One key factor is to understand it is extremely unlikely that an e-mail, a post on social media or any other type of digital communication could not wait another 40 minutes or so, when we will have finished working on the task at hand.
And remember: once you have started working on a particular task, you should really think twice before switching to another one. Even if the current task is proving difficult, you still need to get it done. It is entirely possible that halfway through the alternative task you will run into the very same tricky situation. So escaping to another task is not very productive.
1) Play with your tasks
When is the last time you played roulette? Now you have that chance. Write down on paper cards all the tasks you need to do, then create one pile of tasks you don’t mind doing and another pile of tasks you would prefer to avoid. This method will introduce an element of playfulness.
Shuffle the cards and then select one. The task on this card is the one you need to finish. If you happen to have chosen a very unpleasant task, don’t worry: next time you will have better luck.
2) Forget about perfectionism
Sometimes we are reluctant to start working on a task and the reason is plain: we are worried that we will not manage to complete it flawlessly. We sense that the outcome will not be perfect. However, first attempts are almost always flawed; that is perfectly normal. So don’t be afraid to create an imperfect first draft. You will be able to revise and perfect it later.
3) Relaxed decision-making
If we have so many tasks that we cannot decide which one to start with, chances are that we will end up doing nothing. That is certainly not a good situation. We may even fear that we will decide to start doing something which in reality is not that important and strikes us as absurd. Nonetheless, is still much better at least to do something than nothing at all.
-jk-