We've all been there.
A long to-do list. Plenty of tasks to get on with. And that one daunting task you keep sliding to the bottom of the list.
Maybe it's something big that you feel you need to think through before getting started. Maybe it's something that pushes you outside of your comfort zone, like picking up the phone to speak to someone on the other side instead of sending yet another email.
So you wait until you feel ready.
Only you never do. The task doesn't get easier with time. It just looms larger.
The answer is not to wait, but to start small.
A dreaded conversation
A few years ago, I was working on a high-pressure transaction. If we didn't get it over the line, the business would run out of cash within days.
We were making progress, but there was one sticking point where neither side would budge. We had gone back and forth by email. It was clear that views were misaligned. I realised that a different approach was needed.
While sending emails gave me time to think and choose my words, that approach had not worked. It meant I had to pick up the phone.
I didn't feel ready. I worried about not putting our position across well enough, about saying the wrong thing, about making a complete fool of myself in front of the more experienced solicitor on the other side. I didn't want to do it.
But I didn't have time to put it off, no matter how much I wanted to. So I started small.
I took five minutes to prepare for the call. I wrote a short bullet-point list of what I wanted to say, right down to introducing myself and where I was calling from. That way, even if my mind went completely blank and I somehow forgot my own name, I'd be able to push through it.
Taking that small step was enough. I thought to myself, let's get this done.
So I called, spoke to the other solicitor, and we resolved it there and then. After all that dread, the whole call took fifteen minutes.
The deal was unlocked. And we completed in time to save the business and the hundreds of jobs that relied on it.
The first domino
Looking back, I suspect most people would wonder what all the fuss was about. It was a phone call.
But at the time, it felt like the most daunting task on my list. Not because I couldn't do it, but because it was so far outside my comfort zone.
The call itself felt like too much. Writing a few bullet points did not. In fact, there was almost no resistance at all, so I did it.
And once it was done, something in my mind shifted. I had my notes in front of me. I knew what I wanted to say. I felt prepared. And a call that had initially felt so intimidating suddenly felt manageable.
That small step was the first domino. The rest followed.
I didn't wait until I felt ready to start. Starting made me feel ready.
Think about the next five minutes
As an introvert in the legal sector, I've used this approach to push myself through tasks that feel uncomfortable at first. The tasks that, if left, quietly drain my energy long before I've even started.
And it works for far more than just phone calls.
A complex report you've been putting off? Set up the template. Write the first line of the introduction. Draft a couple of core definitions.
Speaking up in a meeting? Jot down just one point or question.
Inviting a contact for coffee to start building a connection? Don't worry about the conversation. Just draft a couple of lines of the email.
Each step takes just a few minutes. None of them ask you to feel ready. And more often than not, simply starting keeps you going.
So next time a task keeps sliding to the bottom, ask yourself:
What's the smallest step I could take in the next five minutes?
And then actually take it.
Stop waiting to feel ready. Push that first domino.