Snooze Button in Reverse

When you hit a road block, you can either stop and come back to your task later or power through it. As a profligate procrastinator, the temptation to “come back to it later” is as dangerous as it is useful. I’m always on the prowl for a rule, something firm enough to make me push through hard tasks but flexible enough that I don’t slip into procrastination.

My alarm clock has a 10 minute long snooze. Some mornings, I hit it and indulge the desire to not get out of bed, and still stay on time. Lately I’ve been bringing a similar idea to other areas. Anytime I don’t want to continue a task, I keep going for ten more. Think I finished a blog post on a topic? Write ten more sentences. Done enough sit ups? Try ten more. Studied enough material? Ten extra pages should do it. Sometimes you find out you have really hit your limit and have to stop, but sometimes you push past the problem into the next level.