Getting in Gear to Get into Gear
Posted by Shawn on April 6, 2009
Each of us go through the times in our lives when we get cannot get going. Our mind is filled with hundreds of things to do, but we lack the energy to get started. We know that exercising will help boast our energy, but we don’t even have the desire to start it. We can’t even get in gear to get into gear!
Here are some tricks to find that eluding first gear and the rest of the gears:
1. Make a detailed list
Follow David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” approach and get everything out of your mind and into a trusted system. If it is something you are worried about you will have it right in front of you in black and white. As you write things down you will think of more and more things; keep going until you run out of items to write down.
2. Pick something easy to do from the list and do it
If you wrote down enough items there is a high likelihood that some of the items or steps will be fairly easy to complete. Select one item and just do it. It might be as simple as writing an email or going through a huge pile of papers to find a bill. Complete the one step. Cross it off your list.
3. Review the list and either add to it or complete the next item
Once you have crossed out the first item select another and complete it. If you start small you can quickly build momentum. If you select something too large you will never start. If everything seems too big update your list to either add new items or break items into smaller tasks that are easy to complete.
4. Set a goal to complete three items
Set the bar low to ensure you can clear it. Remember, you are just trying to get into gear. Once you complete the first item continue to complete two more and cross them off. Then take a quick break to enjoy what you just accomplished.
5. Enjoy your success
Relax and enjoy your success. You didn’t move any mountains. You probably did the equivalent of moving three tablespoons of dirt a total of 36 inches. Much better than accomplishing nothing.
It doesn’t take long once you get into gear to pick up momentum and start knocking off the big items on your list.
So, whenever you just cannot get going, try this approach. You will find that it is amazing!
