Ernest Hemingway had this habit of finishing working mid-sentence in the evening. Therefore, he immediately knew in the morning, what he should be working on next. Finishing that sentence.
Since getting the ball rolling is usually the hardest part, doing something similar is crucial to trick your brain into doing something. And once you’re at it, every subsequent action will feel easier to do.
I typically do this by writing out a small todo-list, either in the evening or first thing in the morning (also gets my brain into “action mode”). These checklists are often ephemeral, I’ll throw them away when I’m done. They solely serve the purpose of telling me what to do next.
That’s also the reason I don’t write them out in my regular todo-list app (this one’s more for planning things in the future). I normally just use a loose sheet of paper, Taskpaper on Mac (great one for quick checklists in general!) or in my newest discovery, Twodos on my iPhone.
The design of all of these apps is so minimal and straightforward, they actually trick you into wanting to write things down.
But this is not about apps. If you take one thing away from this, just make sure what you should do next. Either by having a physical todo-list on your desk. Or finishing your sentences in the.
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