NOTE: For long-time subscribers, this post may look familiar—I’m reposting it now as it seems relevant in my life.
I recently noticed I had a few items, both personal and professional, that were stagnating on the “back burner” of my to-do list for way too long. When it came down to it, these were things I needed to do, but they were neither fun nor easy, and thus I was avoiding them. Basically, I was procrastinating. I’m sure you can relate.
I read about a time-management system called “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. I won’t go into detail about his system, because there’s a lot packed in there, but one piece of advice stood out to me: when you’re overwhelmed by a project and everything it requires, identify the very next step you need to take, and then take it. He isn’t suggesting that you think only in the short term or avoid building a comprehensive plan for your project. Rather, his advice is about focusing on the immediate future: what is the very next step you must take to move toward the overall end state?
This sounds really simple and obvious, but when it comes to those stagnating “to-do” items, it can be liberating because it takes your mind off the overwhelming scope of the project and instead has you focus on just the next step. You identify the next step and take it. Then repeat.
One Step…
Of course, this idea isn’t new. You’ve likely heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant?” and the corresponding response, “One bite at a time.” The elephant symbolizes some huge, overwhelming thing you must accomplish. The idea, then, is that you don’t focus on the whole elephant; you focus on the next bite.
I hate to mix food metaphors, but there’s another great saying (possibly by Mark Twain, but that’s unconfirmed) that goes, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” The point is, if you do the gnarliest thing on your list first, then you’ve gotten it out of the way and can go through the day knowing that the other things on your list should be easier to swallow.
The productivity translation of these two metaphors is: identify the next bite you have to take and take it. Get the hard part out of the way and make progress.Those of you who have been through challenging periods in life—where the sheer amount of time you were going to be challenged seemed overwhelming—can relate to these metaphors. Maybe it was military training, or a difficult class, or even a loved one struggling with health issues. You made it through those times by taking it one step at a time. You didn’t make it through by thinking about the enormity of your ordeal. You made it through by thinking about that day, the next meal, the next hour. You made it through by taking the next step, over and over again.
The same holds true for fitness. You don’t focus on losing 80 pounds or running 26 miles—those are overwhelming numbers. You focus on showing up each day. You focus on the next lap, the next rep, the next pound lost. They add up until one day you find yourself halfway to your goal, then halfway the remaining distance, then halfway again, and then eventually all the way there. But this requires taking the next step, over and over again.
The same holds true for education. Whether it’s a bachelor’s, master’s, or even a doctorate degree, when you think about the number of classes you have to take, the number of papers you have to write, or the length of time it’s going to take, it’s overwhelming. Instead, you focus on the next semester, the next class, the next assignment, the next 2,000 words. You make it through by taking the next step over and over again.
The same holds true for managing emotional or health struggles. The enormity of difficulties in life can be overwhelming, and your present condition versus the future better condition can seem a thousand miles apart. But you get there by taking one step after another. Whether it’s overcoming depression, or stress, or an addiction, it’s about making it through one day, then one week, then a month. Then it adds up.
The same holds true for those who accomplish huge feats like making it to the top of Mount Everest—you take one step after another—be it buying gear, training, or literally taking steps up the mountain. Over and over and over and over again.
…Then Another
Those of you who have been through challenging periods in life—where the sheer amount of time you were going to be challenged seemed overwhelming—can relate to these metaphors. Maybe it was military training, or a difficult class, or even a loved one struggling with health issues, you made it through those times by taking it one step at a time. You didn’t make it through by thinking about the enormity of your ordeal, you made it through by thinking about that day, the next meal, the next hour. You made it through by taking the next step, over and over again.
The same holds true for fitness. You don’t focus on losing 80 pounds or running 26 miles—those are overwhelming numbers. You focus on showing up each day. You focus on the next lap, the next rep, the next pound lost. They add up, until one day you find yourself halfway to your goal, then halfway the remaining distance, then halfway again, and then eventually all the way there. But this requires taking the next step, over and over again.
The same holds true for education. Whether it’s a bachelor’s, master’s, or even a doctorate degree, when you think about the number of classes you have to take, the number of papers you have to write, or the length of time it’s going to take, it’s overwhelming. Instead, you focus on the next semester, the next class, the next assignment, the next 2,000 words. You make it through by taking the next step over and over again.
The same holds true for managing emotional or health struggles. The enormity of difficulties in life can be overwhelming, and your present condition versus the future better condition can seem a thousand miles apart. But you get there by taking one step after another. Whether it’s overcoming depression, or stress, or an addiction, it’s about making it through one day, then one week, then a month. Then it adds up.
The same holds true for those who accomplish huge feats like making it to the top of Mount Everest—you take one step after another—be it buying gear, training, or literally taking steps up the mountain. Over and over and over and over again.
Decisiveness + Momentum
This really comes down to two things: taking a step (decisiveness) and continuing to do so (momentum). The more you do this, the more you get used to it, the more progress you make, and the more you get used to making progress.
This reminds me of the book by Bill Bryson titled “A Walk in the Woods,” in which he details his hike on the Appalachian Trail. He tells about the trials of hiking for days and miles on end, and how it all comes down to taking one step after another. Some hikers, as he tells it, make it to the end of the entire 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail journey only to find themselves turning around and continuing back the other way simply because it’s what they’re used to doing—taking the next step.
When making decisions and moving forward becomes normal, you find momentum of action. This isn’t to say that hard decisions become easy, but it means you’re not putting them off, and when you get used to making hard decisions, your ability and process for making hard decisions becomes more routine.
Illustrations from Physics
Physics provides us a couple of illustrations as well: Newton’s third law and friction.
Simply put, Newton’s third law states that an object that is at rest will stay at rest unless a force acts upon it, and an object that is in motion will not change its velocity unless a force acts upon it. Said even more simply, an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion.
As a quick physics refresher, static friction is friction between two objects that are not moving; kinetic friction is friction between two objects that are moving relative to each other. What’s interesting is that static friction exerts greater force than that of kinetic friction. As an example of this, think about a time when you had to push something heavy across the floor—getting the object moving took more effort than keeping it moving, once it overcame static friction.
OK, I know mechanical physics doesn’t play a direct role in accomplishing your to-do list, but there is a bit of psychological physics that comes into play. First, your stagnating to-do list items likely won’t accomplish themselves—you will have to exert some force, some action. Second, it may require a lot of force to get it going, but once you overcome the initial force resistance, less work should be required.
Application
So, what’s been stagnating on your to-do list? What are you dreading doing? Identify the next step, and take it. “Eat the frog,” as Mark Twain might say. Then repeat. Be decisive (make decisions and take a step forward), then keep your momentum and do it again.
As Tony Stark from the Avengers said, “I need a day when there aren’t twenty crises to deal with, but I don’t see that coming any time soon.” So, you might as well start dealing with the crises now.
Go forth and take action!