Starting's a matter of Seconds

Picture by Eran Becker

There are some things, like visiting the dentist or cleaning the kitchen cupboards, that I seem to put off indefinitely. I usually leave it until the time I have no choice but to do it: My tooth is threatening to fall out; we're moving out of our apartment.

I suggest you learn from my mistakes! For most other projects that I tend to put off, I've started to follow this simple technique. I just focus on the initial start instead of the whole task.

There's no 'doing' something without 'starting'. You always have to start first.
Luckily, the starting is also the easiest part. How difficult is it to call the dentist? Just pick up the phone and dial the number. Don't think about the chair and the drill yet, that'll follow later.
How about you open the kitchen cabinet first. Start with the smallest one. Take out everything one by one. Now it's already half done. The starting builds momentum to continue on the path.
Decide to start on something. Identify the first step and then take it!

I recently finished the book  'The Now Habit' by Neil Fiore and it really helped me to just take the time to start something, without worrying about the next steps. 'Starting' is not nearly as intimidating as 'doing'.