How To Build Momentum (Part 2)

In last Saturday's part 1 of our 3-part series for "How to get unstuck" we covered frameworks for quickly shifting your perspective.

Part 1: Shift your perspective. (last week)
Part 2: Start taking action, build momentum. (today)
Part 3: How to handle stress throughout the process. (next week)

Today, I'm sharing four unconventional ways to create momentum that you may not have considered.

Research shows a surprising insight: when we're truly stuck, traditional motivation techniques can often make things worse, not better.

Why? Because for most people who feel stuck, the core issue isn't motivation—it's friction. Friction comes in many forms: psychological, environmental, social, and procedural. And it requires different tools to overcome.

Let's dive in.

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1. The "Clearing Ritual": Reset Your Environment, Reset Your Mind

Research from Princeton University found that visual clutter significantly impairs mental performance, essentially creating a hidden "drag" on cognitive function. 

But the solution isn't just tidying up.

The clearing ritual is different:

• Step 1: Physically remove everything from your workspace
• Step 2: Clean the empty surface thoroughly
• Step 3: Return only what's essential for the immediate task
• Step 4: Create a clear statement of intent before beginning

Unlike regular tidying, clearing creates a psychological reset. This approach has proven effective for both physical and digital workspaces.

The science: This works because your environment isn't just a physical space—it's an extension of your mental operating system. The more objects in your visual field, the harder your brain works to filter them out, causing mental fatigue and reduced cognitive capacity.

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2. The 85% Rule: Perfection is the Enemy of Motion

Perfectionism will kill your progress, usually in the last 15% of any project. 

Why? Because perfectionism creates what psychologists call "approach-avoidance conflict"—you desperately want to complete the task, but simultaneously fear falling short of an ideal standard.

This is where most stalled projects die: not at the beginning, but in the endless refinement phase where each incremental improvement takes exponentially more time and energy. 

The pursuit of that final 15% can consume more resources than the first 85% combined—all while generating mounting anxiety about potential shortcomings.

The solution is to fundamentally reframe what "done" means:

• Completion isn't about achieving perfection; it's to get feedback as quickly as possible
• That final 15% comes not from isolated refinement, but from real-world learnings

Here's how to implement the 85% rule:

• Determine the minimum viable quality that would generate meaningful feedback
• Set a hard deadline based on this standard, not perfection
• Ship it at exactly that point
• Use real-world interaction to guide the final 15%

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George S. Patton

This approach transforms the paralysis of perfectionism into forward motion, allowing learning to happen where it matters most—in contact with reality rather than in isolation.

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3. Strategic Incompleteness: The Zeigarnik Effect

In the 1920s, psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik noticed that waiters could remember complex orders perfectly until the orders were filled, then promptly forgot them. 

This led to her discovery of what's now called the Zeigarnik Effect: unfinished tasks occupy the mind until completed.

Instead of seeing this as a negative, elite performers deliberately harness it:

• Ernest Hemingway famously stopped writing mid-sentence when the work was going well, so he could pick up seamlessly the next day. 
• Pianist Arthur Rubinstein would practice a piece until just before mastery, then deliberately leave it for days.

This approach of leaving a task “unfinished” while you have momentum makes it easier to get back into flow when you return. 

How to apply it:

1. Stop mid-flow, not at a logical endpoint
2. Leave next steps visible
3. Set a specific return time (12-24 hours)

When you break before completing a task, your brain continues processing in the background. 

Upon returning, you'll find it easier and faster to resume where you left off, rather than facing the mental effort of starting something completely new. 

The science: Neuroscientists at Washington University found that the prefrontal cortex maintains "task-active representations" of unfinished business. This creates a productive cognitive tension that your brain wants to resolve.

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4. Productive Procrastination: Task Switching Framework

Research on procrastination has revealed a counterintuitive finding: structured procrastination—strategically working on meaningful secondary tasks when avoiding primary ones—can actually enhance overall productivity.

This isn't about avoiding work; it's about strategically redirecting momentum when stuck:

• Have three separate active tasks of varying difficulty and type
• When you hit a wall on one, immediately switch to another
• Track total productive hours, not time spent on any specific task

When Oscar-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street) feels stuck editing a scene, she doesn't force it or take a break—she switches to organizing footage for a completely different scene. 

She maintains momentum while giving her subconscious time to solve the original problem.

The science: Cognitive research shows that different types of work use different neural pathways. Switching between tasks allows certain cognitive regions to recover while others engage. Additionally, the "incubation effect" enables background processing of problems when direct attention is diverted.

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The Momentum Mindset: Motion Creates Clarity

The most profound shift comes from internalizing this: clarity follows action, not the other way around.

When you're stuck, don't wait for perfect clarity. Create movement, however small, and watch as the fog lifts with each step forward.

Choose just one of these five approaches. Apply it to something you've been stuck on, however small. Notice not just the progress, but how your perception of obstacles change when you’re in a state of motion.

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Coming Next Week

Part 3 of “How to get unstuck” – Handling stress and pressure while you go through the process.

If you found this valuable, forward it to someone who could use a fresh perspective on getting unstuck. And if you're willing, reply to this email and let me know which approach you're going to try—I'd love to hear how it works for you.

Until next week!