When you work alone you get stuck. Whether it be a hard problem, a heavy lunch, or just a bad interaction with resistance there are times when you find yourself in a rut and need to force your way out of it.

If there is one global law of productivity it is that of momentum: once you are working well, it is easier to keep going. Likewise, when you are in one of these ruts you have to spend extra energy to get going again.

I’d like to call out one simple technique that I used to keep momentum going and climb out of these holes: small, daily tasks.

This technique is simple: you have a handful of 5 – 10 minute tasks that you would love to do daily. If you get stuck, do 1-3 of these to get your mind back to making forward progress. These small tasks are not real breaks, but rather refreshers.

If I’m stuck on a hard problem I can take a break (with permission) and do 10 pushups, or go for a short walk, or meditate, or go read something. When I come back I no longer feel stuck since I was doing something, some forward motion. After the tasks are complete it is much easier to then shift the positive momentum back into the work that you need to get done.

This technique is different than the people who recommend you get up and run 10 miles and then write three pages, then work on your side project, then put another brick on the orphanage you are building.

Even on the worst of days you can find time to do a few of these. At the end of a sub-par day you can say “well at least I went for a walk and drank some water, plus those pushups”.