Starting is a 4-letter word to some. It is definitely the hardest part of difficult work. But figuring out how to do it well is clearly a key to productivity success.
So, how do you get yourself to start something that you dread?
A few ideas come to mind:
- Create external accountability
- Put a reward at the end of the work
- Face the negative consequence
- Create a scheduled meeting for the thing.
- Break things down into small achievable chunks
- Map out all the parts and pieces of the work
- Crawl, walk then run
- Talk yourself through the process of starting, out loud.
The reason I am thinking about this is because I stopped exercising 3 months ago despite knowing I need it.
I have lots of ‘good reasons’ why I don’t have enough time. I’ve been here before too and the two things that have helped me in the past are to force an appointment that I respect and to walk before I run, literally and figuratively.
But, I got in my 1st workout today. Is it a blip or the beginning of a new start? We will see.
The key today was getting into my workout clothes as soon as I got out of bed. That was a ‘pre-commitment’ but it still took me 4 hours to start.
What are your stories of success?
