Task initiation – getting started – is often the most difficult part of any new endeavour.
Whether it’s writing a book or article, starting an exercise regimen, uncluttering a messy workspace, or learning a language, those first few steps can sometimes seem insurmountable.
Our brains, after all, are wired to keep us safe and comfortable, rather than challenged and uncomfortable.
That’s why, when embarking upon something new, we can easily run aground on the rocks of task avoidance, perfectionism, procrastination, and analysis paralysis.
But there are ways to break down the barriers and gain momentum.
Here are seven science-backed strategies to help get you there:
Develop a ‘work time’ ritual
Somerset Maugham used to say he only wrote when struck by inspiration. ‘Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp’.
Having set working hours, along with work time rituals which lead you gently into the process, make it harder for thoughts like, ‘I’m not in the mood’, or, ‘I’d rather be surfing’, to blow your off course.
The creative forces of the universe may even align with people who treat their work seriously, suggests The War of Art author Steven Pressfield, noting that ‘The Muse favours working stiffs.’
Rituals like brewing coffee, lighting a candle, or even sharpening some pencils, serve as transitions from a state of rest or play. They signal to the brain, ‘It’s time to work’. This makes getting started, and entering a state of flow, more seamless.
To read more about the benefits of writing rituals and how to establish them, read this post.
Starting something new is best done at the start of your working day, when your energy levels are highest and your willpower is at its peak.
Do it before attending to email, returning phone calls, chasing invoices, or dealing with other people’s random demands. Otherwise, you’ll be sitting down to do this very difficult thing when you’re already feeling depleted.
‘Willpower is a mental muscle that doesn’t bounce back quickly,’ says The One Thing author Gary Keller. ‘If you employ it for one task, there will be less power available for the next unless you refuel.’
Break big tasks down into smaller, more achievable ones
Climbers intending to scale Mount Everest don’t go straight from Lukla Airport to the summit in a single day.
They work their way through a series of camps at successively higher altitudes before making their tilt at the 8,849-metre peak.
In much the same way, task initiation can be hastened by tackling mammoth (or even mildly intimidating) projects by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable component parts.
Task decomposition or ‘chunking’ reduces stress and overwhelm by reducing the cognitive load associated with keeping all elements of a large and unwieldy project in mind.
In clearing the path forward, it also increases the odds you’ll get cracking.
So, if you find yourself dancing around a long form story, not knowing where to start, make the task “draft an outline”, rather than “write a 5000-word story”.
Additional subtasks might include conducting one or more interviews, reading research reports, and drafting each section. Each sub-task contributes towards the overarching task of “write a 5000-word story”.
It’s important to clearly define the borders of each of the smaller tasks, so you know exactly what to do and when you can tick each item off your list (if you’re a list ticker-offer like me, that is).
Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory notes that specific goals – even difficult ones – are more motivating and lead to higher performance than the encouraging but vague statements we usually roll out (like ‘Just do your best’).
Start with the simplest bit
We’re often counselled to ‘start at the very beginning’. However, this can be terrible advice if you don’t, in fact, know what the starting point is, where you’re heading, or how you’re going to finish up.
Writing is rarely a linear process if, like Joan Didion, you ‘write entirely to find out what (you’re) thinking, what (you’re) looking at, what (you) see and what it means’.
Another well-meaning recommendation is to start with the hardest task.
Also described as ‘eating the frog’, it’s designed to ensure your mental and physical energies aren’t expended on minutiae.
But when task initiation (rather than time or energy management) is the most pressing problem, finding an entry point is all that really matters.
Just as burglars target the easiest lock to pick, scan the task for the obvious entry point. Start there.
Claiming a small win (for me it was point 2 of this blog post) can build momentum and make the rest of the undertaking less daunting.
Amabile and Kramer’s Progress Theory suggests that small wins bolster emotions, motivation and perceptions. ‘The more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run,’ they write.
Reaching for the low-hanging fruit can even make it easier to tackle the rest of the orchard.
There is magic in simply putting something on the page, says software developer and author Dan Allen.
