I’ll be honest with you…

I nearly didn’t start writing this newsletter today.

As usual, I got up VERY early.

In fact, it was 5.30am when I opened my laptop.

That’s not uncommon…

But this morning, something was wrong.

I had a vague idea of what I wanted to say, but for some reason I couldn’t get going.

I found myself tidying my desk… checking a couple of emails… making another coffee…

Anything except writing this newsletter.

This is a common trap.

Not only for me, but anyone who has to work for themselves.

If you don’t clock-in to a job, or have a boss breathing down your neck, it’s entirely up to you to get motivated.

Which can be easy when you’re full of energy and excitement – particularly when you’ve just come across a shiny new tool or strategy,

But on a dark Monday morning it can be hard.

Especially when it’s an ongoing project that’s been up and running for a while.

It’s not only Mondays that cause this…

The same applies if you’re sitting at a computer after a busy day at work, trying to focus on a home business project, or follow a training course in your spare time.

It can feel like there’s a huge weight on your shoulders.

You desperately want to get started and produce something decent…

Which somehow makes it HARDER, mentally.

And more likely that you’ll procrastinate!

For example, take my situation this morning….

I had an idea I wanted to share, but it felt almost TOO big for my brain to grapple with at this early hour.

So I flailed around, looking for distractions.

The thing is, if you ever feel like this on Monday mornings, the problem isn’t laziness.

The problem is…

THE EXPECTATION TRAP!

Most of us want to start a brilliant, productive week – and for everything to go right.

This adds a level of mental pressure, even if it’s subconscious and you don’t realise it.

Suddenly, your first task of the week feels a lot heavier than it needs to be.

You get an urge to switch to things that are easier, like moving objects around your desk or scrolling through your smartphone.

I experience this a LOT.

My brain tells me I have to create the perfect headline… the most compelling email newsletter… or the most successful advertising copy.

For a few minutes I feel overwhelmed.

I question my abilities and doubt that I can ever do it.

And it takes a huge effort to overcome this – particularly at 5.30am on a gloomy Monday in February!

This is because perfectionism and high expectations tend to slow us down, rather than motivate us.

Faced with a difficult challenge, your brain seeks out easier alternatives…

This could mean dithering, procrastinating, or avoiding work altogether.

You might find yourself making convincing excuses, like

“I’m too tired this morning”…

“I need to ease myself into the week with something else”….

“I’d better do some more preparation before I get started.”

So you latch onto a safer, more comfortable task that FEELS useful but isn’t going to get you to your goal.

So what’s the solution?

Well, it sounds a little counter-intuitive.

But the trick is to deliberately

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS!

Instead of expecting yourself to do excellent work straight away…

Accept that you’re probably going to do something rushed, low quality and imperfect.

This automatically reduces the pressure.

For example, if you’re trying to put together content for a website, email or sales promotion, you might aim for a ‘bad’ first draft.

Just accept that it will be messy!

Better to get something done (and improve it later) than to do nothing at all.

Or let’s imagine that you’re researching niche markets for a potential product.

Instead of assuming you’ll finish the day with a detailed report and a sure-fire target market, aim for the bare bones of a report instead.

Accept that it will be incomplete and won’t have a definitive answer by the end of it.

Again, it’s better to do some research than none at all!

Take today’s email newsletter, for example.

I write three of these every week.

But today it felt tougher and more pressured than usual.

Obviously, I pushed through – or you wouldn’t be reading this right now!

And the trick I used was to tell myself:

“Get some raw notes down now and you can always tidy it up later.”

I even told myself that I could send the newsletter out later in the day if – for whatever reason – I didn’t complete it to my satisfaction.

As soon as I did that, the mental weight lifted, and I got stuck in.

The thing is, as soon as you DO get stuck into a project, you’ll notice that your inner drive suddenly fires up.

And there’s a reason for this…

The Physics of Getting Started

In chemistry, a reaction needs an initial burst of energy to get things moving.

This is known as ‘ACTIVATION ENERGY’.

Once the reaction is underway, it often needs less energy to continue than it did to get started.

Human behaviour works in a similar way.

Getting started on a task requires disproportionately more mental effort than continuing when you’re already in motion.

Because to get going, your brain has to switch gears, focus its attention, overcome uncertainty and endure some initial discomfort… all at once!

That’s why a blank screen on a Monday morning can seem so daunting.

Yet after you’ve written a few words, it begins to feel easier, and you wonder why you had such a problem in the first place!

Neuroscience backs this up, too…

When you complete a small task, your brain releases small amounts of dopamine – the chemical linked to motivation and reward.

That dopamine doesn’t come BEFORE the task begins but AFTER.

This is even more problematic on Monday mornings, after a weekend away from work, when your brain is forced to switch into ‘focus’ mode.

Expecting that you’ll instantly achieve peak performance is like expecting your car to hit 70mph as soon as you’ve left your driveway.

All the neural networks involved in planning, writing and problem-solving have gone a bit cold.

So you need to warm them up a bit…

That means doing something small, achievable and imperfect.

Anything to get the cogs whirring!

In psychology this is known as ‘COGNITIVE PRIMING’.

Research shows that doing a simple task before a more demanding one can make the follow-up task faster and easier to complete.

This is because the relevant neural pathways are already activated.

So when you sit down at your computer on a Monday morning don’t expect immediate brilliance.

Actually, don’t expect brilliance at all.

Instead, aim to:

• Write badly
• Produce a rough version
• Do a scrappy first attempt
• Not get the final result.

This way you can lower the mental resistance and get started.

Once that happens, your neural networks will light up and your brain’s reward hormones will do the motivating for you!

Remember… done is better than perfect!