You have all the the apps. You have tried the pomodoro thing. Somewhere, in a drawer buried under a stack of receipts and unopened mail, there is a paper planner that promised to organise your life.
You know exactly what needs to be done. You even know that you’ll feel better, lighter, and more accomplished once the task is finished. In many cases, you might not even hate the task – it’s just another item on the to-do list.
So why, when the time comes to actually start, do you find yourself doing anything else? You faff about, scroll through your phone, reorganise your desk for the third time or tell yourself you have plenty of time left, secretly hoping a surge of panic-induced adrenaline will eventually kick in to save the day.
If you’ve ever felt like a fraud because you can plan a project just fine* but can’t seem to launch it, you aren’t lazy. You’re probably struggling with task initiation.
We often assume that productivity is just a matter of making a plan and then getting on with it. In fact, planning and starting tasks are two different skills. It’s like having an engine that runs perfectly well, but if the ignition isn’t working – you’re not going anywhere. And using hard work, willpower, discipline (or worse, beating yourself up) isn’t going to fix that.
There are techniques that do work, although everyone is different so you may need to experiment to find out what works best for you. Here are some to try:
Do the very first step – Instead of paying your bills, open the banking app. This may be enough to get you past the starting line.
Reduce the cognitive load – sometimes simple things can reduce your brain’s workload, such as colour coding your calendar events. On their own they might not be that effective, but stacking them with some of the other ideas here all adds up.
Be kinder to yourself – you may tell yourself that you’d procrastinated all morning and achieved nothing, but is that really true? Often you’ve achieved something, even of it’s not what you planned to do. Recognising this can break the cycle of beating yourself up and getting even less done – it’s really hard to work when someone is beating you up!
Reduce friction points – Look for places where you get stuck and smooth off those rough edges.
- Got a task you only do occasionally and have to look up what to do each time? Record a video of yourself doing it with Loom.com so you don’t have to remember.
- Start your day with your trainers on so you don’t have to locate them and put them on before a lunchtime walk.
Outsource – for some tasks it’s not worth the pain – just pay someone else to do it!
Body-double – work alongside someone else. Just having people around you who understand this is a neurodivergence issue and not laziness also makes a huge difference.
Set a timer for 5 minutes – this can work really well for some people, others just fixate on the timer. As with all of the suggestions here, only do what works for you.
Have a reward – having something to look forward to might also help you make a start. This doesn’t have to be big, time consuming or expensive, just a little treat.
Turn it into a game – try adding some competition or fun to the task such as challenging yourself to do 10 squats while you do the task, use a sticker chart or an app like Modern Sam.
None of the above are quick fixes, because real changes tend to come from a deeper understanding of how you work as an individual, and that takes time. Habits can be hard to change too, especially on your own. This is exactly what I work on with clients, so if you feel I could help you, just drop me a message and we can arrange a free 20 minute chat.
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* If you find planning difficult, that’s a different skill that I’ll cover in a future post.