Create a List of Tasks to Warm Up and Cool Down Work Sessions

Small wins are key to building momentum and sustaining it. Create a list of simple, less brain-intensive tasks, to do whenever you're ramping up to a work session or starting to run out of gas. With this list, you can dive right into productive work without too much planning.

When author Ryan Holiday feels like procrastinating, he turns to his list of tasks that always need to get done (his list includes making notes and reviewing starred emails). You can put together a similar list of tasks that contribute to your output, either at work or at home. For example, at my old day job, this would involve reading industry news and researching potential new ideas for blog posts.

Because you don't need to think and plan as much, you have a list of stuff you can do during the periods your mind is winding down or resting. In a way, these tasks can be likened to a mental stretching, which some folks do before and after working out. 

It's all about the small wins.

Should you use a physical notebook and cross things off as the picture above implies?

I use physical for some lists and my calendar for others.  It makes completing tasks more tangibly and visibly satisfying.  It also gives me a sense of control, as if.

Happiness is PERCEIVED control. There is no actual control, you know.

Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (number and depth of your relationships), and vision/meaning (being part of something bigger than yourself).

That happiness quote comes from Tony Hsieh of Zappos:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1758027/tony-hsiehs-hq-happiness-quotient