4 min read
the first-step method
Most advice tells you to break the task down. Nobody tells you how small the first piece has to be. This is the size that actually works.
why 'break it down' fails
Breaking a task into five steps still leaves you deciding which one to do, when to do it, and whether it's the right order. That's three more decisions than a frozen brain has available.
The fix isn't a better list. It's making the very first action so small that deciding costs nothing.
the four lines
Write these four lines about the task you're avoiding. Nothing else.
- What is the physical object I touch first? (laptop, form, sink, phone)
- What is the smallest thing I can do to it in 60 seconds?
- Where will I be sitting or standing while I do it?
- What happens right after — stop, or keep going if it's easy?
the size test
If your first step still needs a decision, it's too big. "Start the report" is a decision. "Open the doc and type the title" is an action.
A good first step is boring, obvious, and slightly embarrassing in how small it is. That's the point: it's below the threshold your brain guards.
what to do when it still doesn't move
Halve it. Then halve it again. "Open the doc" becomes "unlock the laptop". There is no step too small to count — momentum comes from motion, not from size.
the ADHD task-paralysis playbook
12 pages, no fluff: the exact scripts to start a task when your brain won't. Free.
want this for your real tasks?
The playbook is the method. Spark is the method on demand: type the thing you're avoiding, get one tiny step, start in under 2 minutes.
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