The Power of Micromovement

Writers, artists, and other professional procrastinators beware!  Reading this post may ruin all your perfectly construed, finely honed excuses for staring at blank pages, empty canvasses, and nearby walls:

The Problem

SARK introduced me to this embarrassingly simple concept, which I will illustrate using a purely hypothetical example.  Take, for instance, a writer who has huge visions of literary greatness, but cannot seem to find the strength to boot up her computer.  This (again, purely hypothetical) writer has a great post/article/story/novel idea, yet summoning the courage to find notebook and pen is like summoning the courage to tell the five-year-old it’s time to put the See’s chocolates away and eat his broccoli.

What’s the Big Deal?

Good question, for those of you who aren’t plagued with procrastination (perfectionism’s comfy bed partner), but the rest of you know exactly what the Big Deal is.  It is getting started.  Getting started (on your day, your diet, your run, your blog post, your new reading regime) is the hardest part.  Think of a huge boulder at the top of a hill.  It’s been sitting there since Tess of the Durberville’s day, sunk halfway into the gooey muck, and is covered with a blanket of moss.  Getting that thing budged is 99% of the battle.  Incorporate a wedge, a lever, whatever it takes to start the boulder rolling.  From there, we get the over-used phrase, “It’s downhill all the way,” otherwise known as the final 1% of the effort.

How Do I Start?

Back to our stuck writer.  She throws away her old list (Buy laptop.  Write best-seller.)  She writes a new list.

1.  Take out three pens and see if they work.  Place on desk.

2.  Find red notebook.  Place on desk.

3.  Read through that pile of articles and gather ideas.

4.  Make huge mess writing ideas on large white paper with colored pens.

5.  Take a nap.

6.  Decide on blog post idea.  Make a cup of tea.

7.  Set out clothes for tomorrow.

8.  Open WordPress dashboard and open a new post draft.  Title it, leave it open, and go to bed.

9.  The next morning, open computer and write blog post.  That’s what I did:)

The Result

SARK says that micromovements work because they establish a ‘habit of completion.’  Setting out the pens may seem laughable compared to the tasks that need to be done, but give it a try.  If you meet resistance, try breaking tasks down even further, until resistance is almost zero.

How do you see micromovements moving you from procrastination to productivity?  I’m curious to hear your stories.