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How to Do Things

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This summer I released the book I had always wanted someone else to write: a guide to getting things done that wasn’t written by a high-achiever, but by someone who has always struggled to reach “average” levels of productivity.

It would be short enough to read in one sitting and implement the same day. It would contain a single, focused method of getting stuff done, which you would know by heart by the end of day one.

I called this book How to Do Things: Productivity for the Productivity-Challenged. It was sort of a two-pronged experiment.

First, could I convey my own idiosyncratic method of getting stuff done to the general public, and would they find it helpful?

Second, and more importantly: could a 35-page book be better at teaching you something useful than a 235-page book?

I knew it was better for me and my ADHD-addled mind, but is it what normal people want? My suspicion, which I outlined in this post, was yes. People don’t want a ten-hour-long stream of how-to information they then have to organize in their heads. They want a hammer put into their hand.

So I wrote this thing, this trusty hammer for getting things done. I offered it for a brief two-week window in June, to get some people to try it and tell me what they thought. It sold like crazy, and the feedback made me feel like I kind of nailed it.

It was especially thrilling to hear what people were using this tool for. Aside from the usual office work, housework, and schoolwork, people told me about how they were studying a language consistently now, or tackling long-stalled home renovations. One reader used it to finally read a Shakespeare play to the end.

I still shut down sales after two weeks, because I had said I would, leaving a lot of people feeling left out (sorry). Anyway, I’m done the revised version and it’s available to everyone now.

(Those of you who already have the book should be receiving the new version today, if you haven’t already. Check your spam folder.)

If you didn’t read my post at the time, you’ll probably get a lot out of it, even if you don’t end up getting the guide:

How to Get Things Done When You Have Trouble Getting Things Done

The following graph, taken from that post, explains better than anything what I’m trying to accomplish here:

The success of How to Do Things made me want to make more hammers. I want to make a whole series of this kind of single-purpose tool — a tool people can pick up in a day, use immediately to do things they couldn’t do before, and keep it forever.

After all, I’ve been using dozens of tricks and techniques to get by in life, and I’ve only ever written about them in one-off blog posts. I have so many tools that deserve a more focused treatment, and I seem to have found a format that works.

If you need help getting things done, you can get the guide now:

Get How to Do Things

It’s $25 USD, so it could easily pay for itself by the end of the day.

For more details on what How to Do Things is about, this post explains it completely.

***

Citrus Simon November 18, 2021 at 2:56 pm

How to do things? Hm?

I think that we need to look at what we are putting inside of ourselves before we accept the label of any modern condition such as ADHD or similar, before considering how to do things.
Why is this important? Because a person has to be aware of the role that diet plays on the mind and consciousness. This can only be done with experiments, which requires a person to let go of their routines, habits and addictions. Which is, in reality, truly getting things done.

If a person does a fruit based raw vegan diet for 90 days, and discovers that their mental health issues have greatly improved, and that they are getting things done without fuss and strain, and are now actually enjoying getting things done, what does this mean?

It means that our mental health diagnosis is flawed, and our issues were caused by food that had been processed, and which has had the nutrients destroyed by the cooking process.

If your mind or ego thinks that cooking food is normal, part of your upbringing and culture, and something that you enjoy, try putting your hand in the water while the vegetables are boiling away, and then you can just drift off into a state of bliss, and imagine the positive benefits that boiling water will do for your produce.

I think it does not matter what we think or believe, its the results that give us real insight and meaning.

Tracey Millar November 19, 2021 at 2:53 pm

Dear Citrus Simon,
No thank you, to the whole comment.

David Cain November 20, 2021 at 11:30 am

All I will say is that from your comment it does not seem likely that you have found the cure to mental health issues

Citrus Simon November 20, 2021 at 12:45 pm

Thank you.
I always get this answer from people who are not willing to do experiments on themselves.
But i do understand it is more comfortable to maintain what you are familiar with rather than take risks.

