From Dread to Done: Overcoming Productivity Paralysis

Life is busy. Especially if you're a parent and a full-time employee, demands often outpace your capacity. The feeling is like how Tolkien described Bilbo's experience in The Lord of the Rings: "like butter that has been scraped over too much bread."

There are countless productivity books and systems designed to help tackle this issue. I'm not about to create another one or recommend anything specific. Often, getting it all done is a fool's errand, and you inevitably have to let something fall through the cracks.

But what about those times when even looking at your to-do list fills you with dread? I've been there. I know the feeling of putting off certain tasks in favor of more high-impact work, only to have them keep resurfacing, demanding attention even if they don't move any big rocks forward.

So how do you find the will to move forward in these situations? One simple (but not easy) reframing is to tackle the biggest pain point first. Look at your to-do list and pick the one thing that would give you the biggest sense of psychological relief if it were gone. It doesn't have to be the most impactful task. Simply choose one thing you'd be thrilled to stop thinking about and give that gift to your future self.

Often, once that dreaded task is done, I realize it wasn't such a big deal. Recently, my blocker was booking business travel for an upcoming team on-site. It wasn't difficult, I just didn't want to do it. I didn't want to decide on flight timing, accommodations, or commit to something I wasn't particularly excited about.

After postponing it for days, I finally sat down and did it. It took maybe 15 minutes. The relief was immense, and that small sense of accomplishment built momentum that carried me through the rest of my tasks.

This isn't a secret trick, but it's a valuable reminder: sometimes the hardest part of your day is simply taking the first step. When you feel overwhelmed about where to start, tackling the thing you're avoiding can set you up for success for the rest of the day.

How do you handle overwhelming demands? Find me on Threads and let's continue the conversation.