I've read a lot of ideas about how to do the thing I've been avoiding. I'm fairly convinced that the only way to do it is hire someone to get on my case and not let up until I get it done. Pay up front so that I can't get out of it by stopping the payments. If I get a friend or family member to do it, it'll sour the relationship and I don't want that. If I get a machine to do it, I can ignore or turn off the machine and that defeats the purpose.
But heck, I'm not gonna spend money on that. So here I am.
This actually worked surprisingly well for me. I hadn't gone to the gym in months and it was always a question of: why is this day going to be the day I start?
I used this personalized chat-based service, where I said I will pay 1000$ if I don't go tomorrow. Like magic, there was no way I wouldn't go.
I also used it for shipping a small side-project in 1 week. I procrastinated for 3 days, and then felt this real panic-inducing pressure 2 days before the deadline which forced an incredible moment of focus (like cramming before an exam).
This approach is great when you need ignition from a cold-start to provide that initial momentum which is so important.
Required knowledge and skills. Required knowledge and skills to get on my case are much easier to find than required knowledge and skills to do the thing I need to do.
If you are lucky your spouse is that right person. 24x7x365 of being on the case. It worked for me. The challenge is, I told avoid telling her things that I want to avoid. :)
But heck, I'm not gonna spend money on that. So here I am.