When you’re putting something off, sometimes you just need to work for only a few minutes to get started. Other times, you just need to remind yourself why what you’re doing matters.


It’s easy to lose sight of why you’re doing something, especially if you’re just focused on how much you don’t want to do do it. So when you find yourself procrastinating, think about why you have to do it—don’t just think about the fact that it’s looming over your head. When I first started freelance writing, for example, I would often procrastinate on actually producing work to pitch. But once I reminded myself that if I didn’t write I’d never be able to get my work published, I got a lot better about staying on task.


Of course, if you can’t find a good answer to “why”, then maybe you should reexamine whether or not that task is really important at all.

Finding Motivation on Important But Non-Urgent Tasks | Zen Habits