Getting Things Done is a great goal to work toward, but getting your life organized can seem pretty daunting sometimes. It helps to stop looking at that burgeoning mountain of deadlines for a minute and take care of the hardest part first: you have to start working. Nothing you have to do is going to go away until you begin doing something about it, so here’s a roundup of some helpful ways to Get Things Started:
Set A Deadline
If you have a task that doesn’t have a deadline yet, give it one. You’ll be more likely to start something once you rid yourself of the idea that you can do it any time. Personally, I’m a lot more likely to respect external deadlines than the ones I set for myself. If you’re the same way, getting a friend or coworker to set one for you might help.
Give Yourself An Incentive
If your problem with getting started is that you don’t care enough about what you have to do, try adding something that will make you care. Take yourself out to dinner and movie when you finish, or reward yourself with a nap. It’s easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you put it there yourself.
Break Tasks Down Into Smaller Pieces
Instead of putting entire projects on your to-do list as single items, break them down into smaller parts that are easier to start on. Maybe you’re stressed because you have to build a whole website, but you can start with something a lot smaller, like buying the domain name or doing a Wordpress install. All those baby steps will eventually get you to the end of your to-do list.
Get Rid of Anything That’s Not Essential
It’s tough to start doing anything when you’re thinking about 10 other things you should be working on. Get rid of as many of them as you can, to make sure only the most important tasks are competing for your limited attention.
Just Do It for 10 Minutes
Even if you know you don’t want to do a certain task, tell yourself you’re just going to work on it for 10 minutes. You’ll probably end up doing a lot more than that, once you get started, but 10 minutes is such a small commitment that it can make even the most fearsome work seem manageable. The idea is just to get started, continuing from there is the easy part.
If you want to finish your work, you’ve got to start somewhere. Hopefully these five techniques will help you do just that. Do you have another good technique for beating procrastination and starting in on your important tasks? Post it in the comments.
Jay is a freelance writer based in Seattle, WA. He blogs about software for Download Squad, and contributes interviews to Geek Monthly magazine, among others. You can also find him on Twitter.
Photo Credit – rowens27
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The irony is that GTD is much better at Getting Things Started than your article. Allen already added/considered all those advises in GTD. In fact, the flaw of GTD is still the reality that it’s really more about Getting Things Started.
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