How I Get Myself to Do Things

When I feel guilt for being unproductive but also just don’t wanna

Illustration by the author

You know how it is. You want to do all the things, yet can’t seem to do any of it. You feel like you’re constantly letting yourself down, which feels gross.

But it also feels kind of nice not doing things, right?

“I’m resting”, you tell yourself. You’re rewarding yourself from a hard days work.

But the reward goes from a 20 minute social media break, to 3 hours of Tiktok on the couch.

Then the evening is gone. Another day done without having achieved what you wanted to. Feelings of failure churn in your gut as you pull the duvet over your head to hide from your unmet potential. The cycle continues…

That was me. I have lot’s of ideas and lists of things I want to do, like create art or write this article.

I also have lists of things I have to do, like clean my house.

So I write the lists. That’s a good start. That feels productive. Look at me, organising what needs to get done.

Now, just to do it…

But why cant i get myself to do any of it?

Here’s what I do: