Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/1v9tby9/lpt_instead_of_pushing_yourself_too_hard_and/

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The original was posted on /r/lifeprotips by /u/Enliven_journey on 2026-07-29 11:22:20+00:00.

I used to be a master at putting things off. I used to call it "soaking". But in reality, I was just staring at my laptop screen feeling completely drained and overwhelmed before I even started.

The worst part was the guilt. You know that feeling of missed opportunities? I’d blame my heavy workload or exhaustion... But nothing changed until I started using one tiny trick: I stopped trying to do the whole task at once. And tell myself like mantra:

1. Write the big task.
2. What's the smallest action that moves this 1% forward?
3. Focus on it for now.

You know the saying "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." That’s it. Now I map out the big task, my 'Elephant', (I love literally picture it on a board), find the smallest thing I can do right now, and just do it.

It sounds super basic, but making that small adjustment made a huge difference for me.