If you don't have the steps to achieve X and you can't come up with the steps on the fly (or the steps you know do not work) then you will not be able to do X when you want to.
I know I procrastinate when I don't know how to start.
But learning how to break things down into chunks and make a checklist makes it a lot easier to avoid that. A well defined task is actually fun to do, and I'm much less likely to avoid it.
I think this has to with the unknowns of modern work.
In knowledge work, we need to:
1. Define the work
2. Do the work
Can't do what's not defined.
In general, the simple advice I give our clients is to take a piece of paper and a pen, and put all the ideas about the task out there. Take 5-15 minutes and try to define it.
Basecamp's Shape Up book is a lot about managing the unknowns.
