How to make any task instantly more appealing

Photo by Kay Dittner on Unsplash

Now, I’m no psychic.  But there are some things I’m pretty sure I can predict.

Want to try me?

Ok, let’s go: 

Which of the following tasks are you most likely to procrastinate on?

  1. Ask ChatGPT to write a 5 bullet for the outline of the TPS report OR

  2. Write TPS report

You think.  I’ll wait.  Got it?

I’m going with #2.  

You’re much likelier to procrastinate the bigger, more amorphous task.

Why?

Well, your mind gravitates to the specific and shies away from the general.  

So, if the task is small, concrete and crystal clear, your brain is going to WANT to do it.  Your brain craves that dopamine hit of a checked-off box.  

If you want to hack your brain to want to do the thing you want it to do, you’ve got to turn that task into low hanging fruit. 

Low hanging fruit is easy dopamine.  It makes you feel good.  It makes you want more.

So, the next time you’re having trouble getting something done, the next time your brain looks at a task or a project and does a quick about-face, telling you “nope, not interested”, I want you to experiment with turning that big old orchard into a set of low hanging fruit.  

Make it easy for yourself.

Not sure how to break down a task into smaller components?  Don’t worry; I’m going to make it easy.  (See, low hanging fruit!)

  1. First ask yourself, “what’s the very next step I need to do to move this forward?”

  2. And if your brain still wants to run away, then make it even smaller.

Pro tips: 

  • Be as specific as you can with your language.  Avoid phrases like “figure out” (figure out is likely a bunch of steps; what’s the first one?)

  • Instead of “reach out to Susan” or “contact Susan” say “text Susan” or “email Susan”; don’t leave your brain any room for resistance.

  • If you’re really stuck, there are a few new tools out there that can help.

    • ChatGPT - Ask it to give you step by step instructions for a task or project.

    • MagicToDo - Pop in a task and it’ll break it down into next steps

    • BingAI Compose - If you’re using MS Edge, you can use BingAI Compose to create a “list” from a task or project you enter. (Full disclosure: I’m not a MS user, but one of my clients showed me this and it was very cool.)

Make it so easy that your brain doesn’t have any questions or objections. 

Make doing the thing the path of least resistance.

Turn it all into low hanging fruit.

Technology, Productivity, MindsetAlexis Haselbergertasks, tools, technologyComment