Thursday Press #120: what to do when your brain isn't brain-ing
[22 FEB 2024] how to actually get sh*t done
There are two fundamental flaws with the phrase “practice makes perfect…”
Perfect doesn't exist
I don't want to be not perfect
Okay, so that second flaw might just be a me thing. But it's a very real experience!
I hated practicing new things or anything I wasn't good at. That made me the worst kind of student growing up.
Or at least I was in music class.
For normal school things, I was a (mostly) diligent student, getting homework and assignments in on time, somehow acing tests without studying (yeah, annoying, I know), and going through the motions.
But when it came to my weekly music lessons, I never did my homework.
Practicing my piano scales? No thanks. Improving a guitar piece to memorize the notes? Absolutely not. Sight reading for voice lessons? Helllll to the no.
I obviously wasn't buying into the "practice makes perfect" memo. I wanted to be perfect from the start, even in my practices.
Of course, I was far from perfect, which inevitably always kept me from practicing.
So every Wednesday at 6 p.m., I'd pull out my guitar, open up our practice book, and be smacked in the face with the realization that yet another week had gone by without doing my music homework.
And every Wednesday at approximately 6:10 p.m., my patient music teacher would ask if I had done the homework after I tried and failed to stumble my way through the song we were working on.
God bless her, honestly. She was more therapist than instructor and the biggest constant in my life for 7 years, and she put up with all my ridiculousness.
Honestly, I'm not proud of this behavior of mine. I'm especially not proud to admit it's something I still do.
Luckily, I have an actual therapist now, who blows my mind on a weekly basis. And luckily for you, I'm sharing what I learn with you.
How to Actually Get Sh*t Done When Your Brain Says “No Way”
One of my biggest challenges as an entrepreneur with ADHD is getting started, or as it's known clinically — task initiation.
"Task initiation is harder when you have ADHD, because tasks take more energy to get started. While it's tempting to rely on urgency and deadlines, overreliance on urgency can leave us feeling guilty, ashamed, anxious, or overwhelmed." (source)
DING DING DING.
I put off starting things until the "right mood" strikes, or I feel like I have enough brain power to get fully in the zone, or I have enough time to finish the task completely.
The irony is that most of those tasks that get put off are gargantuan.
I'm sorry... I'm waiting to have enough time, energy, and focus to get 2 whole months of client work knocked out at once??? Who tf am I kidding?
So my therapist called me out —
"What if you just gave yourself permission to do it for 25 minutes? You can stop or keep going, but you have to start with the intention to work on that task for 25 minutes."
🤯🤯🤯
It makes so much sense. No wonder I struggle to start tasks so much, I rarely ever get the chance to practice starting.
This was just one of the many tricks and techniques we're adding to my ~productivity~ toolkit because bestie, I'm overWHELMED.
I posted the following message on my stories the other day, and the responses were staggeringly "SAME".
So if you're also living that #blessedandstressed life, I wanted to share a few things I'm trying this week to work with a more positive mindset and stay a little more on track than I have been.
01. The more you start, the better you'll get at starting
02. You can do anything for 10 minutes
03. Schedule "reset" checkpoints throughout the day
04. Physically reset yourself and/or your space
05. Keep your workspace for work
06. Use environmental cues and triggers to initiate focus mode
07. Turn on Do Not Disturb often and without prejudice
If you want more details about these tips or specifics on how I apply them to my work day, you can read the blog linked below!
Micro-Productivity Tips for Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs
As Olivia Rodrigo famously said, "god, it's brutal out here!"
I feel like everyone I've spoken to lately is feeling some variation of being behind, overwhelmed, stressed, and busy.
So if you're feeling that way too, know you are FAR from alone. We're all out here, seeming like we have our shit together on the outside while panicking on the inside.
It didn't feel right to prattle on about Pinterest marketing and ~optimizing~ when so many of us are just trying to survive from one day to the next. These tips are what I wanted you to know. And now you do.
If you have any you'd like to add, PUH-LEASE let me know, I'll literally try anything. 😅
CONGRATS ON MAKING IT THROUGH ANOTHER WEEK!