Don’t lie to yourself. That’s been my lesson this morning.
On my to-do list is “Draw two Coachtoons”†. No biggie – tick, tick, done. But when I sat down to start, why did I feel that old ADHD push-pull?
(I’m trying to pay attention to these inner experiences lately, to understand them, rather than just shoving them to the ground and kicking sand in their faces – AKA “being productive”.)
The little foreman in my head was saying, “Don’t be a wuss. It’s just two drawings. Get your act together and just do them!”
But that isn’t actually true.
My brain is fully aware of *every single step* that I listed in this picture. So it’s disingenuous to suggest “Oh, you can jump over this nine-foot-high ball of yarn in a single leap,” and that unacknowledged dichotomy in my head creates paralysis.
The list, rather than making the ball of yarn more daunting, says, “Here, just pull this thread.”
I know, this is really old, tired news to anyone with ADHD: “Break the job into smaller steps.” Whenever somebody says this to me I want to throw a donut at them – or a box of Christmas cards covered in that transparent glitter you keep finding on your face until February. (Eff that stuff. The microplastic spoon in your brain is at least half composed of that.)
So now I’ve got my list and I just have to do one thing. That initiation energy is the toughest part to muster. Once I’m in, I love what I’m doing and the doing is easy.
The list is not the point, the honesty is.
Today, at least.
†When new hires at Strategic Coach make it through their three-month probation period, they get a custom cartoon to use in their socials. I’ve drawn nearly 250 of these (Holy liftin’!), and folks seem to like them – but it certainly wasn’t my idea to do this! “Here, new person. You don’t know me, but I’ve exaggerated your features in this drawing!”