| 1) Find people to do it with; become socially accountable. 2) Break your tasks into sub-tasks, and consider the breaking-apart a task in itself. 3) Timebox solving an appropriate amount of sub-tasks at the right time. I'm supposed to "redo my budget" -- but that's not actionable. What's actionable and simple is prepare a spreadsheet in the right folder, download bank statements for the appropriate months and save them next to. And before I do (I'm supposed to be working right now), write those down on a list as well as "Sketch out this list more." Most problems that seem hard to overcome (either because you don't know how, or because you don't want to) were not broken down into simple enough tasks. Some warrant a reward (frienship, drugs). I'm supposed to "do the dishes" -- but if I just take the dishes to the kitchen, empty the drying rack while my coffee is brewing, or rinse the dishes without washing them, the next task is getting simpler. I carry out one or two steps on each visit to the kitchen, so I rarely take off 10-20 full minutes to "do the whole damn thing at once." |
Of course, from their perspective, you're the supervillain.