“Right, I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I'm just gonna…get straight to the point. No faffing around, 'cause that's just annoying, and definitely no procrastinating. Procrast...Procrast...That's a good word, isn't it? Procrastinating. Pro...Procrastinating. Huh. I wonder what the etymology of that word is. Obviously, "pro," very good, but "crast"? Crast...I have no idea. Hey! Why don't we look it up?”
Rebecca from Ted Lasso is not the only one doing all she can to avoid the very thing she needs to do. We’ve all been there.
And while looking up the etymology of words seems like just the ticket, I’ve come to rely on this ever-so-simple way of pulling me out of a procrastination tail-spin and getting me on my way.
Most of the time, I find that procrastinating is about avoiding the enormity of something ahead of me, where it seems like there are a million ways to go and no clue about which one to choose.
The 10-minute block is the thing that gets me over the hurdle.
It’s as simple as this: no matter how big a project is ahead of you, sit down to work on it for ONLY 10 minutes. As in, set a timer and commit that you will only focus on it for 10 minutes. Sitting down for that time carves space for the thing, but a small enough space that you can’t possibly overwhelm yourself with the work because it’s so brief. At the end of 10 minutes, no matter how much you’ve done, stop.
And, it doesn’t matter how you use the 10 minutes. Here are a few options you can try:
Write down as many things you can think of about what the next step you could take might be. Even if it seems like a bad choice or a wrong choice or a crazy choice, write it down.
Take any of your possible next steps and make a list of all the possible next steps after THAT one. Repeat this process over and over, or do just this second step for several next-step options.
Write down everything that’s making you feel worried about the project.
Write down the name of every person you can think of that you could ask for help, even if it’s as small as asking their opinion.
The point is to get started, because once you get started, the next time you sit down, you won’t be starting at the bottom, looking up at that impossibly high mountain; you’ll already partly up the trail.
Give it a try and see what opens up for you!
