We all have seen to do lists on the productivity/achievement posts everywhere but they're so restricting sometimes. I mean all that structure and discipline really cuts down on freedom, right? Well here's a different take on it... You write your to-do list in the evening the night before or early in the morning before starting your day.. The last thing on this list should be "Write a to-do list" so as soon as you finish, you already accomplished a goal, so check it off.. To-do lists are great habits to start, so it is a goal. Then at the end of the day, you do something different. Write the things you actually did and check them off. I mean everything, good and bad. So at the beginning, your checklists will have things like 8. "watch netflix for four hours. Check" 9. "go on facebook for 45 minutes while sitting on the toilet" 10. "think about going to the gym" 11. "find an excuse to not go to the gym" 12. eat pizza instead, because you might as well give up entirely 13. watch other people have sex on a screen instead of improving myself 14. Update to-do list. 15. fall asleep on the couch without brushing teeth or showering. 16. wake up hungover and miserable. Now obviously these are things no one wants to have on paper. They are shameful things you don't want to think about. That's the point. you are training yourself to make a better list. If you wouldn't consciously choose to plan something into your day, you shouldn't be doing it. By making these lists of what you want to do and what you end up doing, and holding onto them, you're going to change your behavior so you can write good things down at the end of the day. If you aren't measuring things, they're not going to improve. If you're the only one to hold yourself accountable, you have to take the job seriously.