Brady Faught November 19, 2021 at 4:03 pm

Great work David! Having been a fervent reader of self-help books for many years, it’s the case with 90% of these books.
MAIN IDEA: first 30 pages “wow so helpful! I can’t wait to implement this!”
FILLER TO SELL A FULL-SIZE BOOK: 200 pages “uhh what was the big idea again?”

David Cain November 20, 2021 at 11:28 am

When I get to the end of these books I’ve always lost the initial idea that seemed to make so much sense. Even when I go back reread it, it no longer seems so simple because of the 190 pages of elaboration that followed.

Kevin November 19, 2021 at 5:21 pm

I was lucky enough to grab this book when it first came out. I’m not overselling it when I say that it made a massive difference in my life. It changed my workflows, but also made them easier. I hope it delivers as much value for you as it did for me.

David Cain November 20, 2021 at 11:31 am

Glad to hear it’s made such a difference Kevin.

Jio November 20, 2021 at 5:33 am

Yes! Man the amount of money I could have spent on self- help books but eventually gave up on most of them after realising that they all contained that one huge flaw- they were aimed at neurotypical readers. And the other thing as well that stops me getting anything out of these books is that most seem to presume that the barriers stem from ‘personality issues’ such as laziness, or a lack of commitment due to kids or other distractions- whereas a lot of us have TRAUMA blocking the way. There’s no one way to solve these issues but we need more books and content in general aimed at helping neurodivergents achieve their goals in a world less adapted to our way of working.
Thankyou :)

David Cain November 20, 2021 at 11:33 am

My strategy is just to make things that are more accessible to everyone by making them shorter. Neurodivergent or not, I don’t think putting 250 pages worth of information into practice is easy for anyone.

larry November 20, 2021 at 8:57 am

Hi David,
Long-time listener first-time caller, er commenter, er well a couple of times guess.
Anyway I bought your book but I used the discount code “Yes I want a discount:-)” but it didn’t work. :-(
Looking forward to some life improvement after implementing your ideas. thank you
Larry

David Cain November 20, 2021 at 11:33 am

Hi Larry. There is always a discount code field there, but in this case there’s no active discount codes. I may have sales in the future.

Frank Kelvin November 20, 2021 at 3:40 pm

It would be nice to see some page samples. :)
Thank you for tour amazing work.

Jessi November 21, 2021 at 2:28 pm

Just did my first block, and man its more powerful than I expected! I made my block about cleaning up and made a quick to do list. I made it purposely long just to see how far I could get. I didn’t think I’d finish in 25 minutes, but I actually did. What’s interesting is that I noticed myself starting to get distracted in a way I didn’t expect….I started wanting to organize or clean things not on my list, but I didn’t. I resisted that urge and thought, “I’ll make another block with that on it. This block is for the first list.”
This is interesting to me because I tend to be a very messy person with little to no motivation to organize or clean. And I imagine in the past, I’ve made the whole ordeal of cleaning into a much bigger thing than it needs to be by not focusing my attention on specific tasks. So when I DO clean, it takes well over an hour because I keep finding things to do and doing them. Then the next time I know I need to clean, I only see it as a monumental task and so delay starting. But I got a LOT done in 25 minutes. Such a small commitment. If I can do this regularly, I’ll be able to get my brain to believe the process of cleaning is just not a big deal and so does not have to warrant some big chunk of time.
I like the sense of urgency I felt. The 25 minutes flew by and I felt myself wishing for more time…like a game. How much can I get done! Oh no only five minutes! Brilliant.
Thanks, David. As always.

David Cain November 22, 2021 at 9:31 am

That’s great Jessi. That’s what it does for me too. So many tasks seem too big and bulky to do without somehow getting myself psychologically prepared to tackle them. But a Block is always doable. It doesn’t take much willpower or mental prep. It is also surprising how much you really do get done in that short period.

