"Lists of stuff you need to do. It doesn’t matter how minor it is, put it all on there.

Then, you have two options. Do the easiest one first, and demonstrate to yourself that you’ve been pointlessly putting it off. Or do the most difficult one first, so that you get it out of the way and the list becomes easier and easier to finish.

Either way, pretty soon the focus of your activity changes from the actual tasks to “crossing things off the list”. You barely even notice you’re doing the tasks anymore, you just remember the pay-off you get when you cross another item off the list."