All guides

Mind and focus

You know what to do and still cannot make yourself start.

“I know exactly what I need to do. It has been on my mind for three weeks. I still cannot make myself pick up the phone and do it.”

10 guides · 20 minutes of reading

  1. 01How to make a phone call you have been avoiding for weeksWhy the call is hard, and a way through it that does not require you to suddenly become a different person.2 min read
  2. 02How to restart a project you gave up onRestarting is harder than starting, for a specific reason. Here is what actually reduces the cost of coming back.2 min read
  3. 03Why to-do lists make things worse, and what helps insteadA list is a memory aid. The problem was never memory. Here is what the difficulty actually is and what works better.2 min read
  4. 04Why you keep thinking about a task and not doing itWhy constant remembering does not turn into doing, and the specific thing that makes a stuck task start moving.2 min read
  5. 05Task paralysis: what to do in the next ten minutesWhen you cannot start anything at all, the useful move is smaller than a plan. A short way out that does not require motivation.2 min read
  6. 06Scripts for the admin calls everyone dreadsOpening lines for the five calls people put off longest, and the four things to do before hanging up on any of them.2 min read
  7. 07How to deal with something you have put off for monthsThe shame is doing more work than the task now. How to deal with the delay itself, including what to say about it.2 min read
  8. 08Life admin with brain fog: long covid, chronic illness, griefWhen holding a plan in your head has stopped being reliable, the useful adjustments are not about trying harder.2 min read
  9. 09Executive dysfunction is not procrastinationThey look identical from outside and are different from inside. Why the distinction changes which strategies work.2 min read
  10. 10Diagnosed with ADHD as an adult: what happens nextMost adults with ADHD were diagnosed as adults. What changes afterwards, what does not, and the paperwork nobody mentions.2 min read