You know the one. It’s the station you think the train will fly by, but instead it slows to a crawl, stops, orders you to get out, and immediately puts up a sign that says: Delay, Departure Time Unknown.
And even if you wanted to avoid this station, it’s pretty tempting. There are all sorts of comfy couches for you to sit on, every TV (and they’re on every wall) has infinite channels to watch, and the snack bar is open and free all day, every day.
This station kind of feels like paradise. You know what I’m talking about.
Procrastination is that sweet siren song that most of us just can’t seem to avoid. But mostly it’s just the enormity of a big blank canvas that acts like a repelling magnet – and there is a small, simple option for getting over that hurdle. Here’s what you do:
Get a pen and paper and set the timer on your phone or watch for 10 minutes.
Start the timer, spend the 10 minutes (and ONLY 10 minutes) making a list of things you think you might need to do, think about, ask, understand, or consider further when you go to embark on whatever task you’ve been avoiding.
When the 10 minutes is up, stop and walk away.
The main thing I see holding my clients back from getting started on something important is the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start or what to do first. The vastness of options and ambiguity of direction leaves them paralyzed. Sometimes it’s easier not to think about “starting” but just to think about what are the pieces of the puzzle and put those down in front of you in a list. Then, when you start for real, you’re no longer at square one with a blank canvas. Using a time limit on it keeps it from feeling like you’re about to get sucked into an all-day (or all week) task, which is yet another deterrent.
It’s so much easier and more spacious to think about taking 10 minutes to dump your thoughts onto a page than to “get started on that huge project that has so many parts to it and I have no idea where to begin and GAH TURN ON THE TV AND GET ME A SNACK, I CAN’T HANDLE THIS!!!”
How do you finally get going after procrastinating on something big?
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