In 4HWW (or new version here), Tim Ferriss discusses what he calls the Puppy Dog Close as a technique to start reducing the number of meetings you have if you’re an employee (among other things) (p. 100):

The Puppy Dog Close is invaluable whenever you face resistance to permanent changes. Get your foot in the door with a “let’s just try it once” reversible trial.

Compare the following:

“I think you’d love this puppy. It will forever add to your responsibilities until he dies 10 years from now. No more care-free vacations, and you’ll finally get to pick up poop all over the city - what do you think?”

vs.

“I think you’d love this puppy. Why don’t you just take him home and see what you think? You can bring him back if you change your mind.“

Ferris then applies this to other things such as meetings as an employee. He concludes with:

Use it, but don’t fall for it. If a boss asks for overtime “just this once,” he or she will expect it in the future.

Right, that’s important - but I think it’s actually very useful to get your self to fall for it, in certain situations where you can use it on your self.

Here’s how it works:

Tactical: “I’ll just try out coding for 2 min. If don’t like it, can do something else instead.”

Strategic: “I’ll just try out this class. If don’t like it, can quit it.”

The Puppy Dog Close is a technique to just get started, and you can use it on yourself for things that you actually want to do because you think they will create value long-term for yourself, but are procrastinating on.

Have fun!