You know what you need to do. You're just not doing it.

Published on Saturday, 11. September 2021

I don't know if I've been ever truly stuck. I definitely used it as an excuse to do nothing, though. But I always had at least a few ideas to try next. Ideas that I, for one reason or another, didn't want to pursue. Maybe they required me to change, to challenge one of my core beliefs. Or maybe, they were just uncomfortable. But in the end, when I had procrastinated for long enough, I simply started to work on one idea I had from the beginning.

If you feel stuck, all that may be needed is for you to get started. Everything you are putting off seems more intimidating than it actually is. Create the space in your daily life to engage with what makes you uncomfortable or anxious. Each morning, pick one of these things. Block out two hours to focus on it.

Treat this time as if you are planning to watch a movie. Remove all distractions. Turn your phone off. Prepare snacks in case you get hungry. And then, make yourself really really bored. It's fine to do nothing. But don't do anything else. Whenever you notice that you are distracting yourself, gently come back to your task. If you're just sitting there for two hours and do nothing else, count it as a success. This, however, won't be happening often. Because after a bit of sitting around and doing nothing, working on your one thing, however uncomfortable it may be, will become much more exciting.