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I have this problem at work. Sit and stare at my screen for an hour trying to make myself do something but as soon as someone else asks for my help I jump right on their thing... Sometimes of their thing is similar enough to mine I can trick myself into doing mine too but that doesn't always work.
I get 0 done without lists. People laugh about my lists, because every tiny detail has to be on it. So let's say I'm in the situation you described, and it's 10:30 am. What I'd tell myself is: There isn't even a list, so let's make a list, and if it's the last thing I'll do before lunch.
The list is quite often as detailed as:
- decide which task / ticket to work on
- ask coworker for advice what is suitable
- assign myself to the task
- read the task start to end
- understand the task
- reproduce the problem (if it's like a bug that needs fixing) ... and so on
Then, even in my worst state, I can tell myself: You can check off just the next item. That's not overwhelming, that's not too much.
Yeah I need this too! But for me a long list is in itself overwhelming. So I started to use blank cards (like those in hotels) and only put 3 todos on them with a whiteboard marker. I still have the long list somewhere on my pc but this way, I only ever see 3 calls to action. I tend to make them more specific on the card. This also comes with the satisfaction of wiping away a task when it’s done (I hate a long list with striked through tasks, because I have to scan to find the remaining ones).
- decide which task / ticket to work on