How to Use the Productivity Challenge Stack

Everything you need to know to succeed with the challenges

Did You Start with the Rule Finder?

If you took the Rule Finder quiz first and then were directed here, you’re in the right place.

If you haven’t yet taken the quiz, please do so now so you can be directed to the appropriate challenge stack.

These are the Productivity Challenges, for breaking the rule Stay Comfortable.

Enjoy the 3 Sample Challenges

If you’ve found out from the quiz that you tend to follow the rule Stay Comfortable, the three sample challenges here in the productivity stack will help you get a sense of their effectiveness and what it feels like to set foot outside of Stay Comfortable rule prison.

I hope you’ll try a challenge of your choice, or all of them, and then consider how much more tolerable you’ll be to the rest of us once you’re actually having some fun at work. : )

To get the most out of the sample challenges, become a free subscriber (if you haven’t already).

How to get maximum benefit from each challenge

If you follow these guidelines for this first challenge, and every other challenge you engage through Break a Rule, you’ll get enormous benefit over time.

1. READ THE CHALLENGE AND VISUALIZE DOING IT
   
   Imagine the situation where you might apply it. You may notice that just thinking about doing it generates resistance. You might feel like it’s silly, too scary, weird or uncomfortable, or a waste of time. But the act of visualizing yourself breaking the rule is like planting a seed. Even if you don’t follow through with the action, you’ll be engaging an inner work that is worthwhile. Just visualizing action is actually a step in the right direction. So don’t ever feel bad if all you do is read the challenge and think about how you’d apply it. That effort counts.

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2. TAKE ACTION HOWEVER YOU CAN
   
   If the challenge as it’s stated feels too daunting or too for steep to you, you’re always free to modify the challenge in a way that supports you to take action. Even if you decide to take on just a fragment of the challenge, cut it in half, or have to get creative with its application to your own life, please do so. Remember, this about taking charge of your own life and destiny by calling the shots for yourself, instead of blindly adopting somebody else’s rules. Use these the way a writer would use a writing prompt, as a springboard for your own creativity and self-expression. These are life prompts. Use them to move—even just a small degree—in a new direction. Stretch a little outside of your comfort zone.
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3. PARTICIPATE IN THE COMMUNITY
   
   Finally, if you want to supercharge and accelerate your growth results ten-fold, engage in the community by leaving a comment on the challenge. Share what you tried—what happened internally and externally as a result. Were you thrilled with the outcome? Disappointed? Are you mad it didn’t work? Are you shocked that such a small action could provide you with so much energy, or produce such a positive change?
   
   It will be at the community level that our work has the potential of making a huge difference, personally, and for others. You will gain more here from relationships with new friends and like-minded professionals than you will from the challenges themselves. Because we need to be surrounded by a community of authentic, inspiring, and courageous humans more than we need a library of new ideas. The ideas are just the seeds for our connection.

Last 3 useful tips

Consider working with a partner

If you really want to magnify the benefits of engaging with the platform, consider bringing a friend or colleague with you into Break a Rule and becoming accountability partners for each other in rule breaking.

This can work really well if you make heartfelt promises to each other to follow through with the challenges, and if your partner drops the ball, to shame the crap out of them for being such a loser uh, I mean, to be kind and respectful and stuff.

Tracking hack

When you find a challenge you want to work with, simply type the words, “Game On,” in the comment section below the challenge.

We’ll send a reply with words, YOUR CURRENT CHALLENGE, the challenge title, and key instructions so it will be right there in your notifications.

This way, you’ll always be able to remind yourself of which challenge you’re working on by clicking the notification icon next to your profile. (See where the arrow is pointing in the screenshot below. You have to be signed up at least as a free subscriber to do this.)

Even if other notifications have arrived, just look for the one that says: YOUR CURRENT CHALLENGE.

Subscribe to the productivity stack

If you’d like to be specifically notified whenever a new productivity challenge is added to the stack, you can subscribe directly to the productivity challenge stack by navigating to your profile, clicking on “settings”, scrolling down to subscriptions and clicking there, and then scrolling down to your notification settings where you will be able to subscribe to any of the development stacks.

This process is shown below.

Go to settings.

Choose Break a Rule from your subscriptions.

Toggle emails “on” to receive new posts to any of the stacks.