Feeling Unproductive and Overwhelmed? This One Question Will Help You Get Out of That Rut.

“What is the next action?” David Allen, Getting Things Done.

Our goals can be overwhelming sometime.

Anything worthwhile takes a good chunk of time and effort. Worthy goals are like this. So how do you tackle these goals? The same way to eat an elephant- one bite at a time.

Break down goals into their smallest parts. Smaller than what you think. Laughably small. So small that DECIDING to act on it takes more effort than ACTUALLY DOING it.

Here are some tips to keep moving forward when you don’t want to move forward:

1. Ask yourself “What is the next action?” I’ve had to change a doorknob for the longest time at my house. In task managers, I’ve had it listed as “change doorknob.” That was an open loop that assumed a lot. I just never made time to untangle all the components of that task. So I finally asked myself: “what is the next action” to get some positive movement? Measuring the dimensions of the door knob assembly seemed to be the easiest next action. So I did that.
2. Manage expectations (ANY movement is better than no movement). I’ve been on a note-taking journey to find out the best system for productivity. In doing so, I’ve found many systems that work. In my hastiness to adopt every single good idea I come across, I ended up not going anywhere. It was too overwhelming. Small, incremental, movement forward is better than none.
3. Plan ahead to continue that forward momentum. Once you’ve taken that next (small) action, plan for the next small action. These add up over time and before you know it, you’ve knocked out a good chunk of work towards your goal.

• When procrastination sets in, take the smallest action possible.

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