Shrinking Your Tasks
Reduce the size of dreaded tasks until you feel no resistance to starting, then let momentum carry you forward
Procrastination is driven by six triggers that make tasks aversive: boring, frustrating, difficult, unstructured, lacking in intrinsic reward, and lacking in personal meaning. The more triggers a task sets off, the more likely you are to put it off. Your highest-impact tasks are almost always the most aversive because they demand more time, attention, and energy than low-impact tasks.
Shrinking works by reducing the perceived size of a task until you feel no internal resistance to starting it. You negotiate with yourself: Can I work on this for an hour? If that feels like too much, try thirty minutes. Still too much? Try twenty minutes. Keep shrinking until the resistance disappears. Once you start, momentum almost always carries you past your original shrinking point.
This technique also applies to building new habits. If you cannot commit to a thirty-minute workout, shrink it to twenty minutes, or fifteen, or even five. The act of starting matters far more than the duration, because as Emmett's Law states: the dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.
- The six procrastination triggers are boring, frustrating, difficult, unstructured, lacking in intrinsic reward, and lacking in personal meaning
- The more aversive a task, the more likely you will procrastinate on it
- High-impact tasks are almost always more aversive than low-impact ones, which is exactly why they are so valuable
- The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself (Emmett's Law)
- Once you start, momentum almost always carries you past your point of resistance
- Shrinking the commitment rather than the task itself preserves the work while removing the psychological barrier
- 1. Notice the ResistancePay attention to the moment you start debating with yourself about whether to work on a task, or when you catch yourself saying things like 'I will do it later' or 'I do not feel like it right now.' These are signals that the task is aversive and you are about to procrastinate.Pro tipUse the resistance itself as a trigger to immediately begin the shrinking process rather than giving in to the impulse to postpone.WarningIf you find yourself constantly resisting most of your work, it may be a signal that you need a different job, not just a different technique.
- 2. Identify the Procrastination TriggersAsk yourself which of the six triggers the task sets off. Is it boring? Frustrating? Difficult? Unstructured? Lacking in reward? Lacking in meaning? Understanding which triggers are active helps you address them directly.Pro tipWrite down the specific triggers. Making them explicit reduces their emotional power and engages your prefrontal cortex.WarningDo not skip this step. Blindly shrinking without understanding why you are resisting leads to less effective outcomes.
- 3. Shrink Until Resistance DisappearsNegotiate with yourself about how long you will work on the task. Start with what you think the task requires and keep reducing until you genuinely feel no resistance. Can you work on it for an hour? Thirty minutes? Twenty? Fifteen? Five? Commit to whatever duration feels easy.Pro tipYou can also flip the triggers directly: make a boring task more fun by working in a cafe, make a difficult task easier by breaking it into smaller steps, or make an unrewarding task meaningful by connecting it to a larger goal.WarningBe honest with yourself during the negotiation. If you still feel resistance, keep shrinking. The point is to actually start.
- 4. Start and Let Momentum BuildBegin working for your committed duration. Set a timer so you know you only have to persist for that long. If you want to keep going after the timer, do so. If you do not, stop without guilt. Most of the time, once started, you will want to continue.Pro tipSchedule your shrunken task during your Biological Prime Time for an extra boost of natural energy and focus.WarningDo not use shrinking as an excuse to only ever work in tiny bursts. The goal is to overcome the starting barrier, not to avoid sustained effort entirely.
Bailey discovered shrinking while experimenting with time limits during his project. Whenever he had an important article to write, speech to prepare, or project to complete, instead of scheduling an entire afternoon, he would schedule just two or three hours, usually during his Biological Prime Time. He found that with a limited amount of time, he had no choice but to focus, and tasks rarely felt as aversive as he had imagined once he got started. He extended the technique to exercise and meditation, shrinking the commitment in his head until resistance vanished.