Incentives: What Are Your Carrots?

On this last round of revisions, I changed the way I used incentives. Basically...I used them.

Previously, if I was writing along on something and had a sudden urge to do something else (read, research, clean house), I'd often drop a tough chapter and do something more fun. Which, as you can imagine, is not the way to get any work done.

So this time around, I kept a spreadsheet on my desktop where I listed incentives. Some were ridiculous, like cleaning out our kitchen shelves, but some were powerful, like finally reading The Hunger Games. And knowing that list was there, could easily be added to then closed again, helped me focus on revising. As I passed revision milestones, I'd reward myself with one of the carrots on the list, like reading articles on Runner's World or trail running at Government Canyon. All the while, I held The Hunger Games aside as my ultimate incentive, to enjoy only when I'd sent the entire manuscript to Chris.

Which I did a week ago. I read the bulk of HG this weekend, begging an extra 10 minutes from Chris to finish it when he called today to discuss the latest draft I'd sent him. Not exactly professional, but hopefully forgivable. :) And questionable career moves aside, the book was totally worth waiting for. In other words, a great incentive.

Do you use incentives? How do you use them? Do you keep visual reminders of them, a list, or something else? Are they weighted, depending on the work required to reach them? What are some of your favorite incentives?

[image via Tony Wellington]
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