Photos capture information that you cannot get via written notes. Taking pictures of an object or a document can provide more insight that simple notes.

Dr. Lydia Zepeda and David Deal of the University of Wisconsin–Madison enlisted 43 subjects to photograph all of their meals or snacks prior to eating. Unlike food diaries, which require time-consuming entries often written long after eating, the photographs acted as an instantaneous intervention and forced people to consider their choices before the damage was done. In the words of one participant: “I was less likely to have a jumbo bag of M&Ms. It curbed my choices. It didn’t alter them completely, but who wants to take a photo of a jumbo bag of M&Ms?”

The researchers concluded that photographs are more effective than written food diaries. This is saying something, as prior studies had confirmed that subjects who use food diaries lose three times as much weight as those who don’t.

What you are seeing here is the game being played around you. Clueless people look at random tactics. They jump on the fad diet, the shiny budgeting software, the fanciest productivity tool. Smart people see behind it and realize any individual tactic is just a random tactic — but the SYSTEM of testing different approaches is profoundly important.

• CrossFit -- It’s cheaper than a personal trainer, but not cheap. The payment is automated, so it motivates me to go, and the results have been amazing. Like a personal trainer, the workout regimen is also automated -- just show up and do what they tell you.
• Food Journaling with consequences --
  
  At my CrossFit box, I joined a club where we have to food journal or get punished with hard exercises. We also agreed to eat well, but journaling is the part that makes me stick to it, because we have to show our journal at the meeting. Sometimes I just pre-write the whole day in the morning, and just follow it -- then my eating is automated -- I can’t snack, because I didn’t write it down. Also, the meeting is automated, and the members hold me to my commitments.
• (total self promotion) My iPhone app, Habits -- It helps me remember to do some simple things like call my mom more regularly. I also use TraxItAll to track progress towards my goals. Finally, idonethis.com automatically sends me an email each day to ask me what I got done -- I now have a nice calendar where I can see each day’s accomplishments.
• Putting planning activities on my calendar -- I made it a 2012 goal to spend time on the last weekend of each month to plan out the next. I put these dates in my calendar as if they are meetings, so I don’t schedule anything else.

Get specific. When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. "Lose 5 pounds" is a better goal than "lose some weight," because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you'll "eat less" or "sleep more" is too vague — be clear and precise. "I'll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights" leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you've actually done it.

• Publish 75 blog posts
• Work 3 hours per week on personal coding projects
• Publish 3 apps

• Be able to do 10 dead hang pull-ups
• Be able to do 10 ring dips
• Be able to bench press 155 pounds
• Rx 30 workouts at CrossFit
• Eat paleo food on 275 days

• Do 100 hours of community service
• Eat meals with 25 different groups of people

• On last weekend of each month, spend at least two hours alone somewhere outside and unpopulated. Look over goals and plan the next month.