Turbo button against procrastination

Sometimes it is difficult to force yourself to start doing something important, but unpleasant. Instead, the brain begins to grasp at any other things, often less important, and sometimes even useless.



The longer an important matter is delayed, the harder it is to begin, the more actively the brain begins to look for loopholes to dodge it.



Perhaps right now you are reading Habr in search of an interesting article, because you cannot bring yourself to do business.

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If something like this ever happened to you, the first thing to understand is that you are not to blame. It’s just that the human brain works — it avoids threats, and it’s considered difficult or unpleasant work to be a threat.



Forget now that once lost time in this way. Below I will describe 3 simple steps that will help to cope with even the most repulsive task.

How to deal with procrastination

Step 1: Formulation of the result

First you need to understand what needs to be done and why. You may not need to do this at all. In this case, just write down the task on paper, cross out and forget about it forever, it is no longer worth your attention.



If you still need to perform the task, then formulate such a result, having reached which you could say with confidence that the task was completely completed. For example: “The product page is minimized, debugged in all browsers. I contacted the designer and together we polished it. After that, the art director accepted it. ”



It would be very useful not to speak the result mentally, but to write it down on a piece of paper.



Imagine: what will you feel when the task is completed?

Step 2: Getting Started

What is the smallest simple action that would allow you to make some progress in achieving the result?



Simplify the mini-task until it no longer causes you to reject, but at the same time it helps to move a little on the way to the goal.



For example: "Open the editor, mark the grid structure for the product page."

Step 3: Allow only 25 minutes for this task.

After you have formulated what needs to be done first, turn on a timer for 25 minutes and start working on this mini-task.



The task is simple, you will not even need to bring it to the end. Just do it only 25 minutes without a break, until the timer rings. There is no longer any reason to postpone this work even for a minute. You will succeed!



When the timer rings, you will find that the task that seemed invincible to you has moved, and now it does not seem so terrible. To work on it further or not - you decide. The main thing is that your internal resistance and fear of it will disappear, and thus it will be much easier to cope with the task.



To automate the process of combating procrastination, I created the Turbo-button . But you don’t have to use it, you can do the same with a sheet of paper, a pen and any timer.



Successes and great achievements!



UPD: Answers to questions from comments

And what to do if the need to make a plan already causes rejection?

The article is not a word about the plan. You do not need to make it up. All you need: to understand what you want to get as a result, and come up with the most simple action that will allow you to move from place. Planning at this stage, everything is 10 steps ahead - it is meaningless. This will only inflate the task in your eyes and increase the resistance in front of it.



If you make a plan and have your task - then simply simplify it. For example, start by taking a piece of paper and write 3 of any of the items that swarm around your head.



The main thing is not to think about this mini-task as a plan. Your mini-task is to start a timer for 25 minutes, take a pen, a piece of paper and just write a few lines of it on your head.

those. Did you copy GTD Pomodoro technology? www.pomodorotechnique.com

I consider Pomodoro a convenient methodology. But the Turbo-button is not its full implementation. So if the Turbo-button helps you, then it makes sense to get acquainted with Pomodoro. To do this, you need to read the book (you can download it for free, but it is in English) and it is advisable to buy the classic Pomodoro-timer . It ticks loudly enough, but sometimes it even helps to concentrate.

Since there is talk of time, then I think it would be good to provide a link to a small review of timekeeping programs.

This article is not about time, not about drawing up plans and Tudu lists. It is about overcoming resistance before unpleasant matters.



If you have an important task that you postpone, avoiding it under any pretext, then trying to plan it out may lead to your brain being even more afraid of it. Indeed, besides the fact that the task itself is unpleasant, now it has also increased - planning has been added.



The task must not be increased, but reduced. Grasp her little piece that will not cause you to reject. Having made it, you will feel a surge of strength and it will be much easier to cope with the task.