The Tiny-Yet-Impossible Tasks I Avoid
Hey friends,
I’ve been avoiding this one specific task for months.
I had lots of other important things to do for the big book launch, which made avoiding this task easier. Everything surrounding book launch was exciting and novel, engaging my brain in all the fun ways that get me motivated to get stuff done!
But that task I was avoiding was not fun. It was not exciting or novel.
It was boring, my kryptonite.
I’d been snoozing and re-snoozing and please-leave-me-alone-but-dont-let-me-forgetting an email related to this task for weeks and weeks. Every time it popped up in my inbox, I felt more stressed and more worried than the time before.
Not only that, but each time I was reminded of it, my perception of the size of the task (and the amount of time and effort I thought it would require) grew as well.
I felt like it was going to be as compatible with my brain as filling out time sheets. And I’ve quit jobs over time sheets.
But I finally did it this weekend.
And it took me a grand total of . . . 🥁 🥁 🥁 . . . 2 minutes.
TWO MINUTES.
I actually laughed out loud when I finished it!
Our ADHD brains are so good at making these types of tasks feel more and more intimidating. Mountains out of molehills.
Sometimes, it truly is a mountain—I don’t want to downplay those mountain tasks. When we can’t find the motivation, that “tiny task” can feel impossible. Time sheets were impossible for me.
But if you’ve been avoiding something for a long time, maybe it’s worth trying to look at it with fresh eyes. Consider that every time you dodge that task, it may appear a bit more daunting the next time you see it.
Also, don’t forget when you find out a task was easy! Set a reminder for yourself with a quick note-to-self. Here’s what my reminder looks like now:
Do you have any 2-minute mountains you’ve been avoiding?
Stay focused,
Jesse J. Anderson
P.S. There’s quite a few fun things coming up related to the book launch that I wanted to let you know about!
🎁 Giveaway: Extra Focus book + Shimmer ADHD Coaching
I’m partnering up with Shimmer for a giveaway: win a free copy of my book and even a chance at 3 months of ADHD coaching through Shimmer! Deadline is Sept 30th, so check out the instagram post for participation details!
🚀 Extra Focus & Unmasked Online Book Launch Event with Ellie Middleton
Excited to be having this live event with Ellie Middleton next month (Oct. 18th) to celebrate the launch of both our books, Extra Focus and Unmasked. We’ll be interviewing each other about our books and also doing a live Q&A! Make sure to get your free tickets today!
🎙️ My Lady ADHD - Prospective Memory & ADHD with Jesse J. Anderson
I had a great chat with my friend
P.P.S. There were a couple of great Substack articles related to the launch of Extra Focus as well!
Behind-the-Book
For paid supporters of the newsletter, I’m sharing some of the behind the scenes for the book. Today, I’m showing the evolution of one illustration (by my incredible illustrator
) from the book so you can see the progress from original sketch to the final result!