Following up on the previous post learning to learn, this is about starting to start. There is an invisible wall between you and the task you have to begun and have never done it before. Personally, this wall has been something I have struggled with a lot, and I still do sometimes. The effects of this are dire, they become the cause and take you further down the drain. Let us break the problem down and analyze it a little:

Causes and Effects
Since some of the effects also become the cause after a while, let us discuss them in the same umbrella. The primary cause of this problem is the fear of unknown. This is something that was also discussed in the previous post. Let’s elaborate on that. The complexity of the task, or the anticipation of failure can be daunting. The task may seem mamoth even if it may not be, just because you may not have done it before. Unless it is straight-forward or has a tutorial or a DIY guide to it, it may be fearful to dive into it and making considerable progress at it. This can cause you to turn to other tasks at hand. You would try to procrastinate the task at all costs and do whatever else you can to avoid it. This can be very harmful as you avoid it but it only gets worse, because it has to be done and you lose out on time. Which futher makes you avoid it more.
If this was not enough, imposter syndrome comes into play. You feel you may not be as good at it as the people who assigned you the task think you are. You may compare yourself with others, and be demotivated. Along with other problems in life, this can lead to depression too. Everyone of us faces this, you are not alone.

Solution

  1. Prepare yourself mentally.
    You know that you have to get it done. Delaying will only leave you with lesser time. You have to know that the task is doable and people have done it, if others can, you can too. Look at your past accomplishments and get yourself together. Know what you have done, what you are capable of. Building up confidence is the first step to start. If you haven’t had a break recently, take one before you start. But once you start, be prepared to give it all.

  2. Plan it
    Fear of unknown can be solved by finding what the unknowns are and tackling the known unknowns. Find out what you need to know to start with. Once you know what you need to know, break the tasks down and learn as much as you need to before starting. Do not spend time only learning, learn as much as needed to start with, and pick the rest as you go along. Being practical is important. Learning and practicing a lot is the key to get the familiarity and overcoming the fear of unknown.

  3. Carrot and stick
    Once you have divided the tasks into smaller subtasks, it is time to conquer. Plan a schedule and have targets for the day, for the week, and for the month. Setting achievable goals is important when you start, you do not want to fail at it because of over-expectation and then fall into the viscious cycle of demotivation. Learning to learn might be helpful at this point. Allot more time than you think you will need, the task is new, you may not know the unknown unknowns, thus a safety margin is a must-have. Give yourself rewards when you achieve something. But at the same time, when you don’t, it is not okay to be too easy on yourself if you under-estimate and yet, do not achieve it. Sacrifice on the reward, or your leisure time to get it done.

  4. Distraction free
    Last but not the least in any way, avoiding distraction is one of the most important things you will need to do. If you have distractions, a minor hurdle on the way to main goal will draw you to distractions. If you have nothing to turn to, you will spend time on the task at hand and get it done. Keep your phone away, turn of the notifications, keep a time window when you are allowed to check for them, be devotional and disciplined.

Conclusion
With this being said, congratulations that you have thought of starting something new. All the best, I wish you all the success. Have a fun time learning!