I was just reminded of a trick I sometimes play on myself to avoid procrastination, which is surprisingly effective:

I tell myself I’m just going to open all the relevant files / documents, remind myself what the task is and get everything set up ready to start work. I tell myself that I’m not actually going to do the work, just get ready to do the work.

Invariably I get drawn in, and before I know it, I’m actually doing the work.

I just played it on myself. It worked. 🙂