‘Past Me’ Wisdom - Just Start It
Working up ideas for my first few posts for Kernel, I thought I’d dip into some of my old writings. The piece below was written in 2017, but it feels as relevant today as ever. It was never intended for an ADHD audience, but the observations and suggestions feel bang on, for both neurotypical and ADHD brains…
Let me know your thoughts!
If there were prizes given for procrastination, I would almost certainly win first place. Though I’ll have to pick that prize up from you later… Hah. Seriously though, procrastination and avoidance has shadowed me throughout life, from my dreaded primary school book reports (sorry for that enduring trauma, mum) right up to drafting emails to senior clients.
It creates a life lived constantly anxious and on edge, resulting from the last-minute pressure to get things done. Clearly not a way anyone really wants to spend their energy. The frustrating part is that it seems like a logically simple behaviour to snap out of – you ‘just do it’, right? Nope, nope and also nope.
The phrase ‘just do it’ (aside from being one of the most recognisable brand slogans around) has a simplicity and a kind of ‘get up and go’ feel to it. But it has an insidious side; an implied second half which almost shouts at you: ‘Just do it… you useless, lazy so-and-so’. I used to work for a company which added an extra element to this ‘JDI’ attitude, extolling the virtues of ‘JFDI’ – pretty sure you don’t need a degree to work out what that extra letter stands for.
Now don’t get me wrong; for highly motivated individuals, or anyone else on a good day, JDI is great – a kick up the pants to get out there, take risks and seize the day (can I fit any more cliched phrases in there?). But for anyone who has issues with confidence, or is prone to procrastination (a common side-effect of anxiety), JDI, and its silent second half, can actually be a pretty negative way of thinking. It can lead to a spiral of low confidence and anxiety, low motivation, and in the end more procrastination. Something I’ve lived with for years.
So my new mantra is ‘Just Start It’ – just take the first steps of doing the thing you’re putting off, and go from there.
So my new mantra is ‘Just Start It’ – just take the first steps of doing the thing you’re putting off, and go from there. Don’t pressure yourself to get a PERFECT result first time or tell yourself you need to finish it (which is kind of what ‘Just Do It’ is saying – Get It Done); just make a start. Commit to starting to draft that presentation you’re dreading writing, commit to just getting your running gear on and getting out the door.
In fact it was my attitude towards running that was the breakthrough for me; even on cold, miserable days when I was tired, I told myself I would just go out and start my run, even if I turned back after 10 minutes (because I figured 10 minutes is better than no minutes!). Almost 100% of the time I kept going for my full distance – once I started going, with my music pumping and fresh air in my face, it was much easier to keep going. But I was consistently unable to take this approach to work – my anxiety got the better of me, and I’d put off starting projects, emails and phonecalls until the last possible moment, or indefinitely. Now I get the same effect as with the running – once I’ve started that horrid-sounding thing I’d been putting off, it’s much easier to keep going. It generally takes far less time, or is much easier than I anticipated. And even when it is just as horrid as I imagined, hey, I did it! Go me. I ‘just did it’, but in a much lower-pressure way.
The key for me in making it work is not ‘start thinking about it’, it’s ‘start doing it’…
The key for me in making it work is not ‘start thinking about it’, it’s ‘start doing it’ – getting ideas down on paper, opening up a new document and just blurting out ideas, starting a food diary. I’m not saying ‘never plan’ here; thinking time is super important, and I’m not suggesting for a minute that planning is not useful (love a plan). More that planning and thinking can end up looking a whole lot like procrastination if you’re prone to anxiety. Starting to actually create something is different – it’s like having your trainers on and stepping out of the door.
Coincidentally, quite soon after starting to use my new mantra I was introduced to the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy technique of the ‘Five Minute Rule’, where you commit to spending an initial 5 minutes on a task as a solution to the avoidance and procrastination driven by anxiety. ‘Just Start It’ is scientifically approved! Win!
If procrastination is something you struggle with too (and it can be triggered by a whole host of things – low motivation, tiredness and anxiety, to name just a few), giving yourself a gentle but disciplined push every day to ‘just start it’ is really worth trying. Will it work absolutely every time? Possibly not, but it’s a great start…
Do you have any tips or tricks you use to get stuff done when you just keep putting it off?
