Before the List

She sat with the notebook open and did not write right away. Taking a brief pause before starting a task has been shown to reduce cognitive overload and improve task engagement, especially when motivation feels low (Baumeister and Tierney 112).

Self-compassion during moments of inertia is also associated with greater persistence and lower burnout over time (Neff and Germer 29). She breathed, then wrote one line. Not the whole plan. Just the start.

Momentum, she realized, was not something you waited for. It was something you invited quietly.

Works Cited (MLA)
Baumeister, Roy F., and John Tierney. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin Press, 2011.
Neff, Kristin D., and Christopher K. Germer. “A Pilot Study of a Mindful Self-assion Program.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 69, no. 1, 2013, pp. 28–44.