Gentle Motivation: How To Begin When It Feels Hard To Start

When it's hard to get started.

Are you like me and often finding it hard to get started on a new task?

I have found this quite crippling many times and have often just given up and been thinking,

I'll do it tomorrow instead.

I'll have more motivation and energy then.

But lo and behold,

Tomorrow comes and nothing has changed.

Who would have thought?

So now I've tried two new strategies for this instead of thinking that it will all be better or easier tomorrow.

In the first strategy I try to make the task smaller.

For instance,

Instead of doing all the dishes,

I decide that I will do the plates and be happy with achieving that because it's better than achieving nothing.

I for sure haven't done it all but I have done some and sometimes that is enough for me to keep going and actually finishing the whole thing.

The second strategy I have had success with is using a timer and decide I'll work on the task for let's say five minutes and then stop.

This I find is sometimes all I need to get in the flow of the task and more often than not I keep going after the bell has rung.

If the task is really daunting I set the bar even lower,

Maybe down to two minutes,

Maybe one minute even.

This will help me to at least get started and have some progress.

I hope this can inspire you to get started with some of your to-dos and please remember that sometimes putting your feet up and giving yourself a break can be just as important as crossing off things on your list.

I wish you a wonderful day and the very best of luck.