In the early 2000s, I was a junior programmer in a big corporation. One day, my manager registered me for a time management training. Hooray for me.

Getting paid without being bored.

As a bonus, I learned that day a thing or two that is still useful. Once in a while…

“Do It Now” sounds a lot like a slogan of a famous brand.

But “Just” and “Now” are different things.

When my manager said I was registered for the time management training, I heard:

“Dude, just take this one for the team, so we can do our jobs”

So, there I was sitting at my desk with a consultant next to me.

He was ready to take notes about all the tasks I had to do.

Poor guy.

I still remember the look he gave me when we were finished after 1 minute.

But the dude was heavily paid – and thus motivated – to make sure I deserved my certificate.

So I had to take a pen, scribble something on a paper, and put everything back at its place. All of this without stalling.

That’s the principle of “Do It Now”.

With a newly gained life skill, I was prepared to give my career a boost.

And I did, but not right away.

It took me a couple of months to quit my job and do something I actually loved more: writing words instead of code.

Why “Do It Now” actually works?

There are 3 reasons the “Do It Now method” works.

Reason #1: Easy to remember

You only need to remember 3 words.

That are 6 words less than for another productivity hack, the five minute rule.

And on top of that:

The only app “to do it now”, is your brain

I admit. Changing your mindset is easier said than done.

Reason #2: Instant gratification

This method leverages a weakness of our brains.

When you complete a task, you get a small hit of dopamine.

Sometimes, a small win can motivate you to keep going.

Also, the fact that you fulfilled a command can make you feel less guilty.

Reason #3: Ideal for overthinkers

I haven been a textbook overthinker for a long time.

Planning, prioritizing, deciding drove me into the rabbit hole of too many options.

Whenever I catch myself of going in overthink mode, this method can do wonders.

Action over analysis, one task at a time

So, yes. This is an excellent method.

But not to do it all day long…

How many “nows” are there in a day?

Let me rephrase that.

How many tasks are waiting for your urgent attention?

At home. At work.

Every.

Single.

Day.

You can’t do everything at the same moment. And that’s the biggest problem of this method.

When there is too much on my platter, I do one of these things:

• I add stuff to my to don’t list.
• I sit five minutes to daydream (and then I tackle my list with renewed energy)
• I drop everything and change my outfit into the “superman who’s making a plan”

3 tips to tweak “Do It Now” (and not go nuts)

I earned my “Do It Now certificate” almost two decades ago.

All this time, it was chilling in a box. Until the day I threw it away during a “Do It Now” workspace hack moment.

Still, I remember as if it was yesterday. And that is because I apply this hack when it’s helpful.

Tip #1: Plan 10 minutes

Set aside 10 minutes to go into full mode. It’s more efficient than trying to do everything spontaneously.

You can, for example, use that moment to clean up your inbox.

That is much less distracting than replying to every message “now”.

Did you see what I did here?

I hacked a productivity hack.

Tip #2: Do similar tasks in one session

This is based on another time-management hack, called batch working.

For our blog, for example, the lazy girl draws a couple of images one after the other.

Besides using the momentum, she only has to put her pen back once, instead of 10 times.

You see, I really learned a thing or two during that time management training decades ago.

Tip #3: “Now”, “Just”, “Just Now” or “Never”?

Doing one thing after the other makes you feel happy.

Until you realize that

• you have been busy with tasks somebody else can do.
• many of those things are time-wasters that don’t need to be done at all.

The crazy thing is that you can read and apply those two tips now and shrink your do it now list.

Conclusion: what now?

The “Do It Now” method became popular long before we were constantly connected. And distracted.

It still has its merits, but this productivity hack also has downsides.

And don’t panic if this method doesn’t get you into action.

There are plenty of other strategies to get you from the couch. Or to create more time to sit on the couch.

What will you do? Now?