“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”
Whether you’re a writer, painter, or spreadsheet jockey, if Resistance is getting the better of you, Pressman’s short book is a must-read.
Here’s one way to overcome resistance that usually works for me. I wish I could credit whoever I got this from, but that’s been lost in the mists of memory. (If you know, please tell in the comments.)
OK, ready? Here goes.
Make a deal with yourself. Promise yourself that you will seriously tackle it — whatever you’re resisting — for just ten minutes. How hard can that be? I mean, you can endure anything for ten lousy minutes, right? (Except waterboarding, perhaps).
OK, grab your digital kitchen timer — a must-have tool for the productivity-minded. Set it for ten minutes. Now get going. Dig in and really give it your best shot. It’s only ten minutes, right?
When the timer goes off, if you’re still not into it, OK. Give up. Move on to something else. You did your part. You fulfilled your end of the bargain. You “win” (or lose, depending on how you look at it). Of course, if you’re like me, after ten minutes you’re back into it and (finally!) rolling again. You just needed a way to “trick” yourself into getting started. Congrats!
Try it and let me know how it works for you. And if you have a better way to get yourself started, by all means share it n the comments.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I need a hit of Rolling Stones: “Start me up, start me up baby and I’ll never stop…”
Photo by rkreetch
]]>As today’s Consumerist detailed, Silverman has been amazingly successful in getting companies to give him all sorts of free stuff: First class upgrades, hotel room upgrades (how does a free week in the Presidential Suite sound?), hundreds of dollars in cash — all from his way with words.
Silverman has now written a book filled with advice for complaining. The basic technique isn’t too far off from the way to write an effective sales letter. Basically his advice is:
- Make the opening of your complaint letter personable and personal. Hook their interest.
- Praise first before you explain why you’re dissatisfied.
- Keep it brief. The reader is busy and easily distracted.
- Be reasonable — don’t ask for the moon.
- Make it clear you haven’t written them off, that you pl;an to be customers again in the future, and that you would welcome some sort of compensation.
As the Consumerist put it, “It’s really just an artful way of demonstrating the basic principle of “it will cost more to ignore me than to take care of my problem.”
Check it out. It’s a fun read. And it may get you what you want next time you’re wronged.
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You could practically hear poor Seth Godin’s teeth grinding Sunday when he wrote about a recent agonizing encounter with corporate voice mail. You know the drill: you finally work your way through four or five menus, then end up with a recording, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
No human employee could get away with that kind of behavior. It’s like slapping a customer across the mouth, then slamming the door in their face.
Suppose an employee pulled this kind of stuff every day? asks Seth:
- Puts up a sign indicating which of five doors customers should use.
- Locks that door.
- Randomly unlocks another door.
- When someone figures out which door to use, he runs out and kicks them in the groin, then locks the door.”
How long would it take you to fire that clown?
But hiring human beings to answer the phone isn’t always the best answer, unfortunately. A few years ago a company I worked with decided to go “customer-friendly” and finally got rid of their (terrible) voice mail system.
Result: It took 3-5x longer to get through to your party with the human operator than the old VM system.
Like they say, be careful what you wish for…
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