Start at One Degree
I fought it. And I won. It is a small victory but a victory none the less.
I have cultivated this beautiful habit of coming home from the office, sitting down with the iPad, launching YouTube and doing nothing more till I start winding down at 9:30 PM. I have honed this habit to perfection.
The iPad was heavy on my lap this evening and I really wanted to tap on that other video. It was almost 7 PM and I had been home for 2 hours, most of which was spent on the iPad. I swung my leg over the bed onto the wood floor, pushed against my quads and stood up. I walked to the dishwasher and unloaded it -- picked up some momentum by doing that. Then I cleaned out not one but three tubs of cat litter (we have many cats). Took the litter to the trash can on the far side of the back yard, then took the kitchen trash out as well.
I just finished dinner and I haven't touched the iPad yet.
The key to overcoming the inertia of lazyness is not to do something 180 degrees opposite (lazyness being the 0 degree mark). The trick is to do something 1 degree different. Then gain momentum. Then 3 degrees, 10...
At 7 PM this evening, 180 degree different would have to be going to the shop and chopping that mortise for my workbench build. I didn't really get there but my iPad is no where in sight and I am closer to going to the shop than I am to inhaling YouTube.
Like DHH said today, I did less than I wanted to do but it was a more meaningful outcome.