A note for the day(s) you’re just not feeling it

 I'm neurodivergent too, so I know exactly how it goes. You’re sitting on the couch, staring at the clutter on the coffee table, or your running shoes, or that email draft. You know that doing the thing will make you feel better. It will probably only take a few minutes even. But the mental weight of actually getting up? It feels like trying to run through wet cement. (at this point I go "today is not the day, and I am not the one" and then I go do something else.)  So, you wait. We tell ourselves, "I’ll clean up when I have more energy," or "I’ll send that email when I’m in a better headspace."


Someone I respect and look up to taught me that Awareness without Action leads to Anxiety, and understanding that has become the key for me personally. The thing is always in the back of my head, and I'm aware that it's not done. I don't feel like doing it (yet) though, so I take no action. Now my anxiety skyrockets, I'm snacking constantly, I'm grumpy with everyone around me, and I'm wondering why my brain feels as jumpy as a caffeinated toddler.   But action actually comes before emotion. Sure, staying on the couch/coffee and your tenth biscuit (we listen and we don't judge)/task switching gives you a tiny, immediate sense of relief and control. But over time, that avoidance actually feeds the funk. The longer we put something off, the bigger and more difficult it becomes in our minds.  To change how you feel, you usually have to change what you do first.


I don't always have as much time to read as I'd like to, so I visit the 4 Minute Book Summaries often. I found the 2-minute rule in Atomic Habits, and it's really useful when we're dealing with this. The goal isn't to finish that looming "thing"; it’s literally just mastering the art of showing up. You take whatever is overwhelming you and shrink it down until it’s so small it’s almost funny. I'm not sending the email now, I'm just going to find their email address so long. I'm not working on the presentation yet, I'm just opening the template. It's literally one small thing, that only takes two minutes, but I've STARTED. While it's a cool hack, it's actually a textbook CBT technique called Behavioral Activation. It’s healing for your headspace, because you're not accidentally setting off your fight/flight/freeze response by tackling a WHOLE thing, and by lowering the bar you guarantee a win (and a little dopamine hit), and on top of that, doing something for just those 120 seconds gives your brain immediate, gentle proof that you are capable, chipping away at that heavy self-doubt.

If you are struggling today, please treat this rule as an act of kindness to yourself, not a rigid chore. Here is what we do:a) Pick a micro taskb) Set a timerc) Give yourself a permission slip. (This is the most important part. You must give yourself full, non-judgmental permission to stop when the timer goes off)

Once you stop - please celebrate. You won. You broke the avoidance loop, you showed up for yourself, and that is a massive victory.

(I just want to add a side-note... What you’ll usually find is that momentum is a beautiful thing. Once you clear that initial hurdle of just starting, the friction melts away, and you might just find the energy to keep going. If you do, that's cool too!)

Be gentle with yourself today. You don't need to conquer the world—just give it two minutes.

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