It's one of those lessons that I seem to learn and forget and keep having to learn again...
There's some big task that I need to do and I find myself procrastinating.
It might be my taxes, some piece of writing, or the work that goes into coordinating a community event.
And as I procrastinate, the thought of that task weighs on my mind constantly. I may be doing something else or nothing at all (I've learned to procrastinate in different ways :p) yet I'm constantly thinking that I need to do this thing. It can go on for weeks. A constant level of stress and anxiety about something I'm not doing but should be doing.
The funny thing is, after all this stress, there's always a way out. And it's not even that hard.
I just have to start.
Instead of thinking about the whole task in all its complexity, I just need to do the first thing. The tiniest little first step of the whole process. It might be picking up a pen and opening my notebook and starting a checklist. Or looking up some information or sending an email.. Or dialing a number and asking a question. It's never anything extraordinary or complicated. Just a single action, which often naturally leads to another action, and another. And sometimes that's all it takes to get the whole thing done. And if not, I will at least feel so much better for having started.
And then I just need to do the first little thing to get started on the next part.
There's some big task that I need to do and I find myself procrastinating.
It might be my taxes, some piece of writing, or the work that goes into coordinating a community event.
And as I procrastinate, the thought of that task weighs on my mind constantly. I may be doing something else or nothing at all (I've learned to procrastinate in different ways :p) yet I'm constantly thinking that I need to do this thing. It can go on for weeks. A constant level of stress and anxiety about something I'm not doing but should be doing.
The funny thing is, after all this stress, there's always a way out. And it's not even that hard.
I just have to start.
Instead of thinking about the whole task in all its complexity, I just need to do the first thing. The tiniest little first step of the whole process. It might be picking up a pen and opening my notebook and starting a checklist. Or looking up some information or sending an email.. Or dialing a number and asking a question. It's never anything extraordinary or complicated. Just a single action, which often naturally leads to another action, and another. And sometimes that's all it takes to get the whole thing done. And if not, I will at least feel so much better for having started.
And then I just need to do the first little thing to get started on the next part.
