Let’s get right to it, then! If we are going to change something, we need a reason for the change.

Let’s look at a jet airplane to help us get this process started. It burns fuel to propel the airplane through the air. It also has a pilot who steers the aircraft in a particular direction. In the same way, we need fuel or motivation to propel ourselves toward our goals. In addition, we are the pilots choosing the direction to steer our lives.

The consequence of not having a defined direction is that you may have all the right techniques and motivation, but find yourself flying in circles.

3 - Do We Really Need Goals?

There is often a temptation to skip the goal setting part of this entire system. However, that will come with severe consequences. The best thing to do is:

First figure out where you are heading

Figure out what