In practical terms, getting going can mean something as simple as opening an email.Two decades ago, in “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, an American time-management consultant, David Allen, warned readers that “the in-basket is a processing station, not a storage bin”.The email inbox, whose contents do not pile up on the desk, is even easier to confuse for a garbage can than a tabletop in-tray.Electronic correspondence is the starting point of most work projects, ever more so in the era of hybrid work.So just click it.And if you still find yourself avoiding things on your to-do list that make you anxious, involving others can help.Discussing tasks with colleagues can suppress the tendency to dodge the parts of your job you like the least.Once you have got moving, consider your waypoints.That may mean breaking a job down into smaller, more readily achievable chunks.A seminal paper from 2005 by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology examined how conceptual knowledge is processed.The authors found that the brain prefers concrete and discrete tasks to broad and abstract ones.Set your sights on completing a document first, rather than starting out with the goal of crafting a complete strategy.Whatever you do, resist the urge of the overly concrete, like sharpening pencils.Procrastination lies between logic and emotion, between ambition and achievement.
