Jerry Seinfeld is most famous for his 90s, cult classic TV sitcom Seinfeld, where he played a fictional version of himself. Little did you know the American comedian, actor, writer, producer and director, owes his success to a simple but effective productivity technique he developed to help him write more and funnier material.
The Seinfeld technique is incredibly simple and super effective, all you need is a wall calendar and a big red marker. Here’s why he developed it and how it works.
Jerry Seinfeld wanted to be a better comic and to achieve that he needed to create better jokes. He decided the only way to do that was to write every day, to improve his skills and delivery. As he saw it, only time and effort equals reward.
So, he decided to buy a big wall calendar with a whole year on it and a big red marker. For every day that he wrote new material he simply marked a big red cross on the calendar and after a few days, he saw he had created a chain of red crosses. The chain motivated him to keep putting in the hours, he said:
"Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."
Become an expert through small daily actions
You can use this technique to help you achieve anything whether that be learning a new skill, building a business or completing a project. It works because it’s consistent daily action that builds habits, which in turn creates extraordinary outcomes. This is much more effective than one big push and the repetitive practice helps you to reach expert level much quicker.
Don't break the chain
The only thing you need to remember is “don’t break the chain”. Skipping one day makes it easier to skip the next and before you know it your goal will be out of sight and impossible to achieve.
For more productivity techniques, read our recent blog posts.
Written by Mike Pye
