Little By Little – Breaking Tasks Down To Prevent Procrastination
May 4th, 2007 by 
Chris Pangburn
Ever had a project which you’re not looking forward to starting? Some projects from the outside can appear daunting and unmanagable due to their size, especially when you haven’t got a specific plan of action. Here’s a useful tip to avoid that ‘start it tomorrow’ syndrome…
Sometimes all you need is to break these projects down into smaller tasks, and just get started! I think everyone has experienced the syndrome whereby you procrastinate and put-off completing certain projects – it’s all too easy to think ‘I’ll start it tomorrow’. Well, as the old adage goes, ‘tomorrow never comes’.
You can make the project seem much less daunting if you just actually start it – say to yourself that you’re just going to work for one hour on a project and actually work. Turn off Skype, unplug your phone, turn off Wi-Fi, eliminate every distraction possible for that one hour alone. Then if you’re aiming to complete just one hour, you’ll find that once you’ve started the task already you will feel a lot more comfortable about completing the rest of it. In fact, once you’ve completed the one hour of work, you might even feel like carrying on with the project for two or even three hours.
Then you’ll feel more involved with the project and less daunted by it as you’ll have already got a hold on it. In many situations after using this technique the project is likely seem easier than you thought it would be. Once you’ve done this you’ll also feel like scheduling the rest of the task – just make sure not to leave it too long or your motivation will have decreased again!
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