Here’s how it works:

1. Take a pen or pencil and turn to a blank page of a notebook.
2. Write today’s date in the upper left-hand corner.
3. Think of one simple task that you’ve been putting off. Write it down underneath the date.
4. Do that task and only that task. Don’t write out a to-do list. It’s easy to let yourself get distracted by all of the other undone tasks you aren’t doing. Just do the one thing you wrote down.
5. Once it’s done, draw a thin line through the task so that you can still read it, but you know it’s complete. Repeat steps 3-5.

The goal of J.O.T. isn’t to get more stuff done. Or even to get more of the “right” stuff done. Instead, the aim is to break the procrastination-paralysis loop right now by proving to yourself that you are, in fact, capable of following through and taking action.