Mark November 27, 2021 at 9:06 am

So is this book just detailing and specific method you have found to work? I’m very interested as I love your articles and resonate with a lot you have to say and I struggle with being able to focus and my brain struggles to function in a lot of ways you describe with ADHD.

I know you deserve to be rewarded for your work, but I’m just concerned about buying ebooks and them being a waste of money for me, I find productivity techniques are fairly personal, what’s the gist of this method? Some form of time boxing? I love time-boxing but I’ve never really liked the Pomodoro technique. Stopping after 20-45 minutes seems to short and i lose my flow and a short 5-minute break is never long enough for anything.

David Cain November 29, 2021 at 9:12 am

Hi Mark. The gist is to use time-boxing, yes, but without the superfluous structures and notation of the Pomodoro Technique. I also didn’t like the mandatory 5-minute break, so breaks are an option after each block. We do take a short moment at the end of each block to remember our intention (otherwise you might end up falling into aimless busywork).

Mostly it is a way to leverage this excellent tool of time-boxing while keeping the method clean and simple, and without succumbing to common pitfalls.

Rosie November 28, 2021 at 6:45 am

Hi David,
Thank you so much for sharing your Block method, just browsing through has inspired and uplifted me already!
David, is it possible you may consider recording it in an audio version?
I have a close friend who would benefit greatly from your guide but ADHD and dyslexia prevents her from accessing text easily.
She frequently listens to audio books and podcasts, though, and finds this a very accessible and helpful way to access information of all types.
As a previous Camp Calm and Camp Calm Relax member, I believe your calm, confidence inspiring voice would be perfect for an audio version.
I do hope you will consider this!
I’m sure an audio version would help so many who have similar issues accessing text.
Many thanks for all you are doing and very best wishes,
Rosie

David Cain November 29, 2021 at 9:14 am

I have been thinking about doing an audio version, so I’m looking into what that will entail. It certainly won’t happen anytime soon, but if it is feasible I will do it next year.

Rosie January 1, 2022 at 7:13 am

That sounds great, thank you David!

Sara December 2, 2021 at 3:45 am

Hi David, I’m a long time reader of your blog and am considering buying your book. What I wonder though, is if this method was also (relatively) succesfull for you when you did not use ADHD-medication yet? I ask this, because while I don’t have ADHD, I have used Ritalin a few times that I received from a friend and my mind was so clear and focused and I was incredibly procuctive. This is why I am a bit hesitant to take productivity advice from someone on AHDH medication, because in my experience it is awesome stuff and it might be more effective than just combatting your actual adhd symptons. So could you please tell me how this worked for you when you were not yet on these meds? Thanks in advance.

In case anyone doubts about my not having ADHD: I really don’t fit the description except for the procrastination.

David Cain December 2, 2021 at 10:34 am

Hi Sara. I have used this method both on and off medication. I’ve been off medication for the last three or four months and I’m doing quite well.

Steven Schrembeck December 3, 2021 at 7:54 am

Yo, this book is so good. I was fortunate enough to purchase an advance copy (thanks David!). Buy it immediately. It’s so simple. So easy to remember. Every time I actually apply the block principle it is like rocket fuel. It just smashes lazy work, vague plans, lame excuses. I love it. Now… I just need to keep the habit!

David December 6, 2021 at 1:59 pm

Right on Steven, glad it’s working for you!

Paul December 15, 2021 at 11:33 am

Hi David. Do you (or anyone else) know any good resources on decision making, prioritization, and planning/scheduling?

I read How To Do Things and am reading Getting Things Done (finished the first 2 parts of the book). HTDT only focuses on the execution of tasks. GTD mainly focuses on organization. While GTD gives some high-level frameworks for thinking about projects and life goals, it doesn’t give detailed explanations about how to actually make the decisions and plans. (Which sort of makes sense; if I were a successful executive, I would already know how to do those things.) For picking which next action to do, it advocates picking it in the moment using the context/time/energy/priority model, but doesn’t explain how to determine priority. Also, it doesn’t give much guidance for dealing with things for which the next “action” isn’t really an action but a decision. (Although the “next physical action” would be to reply to the email, I can’t really do that until I decide how I want to reply. And how do I *do* that?)

