1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: This is the second episode in my five part series 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: on procrastination. Today's tip is to conquer a task you've 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: been resisting by breaking it into very small steps. There's 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: been a lot written about success over the years, but 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: I think one of the most profound insights is this 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: small things done repeatedly truly do add up. As the 9 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: poet Ofvid once put it, dripping water hollows stone. Later 10 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: writers added their addendum to this quote, not by force, 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: but by persistence. If you think about it, the Grand 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: Canyon is the result of a river subtracting just a 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: little bit from the hills at a time. Lots of 14 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: little steps can yield big results. Say you want to 15 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: write a book, well right, five hundred words a day, 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: four days a week. Five hundred words isn't much of anything. 17 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: The script for this episode is longer than five hundred words, 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,639 Speaker 1: But two thousand words a week gives you fifty thousand 19 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: words in six months. You'll get seventy five thousand words 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: in nine months. I write books for a living, and 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: I don't come anywhere near that level of output. Learning 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: a language seems like a huge undertaking, but it's not 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: an endless undertaking. According to the Foreign Service Institute, an 24 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: English speaker could reach general proficiency with a language such 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: as Spanish, French, or Italian in about six hundred hours 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: over two years. That's less than an hour a day. 27 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: Working with a language app during your commute and then 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: meeting a native speaker for lunch once every other week 29 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: could get you there. This insight is important for procrastination 30 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: because often when we resist a task, it's because it 31 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: seems big, a nebulous, or possibly scary. This insight is 32 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: important for procrastination because often when we resist a task, 33 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: it's because it seems big, a nebulous, or possibly scary. 34 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: Get a new job, go back to school, start a business, 35 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: start a nonprofit, meet someone special. All of this might 36 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: be amazing, but life's pretty busy right now. How about 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: next year or the next decade. One way to conquer 38 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: this resistance is to break the task down into tiny, 39 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: doable steps. Let's say you're procrastinating writing a report. Break 40 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: this down into tasks so small that you feel no 41 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: resistance to them, Like right, the title Okay, that's not 42 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: so hard. I mean, who's bent out of shape by 43 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: typing the title. Then maybe another step is writing down 44 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: the main point. You want to make one sentence, what 45 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: is this report about? Hopefully you know, because that's how 46 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: you're describing it to people. So you write that one 47 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: sentence down, just one sentence. That wasn't bad at all. 48 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: Then maybe another step is including three data points you 49 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: know are important. Okay, we'll get those in there. Oh 50 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: and then here's something interesting we could say to connect 51 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: the main point in those data points. Oh and by 52 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: the way, I know, this is how I want to 53 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: sum up and explain those data points. And next thing, 54 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: you know, the momentum is there, and the report is 55 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: pretty much written. And here's the crazy thing. If you 56 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: start early enough, you don't even have to do all 57 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: of this on the same day. It never has to 58 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: be unpleasant, and you never have to feel like there's 59 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: too much to do, because all these steps are small 60 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: enough that you just don't feel like it's a big deal. 61 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: If you do feel like it's a big deal and 62 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: you start feeling that resistance, back up and make the 63 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: steps smaller. But I promise that progress is inherently motivational 64 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: We overestimate what we can do in the short run, 65 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: but we underestimate what we can do in the long run. 66 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: Even a nebulous project like meeting someone special could be 67 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: done in small steps. You aim to go on one 68 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: first date a week. That's not so bad, just one 69 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: coffee date. It's not too much of an investment of time. 70 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: But for every four first dates you might meet someone 71 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: you want to go on a second date with, maybe 72 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: one out of every three second dates turns into a 73 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: third date. In a year, you would have met four 74 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: people you were willing to go on three dates. With 75 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: the odds that one of those turns into something bigger. 76 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: It's pretty good. So today, think about some task that 77 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: you've been putting off. Think about how you could break 78 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: it up into tiny steps. Think about making those steps 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: so small that they're really just a little better than nothing. 80 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: If writing five hundred words a day is too much, 81 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: right two hundred. I bet you sent two hundred words 82 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: of emails by eight thirty am. But almost nothing isn't 83 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: actually nothing, and a little bit of something, done over 84 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: and over again can move mountains over the long haul. 85 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: What big project have you broken into tiny steps? I'd 86 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: love to hear about it. You can email me at 87 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at I heart media dot com. In 88 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's 89 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd 90 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 91 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, 92 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the 93 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also 94 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i 95 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out 96 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward 97 00:05:54,520 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of 98 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 99 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 100 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.