‘Content is sticky – it attracts another content,’ he explains.
‘So when content’s on the page, it brings other content into it.’
What he calls a ‘content fly trap’ thus gathers all the ideas that are buzzing around in your brain out and deposits them onto the page.
Set a five-minute rule
Task initiation might indeed be difficult. Yet most of us can muster the gumption to tackle something tedious, challenging, or deeply foreboding, if only for five (or two, or ten) minutes.
And while it doesn’t sound like you’d make much headway jumping into a task for such a short period of time, many people find that once time is up, they’re compelled to keep going, often until they’ve finished the damned thing.
The Ovsiankina effect suggests that we have an innate urge to finish what we’ve started. It holds that not completing a task generates an uncomfortable state of tension that can only be resolved by typing or otherwise reaching ‘The End’.
This means that even if you don’t have time to complete a project in one sitting – which applies to most writing projects – it’s still worth making a start. That’s because even the smallest and least promising start will increase the odds you’ll finish.
The very act of starting will also kick the girls in the basement into gear.
Touching upon a problem in the most fleeting way will fire up the network of brain regions known as the default mode network (DNM) which continues to work long after you’ve clocked off for the day.
When you return to the project, you’ll likely progress with greater ease and speed.
To read more about the girls in the basement and the DMN, read this post.
Try the Pomodoro Technique
The five-minute rule not working for you?
There’s also the Pomodoro Technique which involves setting a timer so you work on the task for 25 minutes, before taking a five-minute break.
Then work for another 25 minutes, followed by another short break; rinse and repeat as required, taking longer breaks once you’ve been through a few cycles.
This technique acknowledges the reality of limited (and shrinking) attention spans and the need to balance periods of intensely focussed work with short recovery breaks.
Some people swear by the Pomodoro Technique, but personally, I dislike being interrupted (by a timer, or anything else) after 25 minutes, and prefer to just keep going once I’m in the flow.
However, if you’re struggling to get started, it’s worth experimenting to see if the Pomodoro Technique might work for you.
Visualise what you want
Before Alex Honnold climbed Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan without ropes or other safety gear in 2017, he spent weeks visualising his route up the sheer 914-metre high granite wall.
He undertook these mental dry runs in extraordinary detail, imagining each of his planned hand and foot holds.
In the same way, picturing the outcome you want, along with the steps you’ll need to take to get there, can deliver sufficient oomph to send you bursting out of the starting blocks.
For this reason, visualisation has become a popular performance-enhancing tool in many domains.
Underpinning its effectiveness is the notion that your brain can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s vividly imagined.
By making the end goal more tangible, visualisation can enhance motivation.
Whether it’s a closed eye exercise, or something more formal and effortful as a vision board, visualisation is a strategy worth trying if you’re keen to build intrinsic motivation.
Reach for the power of positive reinforcement
When intrinsic motivation is in short supply, though, it can help to call in extrinsic reinforcements.
A Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber, traditionally contains a lever or key that animals such as rats or pigeons can tap or peck to obtain food, water, or some other form of reinforcement.
The idea is that receiving the reinforcement makes it more likely that the behaviour will be repeated.
Humans are no less susceptible to the effects of operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement can condition your brain to associate the task with a reward.
Rewards thus provide a tangible incentive that can boost motivation for completing tasks that might otherwise leave you cold.
They activate the brain’s reward system, releasing ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters which creates a positive feedback loop that strengthens (reinforces) the behaviour over time.
Rewards can also help override the brain’s natural tendency to prioritise short-term comfort (‘Let’s not start today’) over long-term benefit.
Unlike Skinner’s experimental subjects, you don’t need to limit yourself to food or water. Nor do rewards need to be lavish or expensive.
Small rewards delivered regularly have been found to be most effective, so consider such things as a long soak in the bath, a chocolate, a new book, a cup of herbal tea, a healthy meal, a yoga class, or a half hour walk in the sunshine.
With practice, these five strategies can go a long way towards overcoming the inertia that means new projects never get off the ground.
Good luck and let me know how you go!
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