How to stop procrastinating

Make the first step so small and physical that it takes less effort to do it than to keep avoiding it.

Procrastination usually isn't about time management. It's about a feeling attached to the task: boredom, uncertainty, the fear it won't go well. Avoiding the task avoids the feeling, briefly.

The problem is that the task in your head is huge. "Write the report" contains every hard part of the report at once. Your mind looks at all of it and reasonably says: not now.

The fix is to stop looking at the whole thing. Find the first physical action: open the file, write the title, put the document on the screen. It sounds almost too small. That's the point.

Starting changes the situation. Once you're in it, the next step is usually visible. You don't need motivation to start. Starting tends to produce it.

Try this · 5 minutes

Five-minute start

1.Name the task you've been avoiding in one line.
2.Ask: what's the very first thing my hands would do? Write that down.
3.Set a timer for five minutes. Do only that first thing, and whatever follows naturally.
4.When the timer ends, you can stop. Most people don't.

Open the thing you've been avoiding. Just open it.

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KAROTI offers practical ideas, not medical or mental-health treatment. If you're struggling, please talk to a qualified professional or someone you trust.