Although I created next-actions for the parts of my life I’m most involved in right now, and put lots of other things on pause, I still feel anxious about what to do at any given moment; all these things are *still* pulling at me and competing for my time and energy, although now in the form of the next actions list.

The following experience has occurred to me way too often: I do… things, even “productive things” (in the very least, it’s not as if I’m watching YouTube all day)! Days pass, and then I realize I’m past the deadline for something important, I barely advanced on my project since last week, it’s been 2 weeks that I haven’t replied to my friend’s message, and it’s been a year and I *still* haven’t done a bunch of things I intended to do.

Oh, and another thing I’d like to learn is: what to do with “soft dependencies”? (I want to post this comment, but maybe it would be better if I finish reading GTD first? I need to have a meeting with someone, but it would be nice if I first finish and send him the draft of the document we need to discuss.)

David Cain December 16, 2021 at 10:35 am

Hi Paul. It has been a long time since I’ve delved into the conventional productivity space, so I don’t remember which books were especially good at choosing a direction/strategy at a high level. That is a notable weak spot in GTD — it gives the system with different “altitudes” but doesn’t tell you how to know what to do at each level. The topic is well-covered but I am blanking on a specific source. I do remember reading a lot of Steve Pavlina’s blog for that kind of stuff.

There is also the Greg McKeown book Essentialism, which helps you figure out the few truly important things in your life, so that you can orient yourself around them and basically ignore everything else.

In any case, I think the topic you’re looking for is “life purpose.” If you’ve identified an overall life purpose, all those strategic decisions can stem from that. Not an easy thing to establish with any clarity, and I can’t say I’ve done it myself. But if you search for books about life purpose I’m sure you’ll find something you resonate with.

I’m not sure what you mean by soft dependencies. Can you elaborate?

Paul December 17, 2021 at 11:18 am

Thanks for your reply. Essentialism seems interesting and I think I will read it (although I’m not sure when). I started looking at Steve Pavlina’s blog; there’s so much posts to wade through; I already have it open in 12 tabs

To be clear, what I’m mostly concerned with right now is the low-level and mid-level planning involved in getting things done. I have some understanding of what’s important to me, and have some ideas of what I *could* be doing regarding them. Now, how do I decide what to do this minute/hour/day/week/month? What do I do first and what do I do next, what do I put on pause, what do I disregard completely? Doing one thing means not doing another. And, perhaps, how do I make sure I stick to the plan I make? (There’s also a question of decision making, but

Having a single life purpose would be great. However, there will probably still be multiple aspects of it that will be competing for my time and energy, and there will always be practical life issues I will need to deal with.

I think one problem I have is that I get “pulled into” stuff too easily, which makes me that more anxious regarding what I will do. For example, a few days ago I went to buy a hypoallergenic comforter (because I decided that improving my sleep is important to me). Then, since “I was already at the mall”, I shopped around for other stuff on my “to buy” list. When I return home I realized I only had 1 hour left to work on my academic project if I were to turn off the computer an hour before bedtime (and I had to have at least *some* work done because I was going to meet my supervisor the next morning).

Another example: I probably don’t need to make a long-winded reply to this post, but I still am because… ??

Regarding “soft dependencies”: perhaps the word “prerequisite” is more precise. A “soft” prerequisite is when I feel like I *should* do something before doing something else, but it’s not absolutely necessary (as opposed to a “hard” prerequisite, when I physically have to do one thing before the other).

An example from your own book is in the FAQ regarding keeping track of Blocks: “If you fall behind in those duties, you might feel like you can’t get back to making Blocks until you “get organized” again, which is pure procrastination fuel.”

The reason I mentioned soft dependencies is that they’re connected with prioritization and planning. What do I *actually* need to do?

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