Steven Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is using the power of action days to make progress. We'll get to that later.

I want to get things done. Really, I do, but I don't. I started writing this episode 40 minutes ago,

then decided there was a message I just had to send, and bank balances to check, and

ugh. We all find ways to do any and everything except what we, quote, unquote, should be doing.

The best cure for insomnia is trash day. I know they come at 7 a.m.

tomorrow, but I don't want to do it right now. I can sleep a little first. My taxes? Oh, yes,

they're overdue. I'm working on them. Hey, did I show you that last night I played straight

through my new game to level 9,806 in one sitting. Isn't that awesome? We get distracted.

We dither. We putter. We twiddle. We even futts. Fun words, but not so fun when it's the end of the day,

and our most important priorities are still at the top of our to-do list. We're probably just

stuck in our teenage years, where we would do

anything except what we were supposed to do. Fortunately, except for the Mohawk piercings,

angst-widden music, and sappy poetry I write in my journal, my teenage years are firmly behind me.

But you know what got me to deliver? It was when my parents made me promise. They would

insist on a time. Steaver, take the trash out by

10 tonight. If I did it, life was good. If I didn't do it, I'd get the meat hook punishment,

and I sure didn't like that. These days, the same technique still works, not the meat hook, but having

someone else to be accountable to. When there's a lot to do and you need to get yourself on track, try an action day.

I first learned about action days from the late Thomas Leonard, who founded the personal

coaching field.

Here's how they work.

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