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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Fast way to get unstuck

From the endlessly helpful and fascinating time burglar called the C2 wiki comes “List Your Way Out Of Stuckness.” I really like the idea behind this—particularly that notion of breaking your tasks into smaller and smaller pieces. I also just like the word “stuckness.”

Although I haven’t decided whether I think there’s a functional difference “Fears” and “Worries,” I do think this kind of exercise can be really valuable. It gets amorphous anxieties out of your brain’s echo chamber, and that’s always a good thing.

I think I’d even want to take this a step further, and, at the end of the exercise, meditate on what the brain dump meant: what’s the take-home message of all that cogitating and how can I learn from it (or not get hung up by it) in the future.

So, anyhow, I made a template and printed out a bunch of copies to keep handy. Help yourself.

Joshua Allen's picture

Making lists is a great...

Making lists is a great procrastination technique. However, I found the list of worries is quite effective. During stressful times, I would keep a whiteboard in my bedroom and write on it "5 things to worry about". Then I could imagine the very worst that could possibly happen, and go to sleep knowing that I would not forget to worry in the morning.

 
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