Of all the things you have to manage, the most difficult
is yourself. You cause yourself more grief, problems and difficulties than
anything or anyone else around you. Face it—you just refuse to be managed.

You know what you should do but you’re resistant. You
make up excuses. You get absorbed with distractions.  You convince yourself you’ll start tomorrow. You
can find all kinds of ways of getting out of doing what you should.

It wouldn’t be so bad if you could delegate being managed
to someone else. But that’s not going to happen because the work you do is
knowledge work. It happens in your head. Thinking has the appearance of doing nothing,
yet it is the most important part of your job.

Whatever you’re putting off is probably something that
isn’t easy or quick. If that’s the case, current research shows three ways you
can manage yourself better. First, be clear about what the first step is. You
don’t have to plan the entire thing. Just clarify the first step. Second, make
sure the first step is very short and easy to accomplish—maybe 15-30 minutes. Third,
put it on your calendar. You can find 15 minutes somewhere in your busy
schedule over the next two weeks. If you can’t, read the third paragraph again.

This week, make a choice.
Either take one thing you’ve put off for too long and get it moving, or be a
recalcitrant slug and do what you’ve always done. Just be sure to blame the
right person.