Use this worksheet when you know which task you are postponing but have not defined its first workable session. The sheet ends with a visible output and a review. It is designed to be completed, used and put aside rather than endlessly polished.

Blank task-start card

TASK-START CARD
Task and actual deadline: _________________________________
Who needs the output / how I will use it: ___________________
Smallest useful output for this session: ___________________
Essential accuracy or quality check: _______________________
Required inputs already available: _________________________
Missing input and request needed: __________________________
Work appointment: date ____ time ____ place ____ length ____
Specific substitute activity to remove: ____________________
Completion evidence: ______________________________________
If blocked, the useful alternative output is: ______________
AFTER THE SESSION
What now exists: __________________________________________
What remains unresolved: __________________________________
Next appointment or support request: _______________________

Choose a useful output

An output advances the actual task: three checked findings for a report, a paragraph for a draft or one specific request for missing information. Opening a file can be the first action, but if that is all you record, say that honestly. Do not pretend the full task is finished.

The structure applies Kerub's distinction between a declaration, a repeated input and an eventual result. Her systems model gives today's work a place in the process without guaranteeing the external outcome. [A_EGO:17]

Completed fictional card

Task: prepare two-slide meeting update, due Friday
Recipient: project owner
Output today: three verified progress bullets
Check: compare each bullet with the issue record
Available: completed issues and current milestone
Missing: approval date; send one question to owner
Appointment: Thursday 11 a.m., desk, 15 minutes
Remove: browsing new presentation themes
Evidence: bullets saved in meeting document; question sent
If blocked: label unverified approval date as unresolved
After: three bullets exist; approval date still unknown
Next: add owner reply and review the two slides Friday morning

The sample's 15 minutes is an illustration, not a prescribed productivity interval. Choose time that matches the piece of work and your current capacity.

Use the fallback carefully

A fallback must still advance the task. If a required decision is missing, a clear request can do that. Cleaning the desk for the fifth time generally does not produce the requested report. Keep real maintenance work on its own plan rather than relabeling it as the task's completion.

If the session does not happen, record what prevented it. Revise the appointment, scope or support requirement. Kerub's action model challenges endless negotiation with motivation; it does not require ignoring legitimate limits. [A_EGO:14]

This is an original operational reflection sheet, not a clinical assessment or treatment instrument. It provides no diagnostic score and no claim that completing a form cures procrastination.