Procrastination: why starting is so hard – 7 ways to get going

You know exactly what needs doing. You even want to do it. And yet you have been sitting in front of it for an hour doing … everything else. Everyone knows procrastination. Many people with ADHD, though, describe it as especially stubborn. Here you will learn why starting can be so hard – and seven ways to get going that are truly small.

Procrastination is not laziness

From the outside, procrastination looks like a lack of willpower. From the inside it often feels completely different: like an invisible wall between you and the task. You push against it, and it does not move.

With ADHD, difficulties with the so-called executive functions are often described – planning, starting, keeping going and switching. On top of that, tasks that are boring, unclear or far away provide little drive. Interesting or urgent things, on the other hand, often go surprisingly easily. That explains why under time pressure you suddenly manage what has been lying around for weeks.

That does not mean every bit of procrastination points to ADHD. It does mean: self-reproach will not get you past the wall. Tools will.

What makes starting so hard

• The task is too big. “Tax return” is not a step, it is a mountain range.
• The task is unclear. If you do not know where to begin, you do not begin.
• The task is boring. Without a spark, the urge to start is missing.
• The deadline is far away. “By the end of the month” feels like never.
• A bad feeling is attached. Fear of mistakes, shame about being late – every extra week makes the wall higher.

7 ways to get going that are truly small

1. The ridiculously small first step

Not “do taxes”, but “take the folder off the shelf”. Not “clean the bathroom”, but “wet the sponge”. The first step has to be so small it seems almost silly. Once you have started, you often keep going.

2. The two-minute start

Set a timer for two minutes. You are allowed to stop afterwards – really. Most of the time you will not want to. And if you do, you have still managed two minutes.

3. A fixed block in your day

“Sometime today” is not a point in time. “10:30 to 11:00” is. Give the task a place in your day, just like with timeblocking. When the block comes, the decision has already been made.

4. Company

Many people find it easier to start when someone is there – in the same room or on video. This method is called body doubling. More about it and other methods in the article on focus methods.

5. Make the task more interesting

Music you only listen to during this task. A race against the clock. A new place, for example a café. A small reward afterwards. If the task itself offers no spark, you can add one.

6. Your own small deadlines

If urgency helps, recreate it kindly: “By 12 o’clock the first paragraph is written.” Even more effective if you tell someone about it.

7. Press the start button

A fixed routine for starting helps your mind switch over: get water, phone away, timer on, go. If the routine is always the same, over time it becomes a signal in itself.

And if it still got left undone?

Then it got left undone. That is annoying, but it is not a verdict on your character. The fastest way back is not feeling bad, it is the next small step. Ask yourself: what is the smallest thing I can do for it now? And give it a place in today or tomorrow.

If a lot has piled up, a short sorting session helps, as described in the article A few days out?: every item gets a decision – today, tomorrow, someday or drop it.

When to get help

If procrastination weighs heavily on you for a long time – at work, in your studies, with bills and official letters – and you have known it since childhood, a professional assessment may make sense. Your family doctor, psychiatrists or psychotherapists are good points of contact. More in the article ADHD in adults.

An example: the dreaded tax return

This is what the starting aids can look like in practice. Instead of “tax return”, the plan has three small blocks spread over the week:

1. Tuesday, 6 pm, 15 minutes: get the folder, put the receipts in one pile. Done.
2. Thursday, 6 pm, 30 minutes: sort the receipts by month, with music, timer on.
3. Saturday, 10 am, 60 minutes: enter the numbers – with a friend at the table doing her own paperwork.

Each block is small, has a fixed place and a reward afterwards. The mountain range has become three hills.

Getting started with DayBlock

Every block in DayBlock has a ▶ button. Pressing it means starting: a big clock runs, and if the task has steps, you only ever see the next one. You break big things into steps with minutes – “get the folder, 5 min” – and DayBlock guides you through them one after the other. If you like, add calm sounds from DayBlock FM. And whatever is left undone gets a new place in the evening, without a red warning.

Summary

Pushing does not help against the wall in front of starting – a smaller step does. Make it ridiculously small, give it a fixed place, get some company and be kind to yourself when it does not work out. The first tick is the hardest – after that it gets easier.