Methods
None of this is expert advice. It's what people worked out for themselves, usually the hard way — what actually helped, and what they'd tell someone standing where you are. Take what fits and leave the rest.
If you only read a few
Commit to working on a task for only five minutes, then allow yourself to quit if you wish.
You usually keep going once you start; anything is doable for five minutes.
16 people, independently
Spend 30 minutes a day doing nothing.
One person reported this changed their life.
one person who lived it
Skip the time spent 'getting ready' and start the task immediately.
You may find you are fine once you actually begin.
one person who lived it
Set a very small minimum target for difficult tasks, such as aiming for just one minute.
There's a good chance you'll do more, but first you have to make it something you do every day.
one person who lived it
When needing to clean, put away just one thing rather than cleaning the whole room.
3 people, independently
Do a quick, easy task unrelated to your main work to prime your motivation.
It gets your motivation pumping.
- Be careful; this can become productive procrastination.
one person who lived it
Commit to only opening the file or doing the bare minimum to remove weight from the start of a task.
Often you will continue working after starting, but even if you do not, it still counts.
one person who lived it
Lie to yourself by setting a trivially low goal, such as just walking to the gym, intending to stop immediately after.
By the time you are there, your brain may decide to stay since you are already there.
one person who lived it
If you start a Pomodoro session but cannot complete the task, count it as done; if you get distracted, do not mark it as done.
The time put in matters more than the result.
one person who lived it
6 more on this
Break tasks down into embarrassingly tiny steps, such as 'open laptop', to maintain the system long-term.
Raising the bar causes the system to fall apart again.
one person who lived it
Start super small, such as stretching in the morning, to stop overthinking and build momentum.
Action creates momentum; a tiny move helped stop overthinking the rest.
2 people, independently
Create a points system where you reward yourself for completing tasks.
This helped one person recognize their efforts.
one person who lived it
Speak your tasks, plans, and reasons for procrastination out loud to force cognitive clarity and activate executive function.
Speaking out loud forces thoughts into coherent sentences, activating the prefrontal cortex and tricking the brain into action.
one person who lived it
Add alternative activities like meditation or chanting to your 'do nothing' option; one person hypothesizes these become less appealing than the task after a certain threshold.
It meets needs for variety while making the tedious task more appealing by comparison.
one person who lived it
Combine productive avoidance strategies with external accountability to prevent missing deadlines.
One person suggests this pairing is needed to make the strategy a real breakthrough.
one person who lived it