6 types of resistance-reducing tools for tasks you keep avoiding, overthinking, or overcomplicating!

As a neurodivergent freelancer, I’ve struggled endlessly with actually doing tasks that would help me make progress in my career + projects I’m passionate about.

"Why can't I just make myself do this?"

Luckily, I’m sensible enough to recognise that doom and gloom and wishing for more discipline is not going to help.

The Core Idea

Resistance is information

Experiencing resistance towards something is morally neutral.

There’s absolutely no benefit to every task becoming a battle against yourself that you must win with discipline or willpower.

Resistance, procrastination, and “laziness” can be used as data to show what helps or hinders us.

These 6 types of tools were born when I compiled observations about myself into a “My Working Style” document.

Examples of what came up frequently:

  • vagueness: too many decisions about what exactly to do, and no way to reach a sense of accomplishment
  • emotional pressure: things that challenge your self-esteem e.g. “this new client is important, I don’t want to mess this up”
  • no stopping point: working for too long because you don’t reach a sense of completion/satisfaction
  • obligation: feeling stressed/angry/threatened because you feel you don’t have a choice in doing something
  • identity pressure: things that put a spotlight on your sense of self e.g. introducing yourself, explaining what you do, being visible on social media

I experimented with what worked best for these sorts of things, then organised them into my own toolkit!

This is for you if you…

  • regularly overthink or avoid certain tasks
  • struggle with rigid approaches to productivity
  • want to understand why something feels difficult instead of forcing your way through it
  • would rather build self-trust than depend on strict systems
  • aren't in a state of crisis or in need of a 1:1 coach or therapist

You won’t find any habit trackers, personality type quizzes, or lectures about discipline here.

What you get:

The complete Notion toolkit, including:

  • A simple introduction to task resistance
  • The 6 ways to reduce resistance
  • Practical before-and-after task examples
  • The reusable Task Design Check-In
  • Prompts for redesigning your own difficult tasks
  • Lifetime access to the toolkit

If “just make yourself do it” has never been particularly helpful advice, click below for a different approach.