THIS is why you don't floss

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Imagine this. Sitting at your favorite restaurant. Your favorite meal is in front of you. You don’t procrastinate. You just dig in.

Now imagine this. Sitting at your desk. A blank page is in front of you. Cursor blinks. You procrastinate.

That’s because some actions require intrinsic motivation. And that’s all it takes to begin.

• Thirsty? Gulp that jug of water.

• Threatened? Run.

• Hungry? Eat.

These actions are rooted in survival. Procrastination just isn’t programmed into these.

Some other actions are equally, though in different ways, important and beneficial for you but you can’t get yourself to tackle them.

• going to the gym

• taking vitamins

• flossing

You get the idea. Insanely beneficial but SO hard to tackle.

Similarly,

• writing an essay

• shooting a video

• reading a book

• replying to those emails

Possibly beneficial but SO hard to tackle.

Why?

Because beginning is hard. Beginning is the HARDEST part. You have to jump over an energy threshold to begin.

BUT if you’ve begun, you’ve already tackled the thing.

Imagine.

• Once you’re at the gym, the workout doesn’t feel that difficult.

• Once you floss between that first pair of teeth, the rest just takes 20 seconds.

• Once you write that first sentence, read that first page, sketch that first line. The rest just follows. Without any additional willpower effort.

So here are 3 options to make beginning easy.

Option 1: Set the stage beforehand

Make it super easy to begin.

If this means going to the gym, lay out your workout clothes.

If this means doing any kind of creative activity, have your materials laid out and ready to go beforehand. Do this at a low-pressure time.

• i.e. Lay your iPad and Apple Pencil on a surface that’s appealing to work from the night before your workday.

If this concerns your creative business, have half-assed material lying around.

• i.e. A list of ideas. A library of rough sketches. A few jotted down notes.

Never start from a blank canvas.

Option 2: Set a 5-min timer

That important task. You make it SO big in your head that you believe it demands more time and energy than you have.

But it’s not true.

Beginning takes the most energy.

Once you’ve begun, you’ll have sufficient energy to get the rest done.

One way to tackle this is to tell yourself you’ll just do [this important task] for 5 minutes and then you’ll stop. Set a 5 minute timer. Begin.

Once the time is out, you’ll just want to keep going.

Option 3: Skip the appetizer

Whenever I sit down in front of my laptop to get important stuff done, my brain wants to check X/Twitter first, click on a few random headlines, or just check whether my sister has replied to my latest text.

Only after that, I proceed to the actual task.

But I’ll have lost time and steam by then.

Opposing a lot of productivity gurus, I argue these are valid needs too. Peeking at seemingly irrelevant things is just meeting your need for connection with your community. X/Twitter, news, texts. See the pattern? All related to community.

But if time is pressing and you need to begin fast, here’s a hack.

Just skip these.

Recognize your urge to engage with community. Validate yourself. And just skip that “warm up” step. Go for the main task.

Skip the appetizer. Go directly to the main course.

That’s all for today!

Beginning is the hardest part. The rest is a billion times easier.

I find this topic particularly important for self-employed friends. Or anyone with even a side business. Without a boss, it’s on YOU to get yourself to begin and keep going.

And if you get stuck along the way, remember:

Let me know if these ideas make sense!

Stay building!

Love, B.