Often when I’m stuck on a task I’ll start procrastinating. I’ll go and empty the dishwasher, do some gardening, or read a book to avoid working on it. Most often this is because I have a rough idea of what needs to be done, but I know there are parts that I’m uncertain about, or I know the task will be a bit painful or annoying to complete.

When I catch myself procrastinating in this way I have to force myself to just start. Just start clearing out the spare room. Just start replying to that email. Just start cooking the meal. Most of the time I only have to force myself to work on the task for a minute or two, then I start to get ideas and start to see what steps I need to follow to complete the task and it becomes easy to continue working on the task.

The act of starting a task is usually enough for your brain to take over and guide you though the task. Don’t wait for inspiration before beginning a task, begin a task to get inspiration.