Sometimes our brains are too smart for our own good.

I work with a lot of high achievers and they have a few things in common:

  • They are crazy smart professionals (who don’t necessarily believe they are all that smart). 
  • They are hard working, putting in lots of hours to accomplish their goals. 
  • They can juggle a gazillion different projects/clients/patients at the same time. 
  • They have endless ideas and always want to do new things
  • They are wildly successful (though they may not see it).

Also, they over-complicate and over-think everything! So when it comes to starting the next task, they get stuck.

Can you relate?

This is how it may play out for you…

You take a task and think five steps out. I want to do X and then this will happen. And when that happens, I will need to do this. And if one step in the chain goes wrong, I know how I will react to that. 

Before you know it, you’ve spent ten minutes and countless brain cells in a crazy game of Choose Your Own Adventure that will likely never even happen.

And you can’t get started. Your brain needs someone to come along and press pause! 

If you catch your brain going in a thousand different directions, remind yourself to lower the bar. Reduce the expectations. You don’t have to figure out what to do ten steps from now. You only need to take the first step. 

Getting Started Hack #13 – Work for Ten Minutes 

Can’t get started? Give yourself permission to sit down and work for just ten minutes. When the ten minutes are up, check in with yourself to see if you’d like to keep going. If you don’t want to, stop! Walk away or try another hack. However, 9 times out of 10, I’ll bet you keep going! Often, we just need to stop our brain from overthinking for just a few minutes in order to realize that we really are ready to work on a task.

Getting Started Hack #14 – One Song 

A great way to press pause on our brain’s desire to overcomplicate things is to fill it with something different. Not sure where to start? Press pause, turn on some music and sing/dance along to one song. Then, sit down and get started on your task. After a reprieve from overthinking, you’ll know how to get started.

Getting Started Hack #15 – Do Just One

Sometimes, tasks seem BIG. Too long, too much, too complicated. If you are struggling to get started when something seems like a lot, give yourself permission to do just one. Write just one sentence. Write just one paragraph. Read just one page. Put away just one dish. Fold just one shirt. Often, this will calm your overactive brain and after just one, you’ll want to keep going!

Want some support to figure out how to lower the bar? I’d love to help! Reach out and schedule a free Discovery Session!