Brighter Because Blog

This is where we explore being stuck. What it looks like, what causes it, and what tends to help. Nothing here is a magic solution. But there is a good chance something will be useful.

• The Task Might Actually Be the Problem

  There is a particular kind of task that follows you around for weeks. You think about it regularly. You keep meaning to deal with it properly. Occasionally you even sit down with the genuine intention of finally making progress on it. And somehow you leave the interaction feeling worse without the task having meaningfully moved…

• You Intend One Thing. You End Up Doing Another

  You meant to do it today. You probably still mean to, technically. That is part of the problem. Because at no point did you consciously decide: “I’m not doing this anymore.” The day just slowly drifted somewhere else. You sat down to begin.Then decided to make coffee first.Then checked something quickly while you were there.Then…

• The Need to Feel Certain Before You Begin

  You keep waiting for the moment where it finally feels obvious. The right decision. The right direction. The right version of you to begin. Until then, you think about it. Properly, too. You analyse the options. You try to understand what the smart move is. You attempt to predict how things will go before committing…

• You’re Overthinking the Overthinking

  You’re Overthinking the Overthinking You spent valuable time thinking about what you want to do. You probably made some decisions or reached a conclusion. And now you’re thinking about how good that thinking was. You’re circling back around. You’re questioning things you were OK with yesterday. You’re finding new angles to worry about. At some…

• You Had a Resolution. What Happened?

  So… How’s That Resolution Going? Ah, here we are. New Year’s Day is a distant memory, the celebratory fizz has gone flat, and the gym is suspiciously quieter. How’s that resolution treating you? Are you now effortlessly fluent in Mandarin, sculpted like a Greek statue, or halfway through your “52 books a year” challenge? Or……

• What Is Self-Help?

  Self-help is one of those phrases people use constantly but rarely define properly. Some people hear it and think of productivity systems, motivational speakers and aggressively early morning routines involving cold plunges and unusual confidence levels before sunrise. Other people think of therapy techniques, journalling, mindfulness, personal growth, habit building, mental health, or simply trying…