Summary

Getting yourself to do the hard thing you know you should do is hard sometimes!

Here are 7 tricks that may help you get over that initial hump of starting (and likely finishing) that thing you may have been putting off.

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Have you heard the story about the time Toad was having a hard time getting started?

Toad was at home, under his covers, and his friend Frog came over. Frog noticed that Toad had a lot of clothes lying around so he asked his friend Toad, "hey Toad...you've got a lot of clothes lying around...what's up with that?"

Toad replied, "ya...I know...I'll pick them up tomorrow."

Then, noticing Toad had a lot of dirty dishes, Frog said, "Hey Toad, you've got a lot of dirty dishes lying around, what's up with that?"

Toad replied, "ya...I know...I'll clean them tomorrow."

Frog then couldn't help but notice how dusty Toad's house was. So he said, "Hey Toad, do you know your house is like totally dusty? What's u with that?"

Toad replied, "ya...I know...I'll sweep up tomorrow."

Frog didn't want to make a thing of it, but he couldn't help but notice that Toad's plants looked really dry. So he asked Toad, "Hey Toad, do you know that your plants need water?"

Toad replied, "ya...I know...I'll water them tomorrow."

Then Frog noticed that Toad looked really sad, so he asked, "Toad, why do you look so sad?"

Toad replied, "I'm so sad that I have so much work to do tomorrow."

But then Toad said, "You know, if I just pick up these clothes now, I won't have to do it tomorrow." So he did.

Then Toad said, "If I clean these dishes now, I won't have to do it tomorrow." So he did.

After that, Toad said, "If I sweep up this dust now, I won't have to do it tomorrow." So he did.

Finally, Toad said, "You know, if I water these plants now, I won't have to do it tomorrow." So he did.

Then Frog noticed that Toad looked so happy, so he asked, "Toad, why do you look so happy?" Toad replied, "I'm so happy that I won't have to do any work tomorrow - I can just sleep and put my covers over my head."

Have you ever felt like Toad? Have you ever felt the burden of spending so much energy to put off things you need to do that you wind up spending more energy putting them off than you would just doing the things?!? I know I have!

For me, having things hanging over me that I need to do just clutters my mind. It takes so much energy to get through the clutter.

Here are 7 tricks that help me overcome procrastination sometimes - I hope they help you!

1) Know Your Why

If somebody offered you $20 to walk 20 feet across a six-inch plank running between two skyscrapers, you'd probably say, "Heck No!"

On the other hand, if the far skyscraper was on fire and your loved one was on the other side and the only way they could be saved would be for you to walk across that plank to get them - you probably wouldn't even need that $20 incentive to make the walk!

The point is: motivation can change really fast when you have a reason. So, the next time you find yourself in a situation where you're having a hard time getting motivated to do the thing, think about why you're doing the thing.

You may find that the thing isn't all that important, in which case, you may decide you don't need to do it! On the other hand, this exercise may help you focus on why you decided to do the thing in the first place - and make it much easier.

2) Ignition Energy

Very often, the hardest part of doing anything one doesn't want to do is just getting started.

I often like to think about the example of the energy a locomotive needs to move forward one inch; it takes a lot of energy to get that thing moving!

The same is true with a rocket ship launching into orbit. Getting that rocket ship 1 foot off the ground is the most energetically expense of the entire trip. 

Often, just realizing that the hardest part of doing anything is the start may help you get over the hump. For example, if you are having a hard time doing something that you feel like you need to do - tell yourself that you'll only commit to doing it for 5 minutes, and then you can stop if you wan to. Chances are, after the 5 minutes, you'll be ok with continuing because you will have overcome that initial inertia of moving an object at rest (you are the object at rest in this situation).

3) The 60% Rule

The 60% rule is an idea I learned from former Navy Seal and Ultramarathoner David Goggins. He describes how, very often, when one things they are at their absolute limit - they're really only at about 60% of their full potential.

The reason this happens has to do with the fact that our mind is wired to protect us, especially the most primitive part of our mind that is designed to protect us from things like saber-tooth tigers. Of course, the challenge is, there aren't that many saber-toothed tigers walking around any more! So, if one conditions themselves, they can override our natural tendency to stop at about 60%. It's not always easy, but just knowing that your mind may be telling you a story when it tells you it can't do any more may help you do more and start sooner.

4) The Cookie Jar

This is another cool trick from David Goggins. He describes how one really powerful way to start something you don't want to start - or push through something you don't want to do - is to build up a reservoir of positive memories that you can draw from. In particular, to make the cookie jar work - you want to focus on memories of occasions when you overcame adversity even when you weren't sure you could. Memories of times when you went the extra mile, even when you weren't sure you could.

By drawing on positive memories like this from your psychological cookie jar, you can help convince the skeptical, primitive part of your mind (the part that wants you to stop at about 60%), that you can do more and start sooner.

5) The Grand Gesture

One way you can hack your own motivation when it seems less than motivated is to do what is sometimes called, "The Grand Gesture." The famous poet and writer Maya Angelou would sometimes do this when she was having trouble writing by actually going to the trouble of checking into a hotel for the working day where there were no distractions. J.K. Rowling also used this trick when she was having trouble coming up with Harry Potter's next moves. 

I actually did this too as a college undergraduate. When I attended school in Illinois and was having trouble getting to my studies, I would sometimes walk about a mile through the snow to another college on the other side of town. I would find an empty classroom there where I didn't know anybody and everything was closed and would study there. Because there were no distractions and I was so invested in getting there (and the walk back was so far and cold) - it helped give me the motivation I needed to focus and study!

The next time are having trouble getting started on whatever you need to start, consider changing the context to one that puts motivational winds in your favor.

6) The 5 Second Rule

This is a trick I learned from Mel Robbins, who teaches that when one hesitates - a countdown of 5-4-3-2-1 before doing the hard thing can help one break through that resistance.

An example she uses is waking up in the morning. When the alarm goes off and it's tempting to hit the snooze button - one can countdown in their mind 5-4-3-2-1 and then jump out of bed no matter what. This simple, mindless habit can be so powerful.

So, the next time you find yourself hesitating to start the thing you need to start - try a countdown. See if it can help you launch!

7) Oh Well

Finally, this last trick, which I like to call the "Oh Well" trick - is even more mindless than the 5 second rule. With this one, whenever you are faced with the hard thing you don't want to do - you condition yourself to just say, "oh well" and do it anyway.

This trick relies on your avoidance of doing the hard thing almost as a signal that you'll do it. By saying "oh well" to yourself, you kind of give up conscious control over the decision to do the hard thing and in so doing - abdicate your ability to decide not to start that hard thing.

All of these tricks kind of run a spectrum from the most thoughtful (thinking about your why) to the least thoughtful (just thinking "oh well!"). There is no right one for everybody all the time - the right one is whichever one works best for you in a given situation. So, the next time you feel like you don't want to start that hard thing - try them all and see if one works for you! If it does, I'd love for you to let me know!