Focus on Completing One Task Today
It can be the most “Monday” (the most Monday?) Monday of the year. After a long holiday weekend fueled with turkey, you’re back at work and dreaming of your pajamas and a bowl of mashed potatoes, not a discounted Black Friday suit and stale coffee.
So, start small today. You don’t have to fill out your entire to-do list; rather, focus on one attainable goal — finalizing your company newsletter, preparing for your presentation, scheduling doctor visits for the end of the year — and get it done.
If necessary, break it down into microtasks and mark one at a time. Reads the New York Times Smart Life newsletter .
If you just can’t motivate yourself to start something today, divide it into the smallest possible units of progress and attack them one at a time. Stop obsessing over what you’re about to write in an email that you just can’t bring yourself to write, and instead just click a button to open a new email. Enter the recipient’s address. Click the subject line box. Write a topic. Etc.
Forgive yourself (and your colleagues) if you are a little slow and put one foot in front of the other. Etc. Once your task is complete, make a list for the rest of the week. After all, it’s only Monday. We have enough time to get everything done.