[jesscxc]

Really interesting and helpful advice, thanks. Saved it to a personal wiki for stuff like this.

I use a kitchen timer, too, which has minutes and seconds (e.g., digital).

Some tasks with too much inertia/resistence I ask: "Can I work on this for 5 minutes? 2 minutes? 15 seconds?"

That will build momentum and show that it's often not as hard as it seems when you're on the other side of history.