How to Start When You Keep Putting It Off
The short answer: If you keep putting something off, the first step is probably too big to see. Shrink it until it's one step you can picture and finish in about two minutes. Do that step. Then choose: keep going, or stop with no guilt.
The map: This guide has 3 parts.
- The old way: waiting to feel ready
- The new way: a two-minute start
- How to do it, in 4 steps
1. The old way: waiting to feel ready
You know what to do. You might even know how to do it. The hard part is the moment before you start.
So you wait. You wait for a free afternoon, for more energy, or for the mood to show up. The task sits on your list and feels heavier every time you look at it.
The problem usually isn't laziness. The first step is too big, or too fuzzy, to see.
Pause and write: What's one task you've put off this week? Write it down before you read on.
2. The new way: a two-minute start
A two-minute start means you shrink a task until the first step is something you can see yourself doing, and it takes about two minutes.
Here's an everyday example. "Write the report" is too big to start. "Open the file and type one ugly sentence" is a two-minute step. An ugly sentence is a first line you're allowed to write badly, just to get words on the page.
When the two minutes are up, you make a real choice: keep going, or stop guilt-free. Both count. You started, and starting was the hard part.
This is the first tool in The Unstuck Kit, a printable kit Team GOACTO made for the moment before you start. We built the whole kit around this one move: make the first step small enough to see, then let yourself choose.
Pause and write: What would two minutes look like for the task you wrote down?
3. How to do it, in 4 steps
Step 1. Name the task. Write the thing you keep avoiding in plain words. "Taxes" becomes "find last year's tax papers."
Step 2. Shrink it until you can see it. Ask yourself: what's the very first thing my hands would do? Keep shrinking until the answer takes about two minutes.
Step 3. Do only that step. Set a timer if it helps. Any kitchen timer works. You're not signing up for the whole task, just these two minutes.
Step 4. Choose. Keep going, or stop guilt-free. If you stop, write down the next two-minute step, so tomorrow's start is already waiting for you.
An everyday example (made up to show the idea): Say you've been putting off cleaning the garage. "Clean the garage" is too big to start. "Carry the empty boxes by the door out to the recycling bin" is a two-minute step. You do it. Then you choose: one more corner, or done for today.
Pause and write: Write your two-minute step on a sticky note. Put it where you'll see it tomorrow.
Go deeper
- The Unstuck Kit: printable tools for the moment before you start, including the 2-Minute Start Ritual and Start Cards.
- Atomic Habits in one page: our notes on James Clear's book, including the idea of cutting a habit down to a two-minute version.
- Next in this series: Why the Weekend Study Marathon Never Starts (and What Does)
- Also in this series: Before You Try Another Fix, Write Down What You've Already Tried
The one thing to remember
Don't wait to feel ready. Shrink the task until the first step is two minutes you can see. Do it, then choose. Starting small still counts.
Team GOACTO
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