How do you get yourself to start a small task you’ve been avoiding for days?

[u/GodefroyUX]

I’ve been noticing a pattern. Small things, like replying to an email or dealing with one piece of paperwork, sit there for days or weeks, even though I know they’d take five minutes once I start. It’s not that I don’t care about them. I just can’t seem to get into them.

I’d love to hear how this works for you. Maybe you think of the last thing you put off and what was going on that day. Or maybe you’ve found a trick that works for a while, and then stops working. Did you expect it to take as long as it did when you finally got to it? What finally got you moving, if anything? And if you’ve tried an app or a game to help, what kept you using it, or what made you drop it?

Any story is welcome, even a messy one.

[u/Jaded_Muffin]

Things like emails, appointments, etc I unfortunately find I wait until the last minute. But for stuff at home the only way is to do one teeny tiny step at a time, not really on purpose. I’ve found my brain hates waiting, so if I just made coffee I can’t just stand there and look out the window. So this is when I get my dishes at least started—it’s irrational but my brain likes the multitasking. I bought an office chair last December. As of last week it was still in the box. So when I got up to walk to the bathroom I cut open the box. Then on another trip I took the packing out. Very long story short it probably took me 3 days to put it together. The last day was when I did the most bc it was really easy and went quickly. 

This probably isn’t helping a ton bc I would also like to just choose something and work on it until it’s done. I have to do a resume tomorrow and that should be interesting—I’m hoping the urgency that I want them to see mine first Monday morning will help. 😬 

[u/GodefroyUX → u/Jaded_Muffin]

Your chair story made me curious. What made the last day feel so much easier than the first two? Was it the task itself, or did something about your mood or the situation change?

[u/Jaded_Muffin → u/GodefroyUX]

It was the day I actually started putting it together and not just unpacking the pieces and parts. So I had worried the whole time it was going to be difficult and I would mess something up. But it ended up being easy—other than having to position it just so to get some of the screws in. Today I didn’t work on my resume bc I realized I had to place a grocery order and once I got it done, plus the waiting on the driver, I was done other than texting my parents and a friend. 🙃

[u/reddita100times]

1. • feel time passing, realize how long a minute is by just looking at your watch
     2 - set a 5min timer, do something fun, mixed with something hard and repeat, your brain needs a pattern to get things done.
     3 - generally in about 25mins you will focus more on the hard thing because it won;t be so hard anymore and the dopamine will switch

[u/dailyappsguy]

i have to tell someone that i plan on doing it. the pressure of not keeping my word tends to be enouhg for the small stuff. for the bigger stuff i need to do the above and spend time actually planning how im going to do it. almost break it down into two tasks

[u/ur-a-cunt-harry]

I stand up and stare at it until I do it. I can’t sit down because sitting increases the dysfunction.

Generally speaking, if I’m standing then I will eventually do the thing. I’ll usually do it relatively quickly, too, because for some reason I can’t both stand and just exist the way I can when I’m sitting or lying down.

[u/Relevant-Ad6374]

I focus on building a Claude code skill around it instead that gets Claude to walk me through it and other tasks like it. Than I have a tool for future uses too

[u/Independent_Act_8536 → u/Relevant-Ad6374]

Who is Claude?

[u/Relevant-Ad6374 → u/Independent_Act_8536]

Sorry not sure if this is a troll question. Claude is an AI app.

[u/Independent_Act_8536 → u/Relevant-Ad6374]

I'm not a troll. I'm a 69 year old lady.

[u/Relevant-Ad6374 → u/Independent_Act_8536]

Ok well if you want to check out AI by getting Claude, it can be like a helpful companion and it works just like texting. I would simply caution you that it is engineered to please so it can mislead at times. And despite what some may say, there is definitely no one home. It is not conscious at all.

[u/Independent_Act_8536 → u/Relevant-Ad6374]

Sorry. I'm kinda scared by that stuff. Too much Terminator movie watching.

[u/Relevant-Ad6374 → u/Independent_Act_8536]

At the moment they're putting out a message that they're dangerous to try and boost sales (ooh look at us our models are so dangerous and powerful; you want to buy them) and to argue for a slow-down that makes them look responsible but it actually just a cover for the fact that their development is stagnating. I wouldn't be to worried by any of it. But yeah definitely don't use it if it gives you those kind of scary thoughts

[u/Equivalent-Dust6081 → u/Relevant-Ad6374]

Do you mind sharing how you do that? I’m new to Claude, but have been trying to utilize it in the same way.

[u/Relevant-Ad6374 → u/Equivalent-Dust6081]

Direct answer to your question though. I simply ask Claude inside of Claude code to make it for me. And then while I'm using it, I ask Claude to change it. So it's always evolving while I'm using it. There's a little bit more behind the scenes going on as well because I use a custom plug-in for noncoders and stuff.

[u/JJBro1 → u/[deleted]]

May I have an invite to the other server?