The Tiny Task Detour Remains Provisionally Approved
The subject completes six small tasks to warm up for one large task and never gets warm.
Summary: Subject opened the project file at 9:14 AM. Subject closed the project file at 9:14 AM. Between 9:14 AM and 12:47 PM, subject completed the following:
Cleared email inbox. Organized desktop. Watered the plant that did not need watering. Reorganized the second shelf of the bookcase. Responded to a message from three days ago. Made a second coffee. Reviewed notes from a meeting that is no longer relevant. Made a list of all remaining tasks for the week.
Contributing Factors:
The selected task has emotional weight. It requires judgment. Its quality will be visible to others. Beginning it means accepting the possibility of producing something inadequate.
The small tasks have no emotional weight. They are definitively completable. Each one generates a satisfying conclusion that the large task cannot yet provide.
Governing Rule: Under the applicable standard, once tiny task detour produces a feeling of progress, real progress may be postponed without immediate penalty. The feeling is indistinguishable from real progress in the short term. The distinction becomes visible only when the day ends and the selected task has not moved.
Status: Subject will begin the selected task after lunch. This has been determined to be a good time.
Note: Subject also made this determination at 9:00 AM, before the email inbox, and before the plant.