Short answer: Make the start small (two minutes), split the task into steps so progress can be seen, and decide in advance when homework is done. A focus timer with breaks makes the rest easier.
1. Starting is the hardest part
Most of us know it: the task isn't big, but it feels big. Putting things off is rarely about laziness. Often it's a way of avoiding an unpleasant feeling — that it's hard, boring or overwhelming — and the longer you wait, the bigger the task feels.
That's why “just get started” isn't enough. What helps is making the start so small that the feeling doesn't have time to take over.
Putting things off is rarely about laziness.
2. A two-minute step
The first step should be almost too easy: get the book out, read the task, open the document. Two minutes. Once you've started, it's much easier to carry on — and if not, at least something has happened.
That's why every piece of homework in Morgenrutine starts with a first small step. The type suggests it: Get the book out for reading, Read the task for exercises.
The help article shows the focus timer step by step — from start to mood and break.
Focus timer and steps3. Split the task into steps
A big task is overwhelming because you can't see where you are. Split into steps — find sources, make an outline, write, proofread — it becomes a series of small finished things. Each step is a small win you can see.
Steps also make planning possible. An hour-and-a-half assignment can be spread over three afternoons, so it's done the day before instead of the evening before.
4. Decide when — in advance
Research on so-called if-then plans (psychologist Peter Gollwitzer calls them implementation intentions) shows that it helps to decide in advance when and where you'll do something: “When I've had a snack at four, I'll sit down at the table and get the book out.”
That's exactly what a fixed homework slot does. The decision is made once and doesn't have to be negotiated every day. If football comes up, Morgenrutine moves the slot — but it's still a plan.
5. One step at a time, with breaks
A focus timer makes the task bounded: one step, a set number of minutes, then a break. It's easier to say yes to twenty minutes than to “homework”. And the break isn't a reward you have to earn — it's part of the plan.
Many also find it helps to take the hardest step early, while they're fresh — after the small first step.
Get started
Pick a piece of homework with your child and add it in Homework with the right type. Look at the first small step and agree when it will be taken. Tap Start homework when the time comes.
Frequently asked questions
Then something has still happened, and next time the start is already made. That's better than nothing — and rarer than you'd think.
No. Steps can also be ticked off without it. The timer is a help for the days when it's hard to get going.
Usually 10–30 minutes. Several short ones rather than one long one.