[gberardi]

As for doing things that need doing, one of my favorite ideas is "Just start it".

Rather than think "Just do it", which makes doing a large project sound easier than it is, "Just start it" actually IS easy.

If you want to learn something from a book, crack one open, and read through the introduction, skimming through the book to pick up a feel for it. Give yourself permission to stop after this first step, but you must not avoid doing that first step!

How hard it can it be to start something? No matter what the project is, starting something is easy. It's finishing that is hard.

However, once you do the first step, you don't have to do it anymore. So the next time you start, you start the second step.

If you extrapolate out to the conclusion, you will eventually "start" the last and final step, and you are finished.