%% Last Updated: - [[2021-02-11]] - [[2020-08-30]] Related: - - [[Productivity]] [[Getting Things Done]] [[David Allen (DevRel)]] %% ![[The Second Brain - A Life-Changing Productivity System#^85af6d]] Many of us believe that more choices in life would make us happy, but that actually isn't always the case. Studies have shown that displaying more than one product in a supermarket stand can decrease sales in all products. This result is counterintuitive, but it reveals something about human nature: We have a tendency to do what is chosen for us. Starting a project is daunting because there are so many options. If we want to write a book, will it be fiction or nonfiction? Will it be sci-fi or fantasy? Young Adult or adult? Dystopian or post-apocalyptic? We cringe in the shadow of these collective choices and end up doing absolutely nothing. ^f374fd This particular kind of [[Procrastination]] is fortunately quite easy to combat. All we need to do is break the project apart into chunks. Then break those chunks into smaller chunks, and so on until we have a discrete action item. "Write a book" is amorphous and panic-inducing. "Brainstorm plot ideas" is something much more feasible. ## References - [[The Second Brain - A Life-Changing Productivity System]] - [[sources/Book/Getting Things Done]] ## See also - [[Having a mind like water is a flow state where the mind is free from the anxiety in needing to remember.]] - [[Make the question of willpower moot by changing your environment to remove inertia.]] - [[Get your first shitty draft over as fast as possible.]]