The Secret Superpower of Productivity: Just Get Started

You’ve come up with a goal, broken it down into achievable tasks, input everything into your project management tool… and then spent the next four weeks rescheduling the first task. You know exactly what needs to be done but, for some reason, you can’t seem to get started. Sound familiar?

The truth is, while having a good plan is critical, a project won’t get off the ground until you sit down and actually start working on it. And yet, so many of us find it difficult to take that first step.

Why is that?

There are a number of reasons why we might procrastinate on starting a project. Maybe we’re perfectionists and we’re suffering from analysis paralysis. Perhaps we’re afraid of failure and we don’t want to risk looking like a fool. Or maybe we’re just plain old lazy and the thought of starting seems like too much work.

The fix is simple: just get started.

Go to your To Do list and pick the easiest task, something you know you can complete quickly and easily. And then just get started by doing the simplest possible thing you can do to begin. Blog post? Open an editor. 1-kilometer jog? Put on your running shoes. Start.

You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment, which will motivate you to keep going. And as you start making progress on your project, you’ll find that it’s not nearly as daunting as it seemed at first. So just get started and see how far you can go. Momentum will carry you through. That first step is today. Your future self will thank you.