Press the button
Simple, but not easy. Actually, you know what, maybe it’s not that simple, either. (The U.S. National Archives)
One of the hard parts about getting stuff done is figuring out the right stuff to do.
But once you've figured out the right stuff to do — or at least one thing in particular — the other hard part is doing it.
If you're struggling with the second part, here are some things that you might try.
First, commit to doing the work. This might mean putting it on your to-do list (or even creating a to-do list in the first place). This is a very basic step that many of us neglect for the projects that are most important to us. They're so important that they live in our heads, pristine and perfect, instead of becoming sullied by reality. You’ve got to get the work out of your head and onto the list — the same way you do with everything else you've got going on.
Next, schedule time to do the work. Figure out how long it will take, and put it on your calendar. Now there's no way out. Good.
And then, the moment will arrive when you actually have to do the thing. The moment of truth. A lot of us skip the first two steps and never get to this point, but for some of us, this is the hard part. We grasp at any excuse to put off this appointment and avoid the work.
What you can do — what has worked for me — is to press the button.
This button could be a timer, a stopwatch, an hourglass, or even a physical button, buzzer, or bell that symbolizes commitment to the task at hand. You press the button and you're focused, all in, no new tabs, no distractions. You persist until the work is done or it's time to take a break.
Now, if you haven't built a habit of this type of work or you have a lot of negative associations with it, you may feel horrible when you press the button. You may have to climb the Wall of Awful or throw a temper tantrum. You may have to stare off into space for awhile to figure out what the heck you're doing because you don't have a plan — or perhaps this is the time you've set aside to think about the plan. You may have to take frequent breaks to close your eyes and long for the relief of sudden death. That's all allowed. That all counts as work, not just smiling cheerfully and typing away.
With practice, the work sessions become less agonizing and you will have more to show for them. You will to get to the point that you can press the button and just go, like you're a swimmer diving off of the block and into the pool when you hear the starting gun. Perhaps you've experienced this already with certain types of work; the task, then, is to build similar proficiency with other modalities (especially the ones you dread).
"Press the button" may seem as silly as "Stop it!" when it comes to advice. It is not meant as a panacea. But for me, it has been a helpful way to visualize my relationship to the work I intend to do and achieve mastery over it. It prevents the work from growing in perceived importance and eliminates fretting and procrastination.
Once I press the button, I'm officially doing the work, even though it may be ugly or uncomfortable or slow. I trust, as a result of months and years of practice with this approach, that the work will get done. All I have to do to get it going is press the button. It sounds simplistic, but maybe it could work for you, too.
What about you? What are some of the tactics you use to get into the zone and move through resistance? Do you have a “button” that signals to you that it’s time to focus?
