#143: What to Do When You’re Stuck?
It doesn’t happen too often, but at least several times a year, I realise that I’m stuck. Really stuck. The symptoms follow roughly the same pattern every time, and I’ve learned to recognise them over the years. I know what I want to get done, but I seem to do everything I possibly can to avoid finishing that thing. And when I’ve pretty much exhausted all reasonable forms of procrastination, I spend hours and hours on end thinking about a solution, often backtracking and going in circles.
I hate being stuck. It’s overwhelming. I’m unable to focus properly on anything until I come up with a solution. The good news is that once I’ve realised that I am indeed stuck, I can usually dig myself out pretty quickly. This is how I do it.
But why?!
You’re stuck for a reason, but it may not be what you think. Instead of ploughing ahead to get to a solution by force, it’s much more effective to take a step back. Why is this such a big deal? Why can’t I figure this out?
Do I need to do more research? Am I trying to do too many things at once? Am I too tired? Bored? Worried that I’ll screw it up?
For me, the why usually comes down to a decision. I have to make a call, and none of the options is clearly better. I keep finding arguments for different choices and changing my mind.
I care a lot about what I’m working on and want to get it right. Whatever decision I make, I will have to live with the consequences. A single bad decision early on in a project could doom the whole thing. No pressure, eh?
Often, that fear is unfounded or completely irrational, but that’s hard to see when you keep focusing on solving the problem. That’s why looking at why are you stuck is crucial.
Recently, I got stuck while working on a big feature for Writing Analytics. I kept trying to find the perfect solution from the beginning which meant that it was so hard to make the first step. I wasted days procrastinating and sketching out different ideas only to return to square one every single time.
Instead, I looked at why was I so precious with getting it right. I went with one of the flawed ideas I had. And a few days later, after some trial and error, I found the solution for the flaw in the plan. I could’ve spent another month desperately trying to figure everything out upfront.
Sometimes, you just need to let go and hope for the best. You may find out that the thing that you’ve been looking for is right around the corner.
And even if I couldn’t make it work in the end, it would’ve been painful, but not catastrophic. I would delete the false start and go back to the beginning. That’s also something that happens. You may find out that you were terribly wrong and there’s no turning back now. That sucks. But what’s the alternative? Do nothing at all? You made the best decision that you could’ve made given the information you had at the time, and you should be proud of that.
Doing nothing is a decision too. Only when you decide to stay stuck, you truly fail.
Somewhere out people are making real hard choices – like who to hook up to a ventilator when there aren’t enough machines for everyone. So I should be able to sit down and write some fucking prose…
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Past Editions
#142: What’s Your Story Really About?, May 2020
#141: Architecture and Gardening for Writers, May 2020
#140: When Can You Call Yourself a Writer?, April 2020
#139: What Can You Do to Fail More?, April 2020
#138: 5 Ways to Focus on Your Writing, April 2020














