The fundamental key to being productive after a workday is to only attempt the smallest workload. This does not mean that you will only complete a small amount of work, it does mean that you do not have to do much work to get started. Make your goal to do the smallest amount of work possible.
- I’ll write one sentence for my book.
- I’ll practice one guitar scale.
- I will only do one exercise in a workout.
Focus on the smallest possible task. Being scared of getting started is what keeps most people from acting. The task looks too great, so they never bother with any of it.
We become discouraged when we see the whole task. To short-circuit that, ignore the whole task. Give yourself permission to stop midway. Better to start and then stop then never start at all.
The whole task is intimidating. It is difficult to be productive after a workday.
“I have to read a WHOLE chapter of this book?”
“Do I have to complete a FULL workout?”
“I have to edit a COMPLETE video?”
“Do I have to wash ALL the dishes?”
It does not matter what task it is, we are demoralized when we think the task before us is massive. When we believe that we have to finish the entire task, which would be a great deal of work, we never bother getting started in the first place.
But the reality is that we only have to get started. We have to give ourselves permission to complete just a small amount of work. This eliminates the barrier that prevents us from simply getting started. Procrastinators lose because they think in extremes. The pain of starting now is too high and the pleasure of putting it off is too great.
The smaller the task seems, the easier it will be to get started. The easier it is to start, the easier it is to maintain that momentum. If you can reduce the barrier to entry of action to the point that it is extraordinarily easy, then you will make it more likely that you actually complete the action.
Identify whatever it is that you want to start, whether spiritual or secular. Take reading the Bible, for example. Most people might tell you that you should try one of those “Read your Bible in a Year program. I do not think you should bother with this. Most people do not have the discipline to read daily the amount of Bible it would take to complete it in a year [it usually comes out to about 3-4 chapters daily]. For most people who are in the habit of reading precisely zero chapters of the Bible per day, this will be too much. It’s like never running a day in your life, then deciding you will rain for a marathon and deciding to start training by running six miles per day. That is not a recipe for consistent action.
Center on the present. Put your mind in the moment and it will allow you to lean into the effort of starting small. It is embarrassing how difficult it is to start even when the task is small. But knowing that, how could we ever think we would be capable of larger habits right off the bat? Some people may be, but if you have consistently failed to develop the habits you want, then do not think about those people. Just focus on the smallest amount of work you can do, and try to do it.
That is the key to being productive after a workday.
After you have been working all day, the last thing you want to do is focus on goals and more work. Most people want to relax, unwind and distract themselves. But if you tackle just a tiny amount of work, you can make a small amount of progress that will ater compound.
The goal of course is to get to the point where you are completing large and seemingly difficult habits. But this cannot start unless a person first begins in small ways.
Overcome the inertia of starting – select the smallest task that will move you forward. Slow progress beats no progress.
Select simpler activities and goals – build strength with what is simple so you can complete what is difficult.
In rehabilitation hospitals, some patients are so weak that they cannot even sit on the edge of the bed without desaturation, spiking heartrate, dropping blood pressure, feeling faint, and needing to lay back down. For these people, just sitting on the edge of the bed is a workout. Many people are in the same position with their personal development. It would be challenging just to sit at the edge of the metaphorical bed. So start there, build strength, and then slowly build up to a greater workload. That is how you are productive after a workday.
