Thanks for writing in with your Togetherness challenge. I hear you on this, I really do, and this happens to me a lot, especially with writing projects. When we get a case of “I don’t WANNAs,” a few things can help propel us forward.
- Check that your energy matches the moment. I wrote more about this in our September 2026 newsletter, but sometimes what I planned to do simply does not match the moment, whether it is a cognitive load issue, a physical materials issue, or an environmental situation issue. I had planned to write the newsletter, but I was more creatively tired than I realized, and so I had to pivot. (Sidenote: if your whole Weekly Worksheet is done, then you can easily pick something else off the list).
- Think about success in terms of weeks / months, not just a day. I feel like I hear this with healthy eating, exercise, and other lifestyle habits too. Yes, there may be a day you fall behind, but if we view our progress in terms of what we want to accomplish that week, it leaves the flexibility you mentioned. As you map out your work, ask what must be done by the end of the month. And then maybe you have a few higher momentum catch-up days.
- Get your reset ready. Not every day will go as one intends (like you, I often find it makes me feel tired and whiny when this happens!), but it helps to have a reset plan in place. I can feel guilty about not writing my newsletter one morning, and it’s very easy to toss my hands up and be like “This day was a wash!” But you can reset or restart a day anytime you wish. I can’t remember where I read this, but there was some kind of phrase around resetting that was “Get In or Get Out.” The author was making an invitation to either Get In to something else that inspires you when you have the Blahs (for me, it is reading other people’s great writing when I don’t feel like writing) or, if that doesn’t work, then Get Out by stepping away from work for a minute. Take a walk, do a brief meditation, or a quick stretch.
- Leave breadcrumbs. This is my reluctant author-self talking here, but I once read that you should stop a project on a high note, and leave yourself notes or bullet points of where to pick back up. That avoids the dreaded blank page feeling at 8:30 AM. I have gotten in the habit of doing this for writing projects. Having a Post-it note ready telling myself what to do, and being excited where I left off makes a case of the “I don’t WANNAs” easier to avoid.
- Make it micro. This is common productivity advice but make the steps as small as possible and make them all start with verbs. “Write a book chapter” is intimidating, but “write 500 words about a great remote work set-up” is a little bit easier. The other bonus is the verbs are strong signals of what kind of energy is required. Writing is easier for me than revising, so I can make sure my brain is really on for the revision task.
- Track the blahs. I’m a big fan of pattern noticing. Are there certain types of tasks that you find yourself hiding from often? I know what mine are, and I have got to schedule them first thing in the morning, tell a team member, and make a steaming hot latte. If I look ahead on a week, I can anticipate when I will get an onset of the Blahs pretty quickly. Any job will always have some stuff we don’t feel like doing, but if we can anticipate, it can be easier to assign a strategy from the list above.
Give some of these and try and report back! And, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what my sister sometimes tells me. . . she will reach into her bag and say, “I have a big Suck-It-Up pill in my purse!” Hahahaha.
