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02 / The collection
Untangle something.
Give the muddle a page of its own. You don’t have to solve everything to find somewhere to start.
Pick a page · Three ten-minute exercises
Choose an exercise
Ten minutes · One page
A notebook · A pen · One unfinished thing
What would “finished” look like?
“Sort out the website.”
It’s been on the list for weeks. It could mean correcting a telephone number. It could mean rebuilding the entire thing and developing a new personality to go with it.
No wonder I keep finding something else to do.
The invitation
Take one vague task and describe a finish line you can actually reach.
Choose something small enough to move this week. “Sort my life out” may require a second page.
On your page
Copy the task exactly as it appears on your list.
Don’t improve it yet. Let’s see what you’ve been asking yourself to do.Write: “I can call this finished when…”
Describe something you could check. A file exists. An email has been sent. Someone can find the information they need.
If you’ve written “better”, “organised” or “up to date”, explain what you would see when that was true.Write: “For this attempt, I’m leaving out…”
Name the tempting extras. They can have their own turn later.Write the next physical action.
Something you could begin without another planning session: open the document, photograph the label, draft the first paragraph, find the invoice.Put a time beside it.
Give that first action a place in your day.
What a page might look like
An illustrative notebook page
The task: Sort out the website.
I can call this finished when: The homepage tells visitors what I offer, who it’s for and how to contact me. I’ve checked it on my phone and sent a test enquiry.
For this attempt, I’m leaving out: New photographs. A different logo. A complete history of the business. Any investigation of fonts.
Next physical action: Open a blank document and write three sentences: what I do, who I help, how to get in touch.
When: Tomorrow, after breakfast. Twenty minutes.
There’s still work to do. But “write three sentences after breakfast” is something I can begin.
Before you close the notebook
Read your finish line once more.
Could you reach it with the time and resources you have? If it still feels enormous, choose a smaller first result and rewrite it.
Take it further
Try this on one item from your list each morning for a week. Notice which tasks become easier to start—and which turn out not to matter very much.
I write about tools, work and my attempts to get on with things at Writer Interrupted.
Read more at Writer Interrupted ↗
Ten minutes · One page
A notebook · A pen · One circling decision
Know. Assume. Find out.
“Nobody will want this.”
A powerful reason to abandon an idea. Occasionally, it’s even based on evidence.
The invitation
Take a decision you keep circling and separate what you know from what you’ve quietly decided must be true.
On your page
Write the decision as a question.
“Should I run a small workshop?” is easier to examine than “The workshop situation”.Make three columns.
Head them KNOW, ASSUME and FIND OUT.Fill the first two columns.
For each “fact”, ask how you know it. A guess doesn’t become evidence because it’s been worrying you since Tuesday.Choose the uncertainty that matters most.
Which missing answer could actually change your decision? Put a specific question in FIND OUT.Name one way to get an answer.
A conversation, a price check, a small trial. Write who will do it and when.
What a page might look like
An illustrative notebook page
Question: Should I try a Saturday notebook workshop?
Know: The room holds eight. Hire costs £60. Two readers have asked about workshops.
Assume: Everyone is busy on Saturdays. I’d need a complete course before trying it.
Find out: Would those two readers be interested in a 45-minute trial, and when could they come?
Next step: Draft a short invitation tomorrow. Ask about interest and availability before booking anything.
You still have a decision to make. At least now you can see which parts are solid and which are fog.
Before you close the notebook
Put a star beside the assumption you’ve been treating most confidently as a fact.
Take it further
Return to the page when you get an answer. Move what you’ve learned into KNOW and see whether the decision has changed.
More on work and life at Writer Interrupted ↗
Ten minutes · One page
A notebook · A pen · A project with tentacles
The next small thing.
“Launch the project.”
I’ll get straight onto that, just as soon as I’ve worked out where it begins.
The invitation
Take something that feels too large to start and find a useful action you can finish in ten minutes.
Useful matters. Rearranging the stationery is enjoyable, but the stationery may already be arranged.
On your page
Name the result you want.
One sentence. What would exist, or be different, if this worked?List three things standing between you and that result.
Be specific. “I don’t know the venue’s price” is something you can work with.Pick one obstacle you can reduce today.
You don’t have to tackle the biggest one first.Write an action beginning with a verb.
Draft, find, compare, sketch, ask. If it contains “and” several times, shrink it.Set a ten-minute timer and begin.
When it ends, write what you completed and the next action. Stop or carry on deliberately.
What a page might look like
An illustrative notebook page
Result: A small evening workshop people can book.
Obstacles: No venue price. Unclear topic. No booking page.
Today: Find the venue’s contact details and draft three questions about price, capacity and available dates.
After ten minutes: Draft done. Next action: check the dates I can offer, then send it.
You haven’t launched a workshop. You’ve removed a little uncertainty and made the next move easier.
Before you close the notebook
Complete: “When I come back to this, I’ll start by…”
Leave yourself a clear place to pick it up.
Take it further
Keep a small “done” list for a week. Sometimes progress is easier to see behind you.
Keep a page turning
Something else to try?
Find your next ten-minute experiment.
Crossings-out welcome.
Send only what you’re happy to share. I’ll ask before publishing anything. Remove names and anything confidential.
Enjoy the way my mind wanders?
There’s more at Writer Interrupted: essays, stories and longer work, beginning with a few pieces you can try for free.
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