10 examples of how to break a task down

Shake off procrastination with this simple practice

Procrastination is putting off a task we know we should start now. We all procrastinate. A major ingredient of the antidote is to break tasks down. 

Smaller tasks are easier because they’re more specific, less daunting, and we get to feel the warm glow of progress sooner. Yet any task at all can be broken down with just a little imagination. 

10 examples:

1. Write a 1000-word blog → Jot down 3-4 key bullet points. I did a post on this. Ideally, get a night’s sleep or two in before the bullets for the blog, so you have some time for the subconscious to come up with additional ideas and to make better sense of the existing ones. 

2. Plan a large event → Establish a budget. What are the main items and roughly how much will they cost. It’s a good, prudent way to start, not least so you can find out whether it’s affordable, and where the big costs lurk. Useful for birthday parties, engagement parties, baby showers, anniversaries, reunions, etc. 

3. Renovate your home → Go and assess the current state of the house. Which rooms need the work? A quick inspection of your abode will answer your question. And once you have a basic list you then get professionals to price it up.

4. Tidy your work area → Pick up a single item and put it where it needs to go. Look around you. What else is in the wrong place? If you see several, pick the one that’s closest to you. Deal with that and you’ll have more of a momentum to deal logically with the next. This really works. Try it!

5. Cook for your partner → Google a menu for a meal they like. If you don’t know a recipe they like…find out. Then pick one that is within your skill range calling for a set of ingredients that are reasonably available to you. The next action (getting the ingredients) follows naturally and inevitably. 

6. Update your CV / resume → Print out and review the latest version you have. This version, though likely to be out of date, is your first port of call. As soon as you see it, digitally or in print, anything that needs adding or editing will jump off the page. You just need to look at it to start improving it.

7. Read a book → Read one chapter. The chapters of most books can each be read in less than 15 minutes. 15 minutes is utterly doable!

8. Learn a new language → Download a language learning app. Once you’ve got that, the nudges and notifications will just come. 

9. Save money for a vacation → Set up a savings account for the trip. And set up a standing order from your current account to that account. Once it’s set up, there’ll be friction to cancel it. A few months later you’ll be ready to go!

10. Create a personal website → Brainstorm some possible domain names. Come up with 10 names. 8 will be poor, one will be OK, and one might be just right. Once you have a good name, the whole project starts to feel more tangible and achievable. 

All my timeboxes are 15, 30 or 60 minutes. But the 15-minute timeboxes are almost always the most effective. They’re like guardrails guiding me right the way through the task. Breaking tasks down like this does require a little more upfront work, but for many tasks (most tasks, for me), it pays ready dividends.  

And if you’re really suffering from procrastinatory inertia, think about the first micro-action you might take. This is seconds of activity, not even 15 minutes. Download a file, pick up a pen, put on your trainers/sneakers, open an email, get up from your desk. Very often the next few actions will naturally click into place.

So if you have trouble starting, know that you are not alone. And that the solution for many of us is to start small in order that we start at all. Small is beautiful. And leads to bigger things.

[Artwork taken from the book]