The Lemon is a big feature of the Lemonade Planner day. Everyone has a lemon or two, usually more. The Lemon is that job that you really struggle to motivate yourself to do. They're sometimes difficult, usually boring, but they all serve as a roadblock to motivation.
Deal With Your Lemons
The longer you ignore them, the faster they stack up. Lemons need to be dealt with, so what better way can you handle them than making them a part of your everyday routine?
Name The Lemon
Each day, decide what the next day's Lemon will be. When you wake up you can tackle it first thing in the morning. Sometimes you'll need to make allowances in timing to cater for opening hours of services or a tricky schedule, but the idea is to complete The Lemon as close to the beginning of the day as possible. Completing The Lemon is a powerful tool for boosting your motivation and feeling of wellbeing for the rest of the day.
Keep It Simple
There's no need to turn the Lemon into something overwhelming and time-consuming. Keep it simple and choose something small most days of the week. It can be as simple as dropping off that bag of Op-Shop donations that have been sitting in the laundry for a fortnight or removing the cobweb from the bathroom light fitting.
If you have a Lemon that takes more than a few minutes, save it for a day off, and space them out. The daily Lemon is designed to keep you motivated, not to drag you down and draw your focus away from everyday life.
Motivation Boost
Completing the Lemon is a powerful feeling. Checking something off your to-do list sets you up for success serves to motivate you towards tackling the next item on your list.
Aside from the sense of achievement, you remove the threat of an upcoming task from your mind. The next one to pop into your mind can be entered as tomorrow's Lemon and you can get on with the other tasks at hand.
Give It A Go
Try it out for a week and let us know how it worked out for you.
The Lemon