M
ost of us suffer to some extent from work-aversion. Some
of us like our work, and most of us at least don’t hate it, but
we’d still rather be doing something else most of the time.
That’s why they call it “work,” right? That aversion makes get-
ting started the hardest part of any job.
Jump-Start Each Work Session
“Writer’s block” gets the most press, but folks encounter “execu-
tive’s block” and “plumber’s block” and “computer programmer’s
block,” too—that state of semiparalysis brought on by fear and
pain and just plain old lack of desire.
We all have to learn to work through the aversion if we want
to put food on the table. But some of us perform time-consuming
warmup rituals before we start to work, and many of us take far
too long to reach a productive level of activity.
You may not even be aware of your rituals, which makes them hard to
get rid of. Some of your warmups may actually help prepare you to work,
but others may simply postpone the inevitable confrontation. Those are a
waste of time, and you need to get rid of them. Here’s how.
Eight Ways to Get a Fast Start
1. prepare Mentally
Back at the turn of the century, a man named Charles Haanel
called the subconscious mind “a benevolent stranger, working on