Helloooo reader, Suraj here —
Often, I get very distracted by the short term. That includes not only allowing myself to indulge in short-term procrastination, but also putting off seemingly uncomfortable tasks of the present, that I know for certain will have outsized positive outcomes in the long term.
During these chronic procrastination sessions, guilt always overtakes. That guilt is not powerful enough to get me to do the thing, but just strong enough that I feel bad the entire time.
There’s this one thing I’ve found that consistently helps me during these sessions.
It is:
Make something
It doesn’t have to be the next big thing. It could be the smallest thing you can think of: something as simple as making your bed, or writing just one short paragraph of the essay you’re writing, or adding just 5 lines of functional code to the codebase you’re working on.
For me, it has been the “I’ll only do it for 5 minutes” practice.
I commit to doing the smallest thing I can to make progress on the project at hand within those 5 minutes.
Since it’s only 5 minutes, even if it is painful, it feels bearable. And yes, there have been times when I stop working after those 5 minutes, but that is A-okay. The number of times it works is significantly higher than the times it doesn’t.
So even if you are tired from a full-time job or school or other demands on your time, if there is something you know you could be doing to improve your life in the long run, try doing it for only 5 minutes. If you feel like continuing, do it for the next 20 or 45 minutes, but if you don’t feel like continuing, you can stop.
Making some progress is better than making no progress at all. Making and doing something small will help you make some progress, but more importantly, it will help you get started.
I’d love to know the methods, strategies, or practices you use to get started when you are struggling to get things done.
I’ll see you next week.
Until then, take care.
Warmly,
Suraj
