What’s been on my mind lately?
A tonne of stuff!
I’m an OBM and business owner, but I’m also a fur-baby mum, wife, friend, sister, daughter — plus a parent, which brings its own set of ‘job titles’… social secretary, taxi driver…
I’m not alone in this, I know that. You might even be nodding your head in agreement reading this or adding your own jobs to the list. The upshot of all of that is that my mind is busy. Very busy. And it’s something I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately — because what I didn’t realise is that my brain works a little bit differently than I thought. Big lightbulb moment there, and something I’m now running with.
So I have all of that going on in my head. Lots of tasks and projects that need to be done. And they all have really good reasons for needing to be done. I know the reasons. I tell myself the reasons regularly. But I still don’t get round to doing some of them. Too many tasks are left on the to-do list, and I don’t always know why. And that’s frustrating.
Is that you too?
Are you kicking yourself because you have a goal that you really, really, really want to achieve — but something is stopping you? Something intangible and unidentifiable?
When people tell you to ‘just get started…’ do you end up silently cursing them — because if it was as easy as that, you’d have done it by now?
I know that feeling. I’ve got you.
Let’s try to get to the bottom of it. If you know what’s keeping you stuck, then success is more accessible to you.
Grab a pen and paper, a note taker, or just think through the following in your head:
❔ Can you remember a time when you knew exactly what needed to be done — but just… couldn’t start?
❔ What thoughts or excuses typically come up when you delay?
❔ How does that make you feel?
❔ Why do you think that’s happening?
How have you got on? Any 💡 moments — or are you still not sure what’s behind it? That’s OK. Just know you’re not alone, and read on. This might bring you a little clarity.
How I Got Stuck — and How I Got Going Again
About four years ago, I spent a two-hour car journey planning a bit of a garden renovation. I looked at inspiration, made a list of things I wanted to do and items I needed to buy. I even bought a bulk load of black fence paint. I really wanted to make the garden look pretty for summer — a place where we could sit and enjoy it.
The paint arrived.
I did nothing.
I kept seeing it. I kept feeling bad. A few weeks later, I did start painting the fence. I think I managed about one-third of the panels and took a break. The break lasted four years.
I kicked myself every time I saw that I’d done half a job.
This year, I wanted to tackle it again. It was time. I can plan projects with clients. I can implement things at work. But in a different context, it was different.
My learning? Tackle it like a work project.
This time, I was more realistic. I didn’t think about the whole garden — just the patio area right outside the back door. I chose the fence colour (sea grass blue this time), bought the patio cleaner, and looked at furniture. I broke the project down into tasks, decided on the order, and made a list of anything I needed.
The first two things on the list were:
🧽 Clean the fence — yuk.
🎨 Paint it — also not my favourite.
I still put it off a bit, but I blocked time out in the diary. I cleaned and finished the first tub of paint. The first coat made the fence look worse than the black — which weirdly helped, because it was a driver to get the rest done. New batch of paint ordered, another slot in the diary, and I just went at it.
Once I started, I was on a roll.
I carried on with the patio cleaning and all the other bits and bobs. I’m 80% there. The last 20% feels a little tricky — but I’ve got that project plan to follow. Lights to go up, ivy to be planted, and furniture laid out. I’m nearly there.
I had to work with my brain, not against it.
There was no “just do it” — because for me, that isn’t a motivator.
This might not be a work scenario, but as an analogy, it applies to so many things. So here’s a little tip:
📝 Any goal needs to be broken down into manageable tasks.
What manageable means to you will be different to what it means to me.
Perfectionism and Procrastination
I never had myself down as a perfectionist — you should see the edges of the fence for proof of that — but I do now recognise that I use perfecting things as a way of procrastinating.
When I’m putting graphics together in Canva, there are lots of subtle tweaks that probably no one else notices… but I know they’re there. In reality — as my OBM mentor says — we should focus on:
Completion over perfection.
Imperfect actions are better than perfect inactions.
Making things “perfect” is a way of putting off something uncomfortable.
Overwhelm
This word gets used a lot — and rightly so. Overwhelm is everywhere. The world is so fast and busy. So many distractions. So many expectations. I’d be surprised if you weren’t overwhelmed in some area of your life.
Here, I’m talking about mental overload — all the thoughts, plans, updates and decisions that come with every one of those roles I mentioned earlier. It’s a lot to carry.
You’ve got so much you’re trying to do…
But where do you start?
It’s hard to break things down when you’re in an overwhelmed state.
If you reflected earlier and couldn’t work out why you’re stuck — this might be it.
There may be other things that are holding you back — but it’s these more hidden or invisible ones that are the trickiest, because you can’t see them clearly.
Based on my own reflections, the learning curve ahead of me is a steep one — but I’m looking forward to sharing more as I go. Keep an eye out for that.
And one thing I am working on — that’s already making a difference — is acceptance.
Acceptance of where I am now, and changing my forward course in line with that.
If you’re nodding along and thinking, yep, this is me — I’d love to keep you in the loop. You can subscribe to my mailing list here.
But for now, I’d love you to take one tiny step forward:
📋 Grab your to-do list.
✅ Pick one easy thing to do.
🔕 Mute any distractions.
🚪 Close the door.
⏱ Spend just five minutes on that task.
That’s it. Just five minutes.
Let me know how it goes. I’m cheering you on.