In my experience perfectionism is one of the meta-stories we use to explain to ourselves why we have trouble executing. When starting things is hard, spending m

In my experience perfectionism is one of the meta-stories we use to explain to ourselves why we have trouble executing. When starting things is hard, spending more time on what you are already doing is easier and feels productive. When starting things is hard, learning about all the related sub-projects feels productive and creates a powerful dopamine hit of new information. I find what works best with the poor time horizon stuff is to spend a bit of time regularly looking at and planning the big picture on a calendar or paper, but then spend the bulk of your time chiselling away at the plan. Forget weeks and months, just worry about today and the next half hour. Break every task down until you can face the starting action. GTD was right about not knowing what to do next will stop you in your tracks. So will not being able to face what you have to do next. During my most productive stretches I use a combo of digital and physical. There might be an intimidating list of todos in my browser, but my working hours are limited. I break my day down into 30 minute (25 work/5 break) pomodoros. I string several together if I need a longer block. In the morning I transcribe what I want/need to work on onto enough cards to fill all the blocks for my day. Some things get split across multiple cards. Some cards get multiple items. This process gives me a good grasp of what is in store for the day, which helps minimise perseveration. Then I arrange them to avoid boredom. Place the hard stuff first for when I'm fresh. Interleave projects because switching between projects keeps me interested. Maybe shuffle some for the surprise factor. Sometimes I also have cards for the breaks. Those I shuffle, again for the surprise factor. Hey! It's snack time! Again! Unless there's something I really don't want to do, then I'll have a doom scrolling break waiting for when it's done. Having a dual digital timer (a physical device) makes sticking to this easier. If I can't face a card, I move onto the next one. If I reach the end and still can't face it, I try and work out why. Too hard? Too dull? Too confusing? Maybe I switch up the pomodoro and do 5 minutes on it and have a 25 minute break. ¯\_(°ペ)_/¯ The most important thing is making as much of your routine as you can a habit without allowing it to turn invisible. Making it physical helps, but isn't foolproof. Nothing is. We can learn to ignore anything except that we feel bad for ignoring things. Once you can ignore it, you have to start all over again with a new approach. You can delay the inevitable derail by making it as easy and as enjoyable as possible. You do that by making space for as many reliable dopamine hits as you can. I haven't been able to work on ritalin or adderall. I'm on guanfacine (Intuniv), which takes the edge off the concomitant emotional issues, especially the performance-related anxiety we can accumulate over the years, while being psychically transparent. Unlike ritalin and adderall.